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Miao Ying
Come, Sit, Stay
In her first solo exhibition in Europe, Chinese artist Miao Ying draws an unusual analogy between artificial intelligence and the animal kingdom. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform our society more fundamentally than almost any other technological innovation before. Miao Ying’s striking work builds on the collective incredulous amazement it sparks: She highlights the technical conditions of artificial intelligence while simultaneously addressing the profoundly human desire to control this new technology.
Curated by Sergey Harutoonian.
Assistant Curator: Vasilena Stoyanova
Belvedere 21
Opening Hours
Address
Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Vienna
Getting thereIn cooperation with
The Exhibition
Following her artistic training in both China and the United States, Miao Ying developed a critical, often ironic body of work that probes the intersections of technology, ideology, and digital imagery. Her installations, videos, and paintings examine the mechanisms behind digital surveillance, government control, and media manipulation. Inspired by dog commands, her solo exhibition Come, Sit, Stay at Belvedere 21 deliberately juxtaposes dog training and human-led AI training: Clearly defined commands guide both learning and control—in dogs as well as in artificial intelligence.
In her latest works, Miao Ying creates AI-generated digital images using generative neural networks programmed with predefined parameters. She then translates these digital compositions into analog, painterly formats. This fusion of new technologies and traditional image-making calls into question our perception of reality and control. By translating the digital into the physical, the often abstract cycle of data processing takes on concrete form, and its aesthetics can be appreciated with the senses. At the same time, the artist harks back to cultural tropes with origins long before the development of modern computer technologies. Allusions to medieval notions of magic, alchemy, and incantations indicate that technical innovations are always accompanied by projections and irrational fears and hopes. By combining this historical imagery with the latest advances in artificial intelligence, she introduces a both critical and humorous perspective on a technology whose social implications are only gradually becoming apparent.
Biography
Miao Ying (born 1985 in Shanghai, China) is an interdisciplinary artist who grew up in China at a time of profound social and technological change. She belongs to the generation of Chinese artists whose upbringing was shaped by the emergence of the internet, the one-child policy, and increasing digital censorship. In her research-based artistic practice, which combines painting, video, sound, and installations, Miao Ying examines the technology and the socio-politics both of a globally networked world and of modern China by exposing the mechanisms behind digital surveillance, state censorship, and social media. In her latest works, she engages with artificial intelligence and machine learning, devising scenarios for the coexistence of humans and algorithms. Her works are artistic testimonies to profound technological change. Miao Ying lives and works in New York and Shanghai.
International art institutions have dedicated solo exhibitions to her work. These include: Art Museum at the University of Toronto (2022); M+Museum, Kowloon (online, 2020); London Art Night (2018); New Museum, New York (2016); Goethe-Institut Peking (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai Pavilion (2016); Biennale di Venezia (online, 2015); V Art Centre, Shanghai (2014).
The artist’s work can be found in the following collections (selection): M+ Museum, Hong Kong; K11 collection, Hong Kong; Uli and Rita Sigg collection, Switzerland; Honus Tandijono collection, Hong Kong; The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Arts (CFCCA) Manchester; G H ART, Netherlands; Shanghai Art Museum.
