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--></style><title>Theta's World by Lawrence
Lek</title></head><body>
<div><b>Lawrence Lek</b><br>
</div>
<div><i><b>Theta's World</b></i></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>X Virtual Incubator</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Created on X Virtual's multiplayer online
platform,<i> </i> <a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/370d6e360153cf6bed92638a4c79eb2de89e107e"><i><b><span
></span>Theta's World</b></i></a> is an experimental video
game that explores nonhuman consciousness, virtual cityscapes, and
storytelling through video game infrastructure. The work is built upon
SimBeijing-a fictional smart city from the artist's body of work
Sinofuturism.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i>Theta's World</i> immerses the player into the heart of
SimBeijing, a fictional smart city brought into existence as a cradle
and testbed for intelligent technologies, devoid of human life. The
work sprawls an intricate world comprising three levels, varying in
times of a day-from the "<a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/68c5ea7e9e4162175357ecec9ead2a0ef9e7e7d1"><b><span
></span>Looping City at Dawn</b></a>," through the "<a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/79eca59f6912eb99a85115c69516e8198abf03fb"><b><span
></span>Lattice City at Twilight</b></a>," to the "<a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/de8fd6de3099c1b6f39a3188a80de95a67fc8bff"><b><span
></span>Vertical City at Midnight</b></a>."-each alluding to
Theta's dream states and consciousness evolution. Through the first
player persona of Theta, a self-driving car dreaming about its life
and choices within this city, the player embarks on an odyssey through
a multitude of layered and increasingly complex narratives.<br>
</div>
<div>Resonating with architect Lebbeus Woods' methodology, Lek
designed a cityscape which creates a mirroring effect of time,
structure, and form that permeates through each level. Embedded within
this urban fabric are scattered fragments of text, each whispering
stories that shift and morph with every journey undertaken. The
non-linear nature of these narrative threads grants every participant
an unparalleled storytelling encounter. By bestowing dreams upon
Theta, the consciousness, subjectivity and existence of machine are
examined through a lens traditionally unexplored. Centering an AI
entity in a world where only non-human life exists prompts us to
contemplate the ethical intricacies inherent to such a reality.<br>
</div>
<div>The online playable work will culminate in an immersive
installation. The physical showcase of<i> Theta's World</i> will be
on view from August 2023 at X Museum in Beijing.<br>
</div>
<div><a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/f5397e377bf4d68eb306ba8fbcff0b330cc39463"><b><span
></span>Lawrence Lek</b></a><br>
Lawrence Lek is a filmmaker, musician, and artist who unifies diverse
practices-architecture, gaming, video, music and fiction-into a
continuously expanding cinematic universe. Over the last decade, Lek
has incorporated vernacular media of his generation, such as video
games and computer-generated animation, into site-specific
installations and digital environments which he describes as
'three-dimensional collages of found objects and situations.' Often
featuring interlocking narratives and the recurring figure of the
wanderer, his work explores the myth of technological progress in an
age of artificial intelligence and social change.<br>
</div>
<div>Lek studied at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, the
Architectural Association, London, and The Cooper Union, New York. Lek
recently graduated with a PhD from the Royal College of Art in London.
He has exhibited internationally with recent solo exhibitions,
including Sadie Coles HQ, London (2023); QUAD, Derby (2022-3); ZiWU
The Bund, Shanghai (2022); Center for Contemporary Arts Prague, Prague
(2019); HeK House of Electronic Arts, Basel (2019); Urbane Künste
Ruhr, Essen (2019); and K11 art space, Hong Kong (2018).<br>
</div>
<div><a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/28adb20ce4f4adeaa17edba6871586394e01ad72"><b><span
></span>XVirtual</b></a><br>
Launched by X Museum in 2019, X Virtual is a digital art platform that
fuels new artistic 3D spaces in the virtual worlds. X Virtual provides
a digital infrastructure-an interoperable network of virtual worlds
that stimulates new artistic productions and critical practices. We
commission artists to create audio-visual space on X Virtual's
online platform and host online and offline exhibitions and virtual
gatherings.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As a museum affiliate initiative dedicated to cultivating virtual
worlds, X Virtual aims to foster new thoughts, discourses, and
interdisciplinary practices in the light of emerging Web 3.0-centred
technologies, including XR, AI, and game engines. Through working with
digital creators from diverse backgrounds, we are devoted to building
an accessible digital art platform to the fast-evolving Web 3.0
virtual worlds, for everyone.<br>
</div>
<div>Follow X Virtual on <a
href=
"https://email.e-flux-systems.com/campaigns/tz118bjop188f/track-url/rl482sqxhp5a5/5626fa2a67bdfd0da192683188b001afdbab946b"><span
></span>Instagram</a>.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Credits</b></div>
<div>Artist: Lawrence Lek<br>
Soundtrack: Kode9 and Lawrence Lek<br>
Writing: Lawrence Lek and Holly Gramazio<br>
Architecture: Andreea Iliescu</div>
<div>Technical support: Pete Jiadong Qiang</div>
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