2065

Ongoing series of site-specific simulations, 2018-



“In the year 2065, Farsight Corporation learns to harness the power of artificial intelligence. eSports is the world’s fastest-growing industry. With all work taken care of by algorithms, people spend all day playing video games against AIs.

Inside the game, can anybody tell the difference between art and the world? Some people can sense it immediately, but others find that it takes them much longer. It’s not really clear, because nobody’s ever stopped playing. Except us.”





About
2065 is a continuously expanding open-world video game based on my ‘Sinofuturist’ cinematic universe. The installations act as gateways where the audience can become active participants in the narrative. A voiceover introduces the fictional backstory of the game, where widespread adoption of AI has created a post-work society and a corresponding appetite for endless entertainment and cultural production. 

Set in the year 2065, players start from a simulacrum of the physical exhibition space, gradually exploring a virtual island that is itself an architectural collage; each new iteration of the game incorporates the locations of its exhibition. The first manifestation at K11 Hong Kong (2018) included a simulation of the gallery space and digital exhibition. Later versions at the Barbican in London and at the Singapore Biennale reflected the post-colonial context of futurity; ‘2065’ refers to the centennial year of Singapore’s independence.


Trailer


Exhibition at K11

Solo Exhibition, K11 Hong Kong
March 2018
More info︎︎︎



Press



Lawrence Lek ‘2065’ Interview with Alvin Li’, Mousse Magazine, 20 May 2018

2065, Review by Stephanie Bailey’, Artforum, Summer 2018


Credits

Written, Programmed, and Edited
by Lawrence Lek

Voiceover and translation
by Joni Zhu



Related Projects

The location and background of 2065 is interconnected with the Sinofuturist trilogy of films, particularly: 
︎︎︎ Sinofuturism (1839-2046 AD) (2016), and
︎︎︎ Geomancer (2017). 




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