AA 2008 Diploma alum, Lawrence Lek, has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Artist Award at Frieze London, which awards artists the opportunity to realise an ambitious new commission for Frieze London. Lawrence responded to the commission with a multimedia installation titled Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot, which combines narrative worldbuilding and mechanical sculpture in a gaming environment, allowing players to gradually uncover the story of the eponymous ‘carebot’, a cyborg therapist developed to talk other AI out of existential self-destruction. Watch Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot here.

Lawrence is a London-based artist and filmmaker whose work often addresses the moral dilemmas surrounding AI. He is best known for his immersive installations that explore spiritual and existential themes through the lens of science fiction. His media includes video games and computer-generated animation, as well as site-specific installations and digital environments, which Lawrence has previously described as ‘three-dimensional collages of found objects and situations’.

Lawrence was also listed in TIME magazine’s TIME100 AI list, which lists the 100 most influential people working in AI. Lawrence was listed within the innovators category for this award. Click here to read the article on TIME magazine’s website.

Image: Lawrence Lek, Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot, for the Frieze London Artist Award 2024.