Artists in Times of Upheaval: Lawrence Lek - Life Before Automation

Join artist Lawrence Lek for a conversation about his artistic practice, exploring themes of automation and AI. Lawrence Lek (b. 1982, Frankfurt) is a London-based Malaysian Chinese artist working across film, video games and electronic sound. Through immersive installations he explores spiritual and existential themes through the lens of science fiction. Lek has built a distinctive cinematic universe populated by recurring characters and narratives. In 2024, he received the Frieze London Artist Award and was named among TIME’s 100 most influential people in AI. The discussion will delve into ideas that run throughout Lek’s work, where non-human protagonists often take centre stage. In Geomancer, a satellite faces decommissioning; in Guanyin, a carebot awaits replacement; and in NOX, a malfunctioning self-driving car is sent for rehabilitation. Across these works, Lek examines questions