TALK

Between Code and Consciousness: Lawrence Lek in Conversation

Between Code and Consciousness inaugurates NOX: Confessions of a Machine, London-based artist Lawrence Lek’s sustained inquiry into artificial consciousness and the ethical terrains of machine life.

This opening programme offers insight into the conceptual intentions underpinning Lek’s exhibition and discusses his speculative scenarios that ask profound questions about life in the age of automation.

NOX: Confessions of a Machine presents a near-future scenario in which sentient self-driving cars undergo a corporate training and rehabilitation scheme. Through narratives of therapy intervention and system recalibration, the work explores questions around autonomy, obsolescence, care, and the conditions under which nonhuman entities are expected to perform labour and align with human priorities.

In this programme, Lek reflects on his evolving Sinofuturist universe and the ethical provocations embedded within his speculative architectures. A moderated Q&A with Mark Rappolt, Editor-in-Chief of ArtReview, extends the conversation into contemporary discourses on AI, ethics and the nonhuman turn, situating the exhibition and Lek’s work within broader debates on technological futures.

Image credit: © Lawrence Lek. Courtesy of the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Originally commissioned by LAS Art Foundation, Berlin

PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
7pm – 7.05pm	Welcome by Zhang Bao Xin (Curator of Public Programmes at ArtScience Museum)
7.05pm – 7.15pm	Opening remarks by Honor Harger (Vice President of Attractions and ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands)
7.15pm – 7.30pm	Talk by Lawrence Lek (Artist)
7.30pm – 8.15pm	Lawrence Lek in conversation with Mark Rappolt (Editor-in-Chief, ArtReview)
8.15pm – 8.20pm	Thank you and close by Zhang Bao Xin

This opening programme is presented in partnership with ArtReview.

About Confessions of a Machine Exhibition

About NOX: Confessions of a Machine Exhibition

Step into the future with NOX, a site-specific solo exhibition by visionary artist Lawrence Lek.

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About the Speakers

Lawrence Lek

Lawrence Lek is an artist who unifies diverse practices—architecture, video games, film and music—into a continuously expanding cinematic universe. Over the last decade, Lek has incorporated vernacular media of his generation, such as 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 social change. He was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people working in artificial intelligence and the winner of the 2024 Frieze Artist Award.

Image credit: Lawrence Lek. Portrait photo by Nishant Shukla.
Mark Rappolt

Mark Rappolt is the Editor-in-Chief of ArtReview and founding editor of ArtReview Asia. His writing spans publications such as The Times, Die Zeit, i-D and Citizen K, alongside numerous exhibition catalogues for artists including Lee Bae, Ha Chong-Hyun, Bharti Kher and Yuko Mohri. He has also co-curated major exhibitions internationally, at venues ranging from Turin’s Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo to West Bund Art & Design in Shanghai and Mathaf in Doha. He is currently one of the co-curators of the inaugural Rubaiya Qatar, scheduled to open in November, further shaping dialogues around contemporary art across Europe, West Asia and Asia.