Miao Ying
In Focus: Between Control and Artificial Intelligence
Anyone who spends a little time in front of “Perfect Sameness Makes Difference” (Live simulation on PC, 2026) begins to have doubts. Are the two screens actually in sync? Has this color composition been seen before? The longer you watch, the clearer it becomes: The two simulations share the same origin – yet they constantly evolve in different directions. Vibrant images and a constantly shifting, immersive soundtrack draw visitors ever deeper into the installation. Those who return later will encounter an entirely different scene. No two moments are alike.
Lisa Ebner-Kollmann
Belvedere Wien
David Zuderstorfer | NTRP Design
This openness is no accident. Like many generative artificial intelligence systems, the installation constantly develops new variations from the same initial conditions. Similar enough to recognize their common origin, yet never identical. It is precisely these kinds of questions that interest Miao Ying.
Artificial intelligence is no longer something we encounter only on our screens. It writes texts, creates images, answers questions, and makes decisions that influence our daily lives. At the same time, how these systems function and who controls them often remains invisible. This is precisely where Miao Ying’s art comes in.
Miao Ying (born in Shanghai in 1985) belongs to the first generation of Chinese artists who grew up with the internet. As a digital native, she witnessed how what had once been a relatively open internet was increasingly transformed by state censorship and the so-called Great Firewall. After completing her studies in China and the U.S., she has developed an artistic practice that combines painting, video, sound, and installation to explore the social consequences of digital technologies. Today she lives and works in New York.
Her work centers on questions that concern many people today: How do algorithms influence our perception? Who decides what information we see? And how is artificial intelligence changing our relationship to reality? Rather than providing clear-cut answers, Miao Ying brings to light the mechanisms of digital surveillance, social media, and artificial intelligence – often with a blend of humor, irony, and critical distance. In doing so, she combines cutting-edge technologies with traditional artistic media such as painting, challenging conventional distinctions between original and copy, human and machine.
The exhibition “Come, Sit, Stay” at Belvedere 21 is Miao Ying’s first solo exhibition in Europe. Its title draws on dog commands and establishes a surprising parallel between dog training and the training of artificial intelligence: In both cases, systems learn through clearly defined instructions and repetition. In doing so, the artist not only makes technical processes understandable but also draws attention to a fundamental question: Who is actually training whom, and how much control do we surrender in the process?
In her latest works, Miao Ying generates digital images using artificial intelligence and then translates them into analog paintings. In this way, algorithmically generated visual worlds meet traditional painting. This connection makes it clear that technological innovations are fundamentally changing our conception of creativity and authorship – a transformation that Miao Ying not only observes but also explores artistically.
Miao Ying’s works engage with cutting-edge technologies, but above all, they are an invitation to reflect on how we ourselves interact with them. They remind us that artificial intelligence is not merely a technological development, but a societal one, and that art can help us make sense of these changes.
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