24 Jan 2026
 |
7pm – 8.20pm |  |
ArtScience Cinema, Level 4 |
Ticketed Admission:
S$5 per participant
The talk Between Code and Consciousness inaugurates NOX: Confessions of a Machine, London-based artist Lawrence Lek’s solo exhibition that continues his sustained inquiry into artificial consciousness and the ethical terrains of machine life. Coinciding with the opening programme at Singapore Art Week, the event offers insight into Lek’s evolving Sinofuturist universe — an ongoing body of video games, films, and installations 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 rehabilitation scheme. Through narratives of therapeutic intervention and system recalibration, the work explores questions of autonomy, obsolescence, care, and the conditions under which nonhuman entities are expected to align with human priorities.
In this programme, Lek reflects on the development of his practice, tracing a deliberate progression from experimental architecture and electronic music into video games and immersive cinematic environments. 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 Closing by Zhang Bao Xin |
This opening programme is presented in partnership with ArtReview.
Step into the future with NOX, a site-specific solo exhibition by visionary artist 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.
Step into the future with NOX, a site-specific solo exhibition by visionary artist Lawrence Lek.
Be a part of the conversation. Gain insights to a line-up of intriguing topics that showcase the best in arts and science.
Fill your world with wonder in a purpose-built screening room dedicated to films that will inspire, challenge and transform.