ーPlease introduce yourself.

Hi. I’m Teom Chen from Taipei, Taiwan.

I graduated from Taiwan University, majoring in philosophy.
Out of interest, I taught myself from the Internet about different kinds of art media to convey my thinking and ideas.

I’m a short film director. I also do drawing in 2-D and 3-D animation, kinetic installations, some gadgets, and now video games.

Influences...I'm influenced by, particularly by eastern philosophy. My works often depict a surreal atmosphere under an elaborate structure, showing my thoughts about the concept of conflict and comparison, identity and mutual complementing, conformance, balance, and harmony with a tone of dry sense of humor, I guess.
Nowadays, I focus more on game development. I use it to do some interactive art and perform cinematic A/V shows with kinetic controllers to create a link of sound-body visual experiences.


ー What do you want the viewers to see in particular?

I want the viewers to not just see but play and feel the connection between them and the works. And recently I started to develop a new series of works called “Gisetai” or simulated ecosystem.

I program a lot of new AI creatures to live in different environments. The creatures have a different attributes, tendencies, and habits. They will interact with the environment and each other, born and die, mate and play, eat, and even create something in the virtual world. The whole point is to build something that I don’t even know what it will become, something that will constantly change every time you watch, and you can interact with the works too, you will gradually change the trajectory of the whole system.

ーPlease tell us the reasoning and the process that led to the production of this work.

As I dive more into the world of game development, or AI or programming, I found that the ultimate goal of mine in this art form is to create something, a life.
Since I practiced game design for several years, I finally have the means to create something like this. It’s just like building a garden or fish tank. I want to build something that I can...that I care about that I need to maintain and reform or innovate over times, and that people can come and interact and enjoy, and gives maybe, gives something new every time he or she views the work.

ーIs there anything you want to convey through your work?

As I mentioned before my works mainly focused on the conflict and comparison of the world and something identity, and a mutual complimenting, conformance balance in harmony, and I think this kind of ecosystem will have these kinds of ideas inside inside. It’s like a virtual world of this kind of philosophy or ideas.


ーPlease tell us about the ideas and efforts you have focused on particularly in the production of this work.

To design the virtual ecosystem, I have to first set up an experiment goal, like what should I reach for this experiment, and what methods should use this time, and how do I set the variables for the environment and each character. And the main goal is to make it somehow balanced, and intriguing at the same time. I think [this] is the most hard part, how to design all the AI and all the little variables to make this virtual world work.

ー How is it working in the artist in residence at BnA ?

I think it’s the best, because my exhibition room is right beside my residence room so I can just live inside my work area, my exhibition room. It’s the best part. And this hotel is an art museum too, so I think everyone somehow understands how everything...about art, how it works and a have the sense of aesthetic, and I really appreciate it.

And Kyoto in general I think it’s very good for creating art. The environment is so tranquil, and I just love it. And people here are so nice and respect every kind of craftsmanship and stuff, so it’s really ideal for my kind of art creating process I think.

Teom Chen + INTA-NET KYOTO
Interference
mixed media
2023