Since 2012, Cheng has created a series of simulations that explore an agent’s capacity to deal with an ever-changing environment. These works culminated in the Emissaries trilogy, which introduced a narrative agent - the emissary - whose motivation to enact a story was set into conflict with the open-ended chaos of the simulation. In 2019, he developed BOB (Bag of Beliefs), a AI-driven creature whose personality, body, and life script evolve across exhibitions. Most recently, he directed Life After BOB, a 50min real-time anime built in the Unity game engine. He is the author of Emissary's Guide To Worlding, a book exploring the psychology and techniques of creating living autonomous worlds.In 2015, he founded Metis Suns, a production company dedicated to Worlding and worlding literacy.
Ian Cheng's solo shows:
2024  Gladstone Gallery ~ Thousand Lives ~ Seoul [images]2024  Matadero Madrid ~ Thousand Lives ~ curated by Julia Kaganskiy ~ Madrid (OPEN NOW thru 2024-05-05)2023  Pilar Corrias ~ Thousand Lives ~ London [images]2022  Light Art Space ~ Life After BOB ~ curated by Amira Gad with Liz Stumpf ~ Berlin [images]2022  Leeum Samsung Museum of Art ~ WORLDING ~ curated by Gina Lee ~ Seoul [images]2021  The Shed ~ Life After BOB ~ curated by Emma Enderby ~ New York [images]2021  LUMA Westbau ~ Life After BOB ~ Zurich [images]2021  Stanford University Cantor Arts Center ~ Emissary Sunsets The Self ~ Stanford [images]2021  LUMA Arles ~ Life After BOB ~ curated by Vassilis Oikonomopoulos ~ Arles [images]2020  Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Madrid ~ Emissaries ~ curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist ~ Madrid2019  Gladstone Gallery ~ BOB ~ New York [images]2018  Julia Stoschek Foundation ~ Emissaries ~ Berlin [images]2018  Serpentine Galleries ~ Emissaries ~ curated by Ben Vickers & Rebecca Lewin ~ London [images]2018  Serpentine Galleries ~ BOB ~ curated by Ben Vickers & Rebecca Lewin ~ London [images]2017  Carnegie Museum of Art ~ Emissary Sunsets The Self ~ curated by Eric Crosby ~ Pittsburgh [images]2017  Espace Louis Vuitton München ~ Emissary Forks featuring Thousand Islands ~ Munich2017  MoMA PS1 ~ Emissaries ~ curated by Peter Eleey with Jocelyn Miller ~ New York [images]2016  Migros Museum of Contemporary Art ~ Forking at Perfection ~ curated by Raphael Gygax ~ Zurich [images]2015  Pilar Corrias ~ Emissary Forks At Perfection ~ London [images]2015  Vdrome ~ Something Thinking Of You ~ curated by Andrea Lissoni & Filipa Ramos ~ vdrome.org2015  Standard (Oslo), Frieze ~ Emissary in the Squat of Gods ~ New York2015  Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo ~ Emissary in the Squat of Gods ~ curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist ~ Turin [images]2014  La Triennale di Milano ~ Ian Cheng ~ curated by Filipa Ramos ~ Milan2013  Standard (Oslo) ~ Baby Feat. Bali ~ Oslo2013  Formalist Sidewalk Poetry Club, Frieze ~ Entropy Wrangler Cloud ~ London [images]2013  Off Vendome ~ Entropy Wrangler ~ Dusseldorf2011  Formalist Sidewalk Poetry Club ~ THIS PAPAYA TASTES PERFECT ~ Miami [images]