Award-Winning AI-Artist Sougwen 愫君 Chung debuts at K11 MUSEA, Hong Kong

HOFA Gallery and Digital Art Fair are thrilled to announce the unveiling of multi-award-winning AI-artist Sougwen 愫君 Chung’s new showcase ‘Us in Another Form’, set to debut at Adrian Cheng’s iconic cultural and luxury retail landmark K11 MUSEA, Hong Kong.  This highly anticipated exhibition is an official part of the annual Art Karnival and will be open to the public daily 26 March to 19 May 2024 at 6F, K11 Art & Culture Centre, K11 MUSEA.

Sougwen Chung, a Chinese-Canadian artist, stands at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of human-machine collaboration in the art realm. Recognised as one of TIME100's esteemed top 100 AI innovators, a MIT Media Lab fellow and Google Artist in Residence, Sougwen's work exemplifies the dynamic intersections among art, technology and science. Through an innovative approach, Sougwen has developed and constructed robots known as D.O.U.G. (Drawing Operations Unit Generation) to augment the creative process.

The forthcoming K11 MUSEA showcase ‘Us In Another Form’ will exhibit Sougwen’s diverse body of work that investigates a mode of working with human-machine interconnections beyond mere extension. These extensions include biosensors, computer vision, virtual reality and spatial technology that catalyse a path of hybridity, as Sougwen speculates on worlds beyond the binary constructs of human and machine.  The new bold artworks not only captivate but also provoke thought, defying the notion of AI as a mere tool, seamlessly merging humanity and technology, with robotic companions serving as dynamic instruments.

K11 MUSEA is a pioneering cultural retail landmark located on the Victoria Dockside harbourfront of Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong. Designed by entrepreneur Adrian Cheng, it aims to enrich the daily lives of visitors through creativity, culture and innovation. Since opening its doors in 2019, K11 MUSEA has quickly become a symbol of cultural retail, offering immersive experiences in art, culture, nature and commerce, in response to the growing consumer demand for such experiences.

Speaking recently at the TIME100 Impact Awards, Artist Sougwen Chung states, “Traditional forms of creativity must shape, but not be replaced, by technological development. Building our own tools and AI systems for art can help us sit with the existential questions posed by new technologies, in a way that fear and hope can be held in the mind at the same time.”

HOFA Gallery, founded in London by Elio D’Anna and Simonida Pavicevic in 2012 specialises in contemporary art by established and emerging international artists.  D’Anna shares his passion for the forthcoming exhibition, stating, “The showcase of Sougwen Chung’s project ‘Us In Another Form’ during Art Week Hong Kong and the K11 Art Karnival, represents a groundbreaking celebration of human-machine collaboration, highlighting the transformative power of technology in expanding the horizons of artistic innovation and expression."

In addition to the featured works at K11 MUSEA, Sougwen will also be launching a new body of work, titled ‘GENESIS’ at Hong Kong’s prestigious Soho House. ‘GENESIS’ is an ongoing project exploring the evolution of the drawn line and the robotic form. It begins with a collection of speculative machine constructions inspired by living organisms. ‘GENESIS’ forms are sculpted through a bespoke VR process and collected as movement data, contributing to a groundbreaking new spatial dataset. The ‘GENESIS’ dataset will serve as the foundation for an upcoming AI system, representing the next generation of human and machine collaboration.

Emma-Louise O’Neill - Comms & Branding Director emmalouise@thehouseoffineart.com

‘Us in Another Form’ by Sougwen 愫君 Chung: Free and open to the public daily. 
Dates: 26 March - 19 May 2024. Press Preview: 4pm – 6pm, 25 March 2024 (RSVP only emmalouise@thehouseoffineart.com). Venue: 6F, K11 Art & Cultural Centre, K11 MUSEA, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. More Information: https://thehouseoffineart.com/exhibitions/173/overview/

Sougwen 愫君 Chung is a Chinese-Canadian artist and researcher, and is the founder and artistic director of Scilicet, a London-based studio exploring human & non-human collaboration. Chung is a former research fellow at MIT’s Media Lab and is considered a pioneer in the field of human-machine collaboration – exploring the mark-made-by-hand and the mark-made-by-machine as an approach to understanding the dynamics of humans and systems.  

Chung has been selected for excellence in the Arts & Sciences as Woman of the Year in Monaco, received the Lumen Prize for Art in Technology, was an inaugural E.A.T. Artist in Residence in partnership with New Museum and Bell Labs, was awarded a commission for project Omnia per Omnia, was the Japan Media Arts recipient of the Excellence Award for Drawing Operations, and was selected as one of the Top 20 New Visual Artists by Print Magazine.

Additionally, Sougwen Chung has been awarded Artist in Residence positions at Google, Studio Wayne McGregor, Laurenz Haus Basel, Eyebeam, Japan Media Arts, and Pier 9 Autodesk.

HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) specialises in contemporary art by established and emerging international artists. HOFA is determined to feature a multitude of artistic disciplines with a focus on exceptional talent, a diverse and innovative range of artistic disciplines, and cultural relevance.

Founded in 2012, HOFA Gallery represents contemporary painters, sculptors, photographers and multidisciplinary new media artists from all over the world including China, Korea, United States, Italy, France, Argentina and Australia amongst many others. Since its inception, HOFA has provided government institutions, museums, art galleries and private collectors access to some of the most sought after and collectable works of art.

Since 2018 the gallery expanded its reach beyond the contemporary art program, curating a series of highly acclaimed new media public art installations and immersive exhibitions; growing the artist portfolio in the generative Ai space, exploring the relationship between human and machine collaboration and its interaction with nature.

Digital Art Fair is the world leading fair dedicated to promote digital art, creativity, technology and innovation. With a passion for pushing boundaries, the fair provides an unique art experience that celebrates the fusion of art and technology. The Digital Art Fair – Asia Edition 2023 at the Kunsthalle in K11 MUSEA is the latest endeavour, showcasing cutting-edge digital art installations and featuring an exciting collaboration with industry leaders.