Pavilion by multimedia artist Samson Young revisits THINK, the film created by Charles and Ray Eames for the IBM Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Reflecting on its legacy, the work explores the optimism and anxieties surrounding early database cinema in an age when generative AI has exponentially accelerated data patterning.
At the dawn of the computer age, THINK pictured computers as models of how the human mind both receives and processes information, immersing audiences in a dynamic stream of images, sounds, and ideas. Taking as a point of departure THINK's multiscreen setup and its distinctive orchestration of audio-visual rhythm, Pavilion revisits this early precursor to database cinema and reflects upon the optimism and apprehension that shaped its cultural context, at a time when generative AI has now exponentially increased the scale and speed of data patterning. Pavilion integrates filmed and archival material, and uses generative AI to composite footage iteratively. It features new choral compositions created by the artist for the occasion and performed by members of the Taipei Male Choir, presented in a multi-channel soundscape designed by Hsieh Hsien Te at the Taiwan Sound Lab.
Widely recognized for his singular approach towards sound and new technologies, Samson Young (born 1979 in Hong Kong) utilizes performance, video, and installation to rigorously examine the cultural, political, and historical contexts of sound.
