Life After BOB: The Chalice Study | Trailer

Ian Cheng: ‘Life After BOB’
9 September - 6 November 2022
Halle am Berghain, Berlin
LAS announces ‘Life After BOB’, a cinematic art experience that centres on Ian Cheng’s 50-minute narrative film ‘The Chalice Study’. The first of the eight-episode animated miniseries, ‘Life After BOB’, explores technology’s complex implications for desire and free will. The film unfolds in 2074, as an AI technology called BOB (Bag of Beliefs) promises to relieve existential stress, by co-piloting human consciousness. Unforeseen consequences ensue after neural engineer Dr Wong installs a BOB into the nervous system of an unwitting test subject, his daughter Chalice. Drawing on Cheng’s signature computer simulation technique, ‘The Chalice Study’ is the most ambitious film of this length yet produced with the Unity video game engine. Live-streamed for each screening, its details continuously morph. In this LAS exhibition, for the first time, Cheng’s animated work is situated within a physical installation and accompanied by interactive elements that invite viewers on a psychological journey.
Credits:
Ian Cheng: ‘Life After BOB’
9 September - 6 November 2022 at Halle am Berghain, Berlin
© 2022 Ian Cheng
Presented by Light Art Space (LAS)
‘Life After BOB: The Chalice Study’ is co-commissioned by LAS (Light Art Space), The Shed and Luma Foundation.
Research developed with The Transformations of the Human at the Berggruen Institute.
The interactive mobile application is supported by Leeum Museum of Art (Seoul).