Kian Peng Ong

Cloud Scripts

CLOUD SCRIPTS is a generative installation and conceptual machine that explores the asemic nature of Daoist Cloud Seals (Yúnzhuàn 雲篆), ritual signs used to communicate between humans and the spiritual world.

Starting from a corpus of these seals extracted from Daoist texts, an artificial intelligence model is trained to generate new talismans without specific figurative meaning, symbolizing an attempt to engage in dialogue with the invisible realm. Data and software become letters, entrusted to the machine as a spiritual mediator. The technology is based on a generative AI model that learns the shapes and distinctive features of the original Cloud Seals corpus to create new ones, combining existing elements in novel ways. The result is a continuous and unpredictable production of asemic signs that do not convey a literal message but evoke a symbolic and spiritual dimension.

The work is inspired by the thought of Kiyoshi Miki, who critiques the rupture between humans and machines in modernity. He calls for reclaiming Eastern technological traditions as a form of resistance to alienation. Instead of speed and efficiency, CLOUD SCRIPTS proposes slow machines capable of reactivating a connection with spirituality and nature. Daoist writing is not merely the transmission of information but a vehicle of sacred energy that connects the human and the divine. From this perspective, computer code can take on a similar role. The Cloud Seals, inspired by cloud shapes believed to manifest spirits, are reimagined through generative techniques to create a ritual space where technology and spirituality intertwine.

Working across a broad range of mediums, including film, sound, VR, and electronics, ong kian-peng situates his practice at the intersection of art, technology and ecology. His work explores ecological thinking through immersive media enviroments and installations that address environmental crises, climate change, and the expanding field of human-technology interactions.

Delving into the complex relationship between culture, nature, and technology, he creates visionary scenarios and raises existential questions about our role in shaping the future of a vulnerable planet. His work has been featured in international exhibitions and festivals such as, most recently, Ars Electronica and Singapore Biennale (2022). In 2017, he co founded Supernormal.space, an independent art space focusing on emerging and experimental art practices. He was awarded the President's Young Talents Grand Prize in 2015. He is an assistant professor at the NTU School of Art, Design and Media and a recipient of the NTU Research Scholarship.

PHOTO CAPTION: CloudScripts

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