Drawing Operations Unit, Generation Four (DOUG)
Sougwen Chung, MIT
USA
All Ages
In D.O.U.G._1 (2015), a small robotic arm uses a mounted camera with computer vision to mimic the artist’s hand drawing gestures and synchronously draw along her. D.O.U.G._2 (2017) is an exploration of robotic memory and machine learning as robotic arms generate sketches based on neural nets trained on Sougwen’s drawings gestures. Now, you can draw with D.O.U.G._4.
Artist Bio:
Sougwen 愫君 Chung is a Chinese-Canadian artist and researcher, widely 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. Sougwen’s work MEMORY (Drawing Operations Unit: Generation 2)
is part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert museum, and is the first AI model to be collected
by a major institution. Recently, Chung’s was recognized as a Cultural Leader at the World Economic Forum and
named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI.
A former TED Speaker and researcher at MIT Media Lab, Chung has spoken at international conferences including
the United Nations, Geneva; World Economic Forum, China; Oxford University; SIGGRAPH Conference, Vancouver;
Global Art Forum, Singapore; World Science Festival, New York; Cannes Lions, Cannes; WSJ's Future of Everything
Conference, New York; Tribeca Film Festival Interactive, New York; House of Beautiful Business, Lisbon; OFFF,
Barcelona; FITC, Tokyo; Internet Dargana, Stockholm; SXSW, Austin; The Art Directors Club, New York.
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.
Chung is the founder of SCILICET, an experimental studio based in London.
Team:
Sougwen 愫君 Chung