Sougwen Chung refuses to be defined by binaries. The artist is a child of two cultures, two languages, and—in human terms—one musician and one computer programmer.
“My work, at its simplest level, is about exploring the contradictions that stem from not fitting neatly into one category,” Chung, who identifies as nonbinary, said on Sunday in Dubai, where they accepted a TIME100 Impact Award for their influence on the field of artificial intelligence. “I like to think of [it] as a new hybridity.”
“My work, at its simplest level, is about exploring the contradictions that stem from not fitting neatly into one category,” Chung, who identifies as nonbinary, said on Sunday in Dubai, where they accepted a TIME100 Impact Award for their influence on the field of artificial intelligence. “I like to think of [it] as a new hybridity.”
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 >> Wow, thank you all.
00:20 It's an honor to be here.
00:22 Thank you to Time Magazine for this moment of celebration and reflection.
00:27 My name is Sue Gwen Chung, and I'm an artist and
00:31 researcher exploring what becomes of the human hand.
00:35 I'm profoundly honored to accept this impact award,
00:39 the Time Impact Award here in Dubai.
00:41 This recognition underscores the critical role of artistic voices,
00:47 especially those emerging from the margins in shaping our collective future.
00:53 I'm inspired by Grace Lee Boggs, who wrote that these are the times to grow our souls.
01:01 She believed that creativity is vital in producing the necessary
01:06 conditions, not just for our survival, but for our evolution.
01:11 Her words and Grace's life as an Asian American philosopher and
01:17 activist are a testament to hybridity, hybridity of thought and culture.
01:24 Her authorship, the authorship of my peers, and the creative energy
01:29 of the new generation to continue to inspire and challenge me every day.
01:36 My work at its simplest level is about exploring the contradictions that
01:41 stem from not fitting really neatly into one category.
01:45 Exploring how those contradictions can point at a third path beyond simple binaries,
01:51 what I like to think of as a new hybridity.
01:54 I'm interested in this third path, perhaps because I am myself a blend of two
02:01 cultures, languages, and the childhood of a musician and a computer programmer.
02:05 Since beginning this work almost a decade ago, I've grown through the knowledge
02:11 that the future cannot be shaped by binaries of art or technology or
02:17 of human and or machine, that we must create spaces for the third path.
02:23 The hybrid and the in between, spaces of artistry, philosophy, engineering, and
02:29 design.
02:30 In this path, I've grown a world of my own technical and artistic imagination.
02:37 And learned how through existing technologies like AI, existential
02:42 technologies like AI, we have the opportunity to explore ourselves in another
02:47 form, our collective states, to learn through the machine as collaborator,
02:53 and the algorithm as creative catalyst.
02:57 By building a world through my own tools and my own data sets,
03:01 I've experienced the beauty of imperfect systems.
03:04 The real labor involved in training an AI model on two decades of my own artwork.
03:10 And how first hand,
03:12 computer vision algorithms shape how we see ourselves and each other.
03:17 I've felt and shared the beauty and
03:20 awe of my own data expressed back to me as robotic gesture.
03:25 And in my journey, I've learned vitally that there's meaning in the data.
03:30 But it's not the meaning we're given, it's the meaning that we make.
03:34 I've learned that traditional forms of creativity must shape but
03:40 not be replaced by technological development.
03:43 That building our own tools and AI systems can help us sit with the existential
03:48 questions posed by new technologies.
03:51 A way that fear and hope can be held in the mind at the same time.
03:56 We've observed the damage to our planet done by unchecked technological growth,
04:01 and the damage to our creative industries too.
04:04 We need now more than ever, approaches that foreground hybrid creative
04:09 innovation that help shape the development of the technology that shapes us,
04:14 while stewarding what came before.
04:16 This award is not just about me.
04:20 It's a spotlight on the meaning made by the artists of today.
04:24 The artists that came before me and the ones to come.
04:28 We carry with us the knowledge that exploring the human condition,
04:32 despite the odds, shapes the world in vital and profound ways.
04:37 We urge you to move beyond the binary of thinking and of making and of being.
04:43 And to be integrating the third path with us,
04:47 to explore the in between, the space of imagination and hybridity.
04:52 I'm deeply humbled by the opportunity to speak about something near and
04:56 dear to my life.
04:57 Before I leave you, I want to express my deepest gratitude to time and
05:02 all the people who have supported me.
05:03 I've been a recipient of love, care, and goodwill.
05:08 My parents, my brother, my partner, and
05:10 my friends are all here with me today in their own way.
05:14 Thank you to my team and
05:16 the people who have continued to support me through everything.
05:19 Thank you to my global community and
05:21 thanks to all of you for celebrating this honor and achievement with us tonight.
05:26 Together we can grow our souls to create the future we want to see and
05:32 there is much to do.
05:34 Thank you so much.