Ian Cheng: Emissaries, Serpentine Gallery

Ian Cheng’s ‘video game that plays itself’, Emissaries, is coming to London’s Serpentine Gallery this spring. A trilogy of virtual reality simulations, Emissaries is the second half of a two-part exhibition: the first part of which, BOB, is on show at the Serpentine until 22 April.

Emissaries, which is on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has been described by Cheng as a ‘habitat for stories’. The simulations run indefinitely, and independently of the artist, creating open-ended narratives filled with a cast of flora and fauna constantly interweaving and interacting. As with BOB, these evolving characters and plot lines use different models of artificial intelligence and logic systems to ensure that no two viewings of the computer-generated work will be the same.

Each part of the Emissaries trilogy can also be viewed live online, giving viewers the chance to explore the evolution of Cheng’s virtual characters and ecosystems beyond the confines of the gallery. Drawing on cognitive science, improvisation and video game design, Cheng’s work delves into notions of human consciousness, mutation and the way in which we relate to change as a species.

Cheng also draws on his own experiences working for George Lucas’s special effects company Industrial Light & Magic, as well as his education in cognitive science and interest in unpredictable systems. His simulations ‘self-evolve’ despite being initiated by the artist, and are designed to prompt the feelings of anxiety and bewilderment that often accompany uncontrollable change in our lives.

It promises to be a thought-provoking, mesmerising and cognitively unsettling experience.