Project
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Genesis
Tools
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Unreal Engine
Motion Capture
VR Performance
Sculpture
Description
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Created by artist Sougwen Chung, the collection is the first chapter of a growing library of forms. GENESIS Forms are sculpted through a bespoke VR process and collected as movement data, contributing to a groundbreaking new spatial dataset.
About
At the intersection of art and technology, Sougwen Chung’s GENESIS explores the synergy between the human hand and the robotic form as the two evolve into new spatial and temporal orientations. The collection is the first chapter of a growing library of forms, a collection of speculative machine constructions sculpted through a bespoke virtual reality process guided by the artist’s avatar. In a cinematic symphony blurring the lines between sculpture, drawing, and dance, suspended mechanical drawn lines unravel to reveal chromatic, serpentine forms as they echo the intricate choreographies of Chung.
The gestures are collected as movement data culminating in a ground-breaking spatial dataset forming the foundation for the upcoming D.O.UG._6 AI system, posed to advance the creation of symbiotic machines. ‘I’m excited by creating a dataset out of 3D lines, lines that operate as drawing, as sculpture, as dance, to sculpt a new way of thinking about not just the drawn line, but what the future of the robotic form can be. One of the interesting things about the sculpting process is that I’m really able to create different speculative machines of my own imagination,’ Sougwen Chung tells designboom. Returning the marks-made-by-hand in virtual space back to tactile materiality in the physical realm, a series of 3D printed sculptures resembling liquid mercury were then produced and installed in collaboration with Bulgari in Milan. The first of these datasets was debuted at Art Dubai Digital 2024 on February 28 with HOFA Gallery alongside the first NFT drop.
Credits
Director: Kevin Peter He
Writer: Jessica Shen
Producers: David Woon, Ricardo Vilar, Anthony Argento, Lu Zhang
Executive Producers: Winslow Porter, Joyce Keokham, Wesley Chan
Additional Writer: Livia Huang
Cinematography: Isabel Padilla
Production Design: Bethany Yeap
Unreal Engine Developers: Xuelong Mu, Jason Xu
Game Designer: Jason Li
Spatial Designer: Nick Gregg
Composer: Cody Dear
Sound Designer: Elias Jarzombek
Sound Supervisor: Jessica Shen
Technical Supervisor: Todd Bryant
Illustrator: Angie Zou
Associate Producers: Kevin Woon, Zeng Yi
Line Producer: Lu Zhang
Assistant Director: Shane Liao
Gaffer: Rodrigo Obregon
1st AC: Karoline Iversen
Grips: Larry Flores, Rikki Porter
Set Dresser: Jasmine Chang
Hair & Makeup: Emma Ando
Production Assistant: Drew Palmer
Sound Mixer: Dolmar Pedro
Sound Assistant: Samuel Perez
Shot on Arri Alexa Mini
Virtual scenes created in Unreal Engine
Motion Capture done in Vicon and retargeted in Shogun
3D Avatars created with MetaHuman
3D Architecture modeled with Blender