the World Engines lab
The World Engines Lab, hosted by Gray Area Foundation for the Arts, is focused on studying synthetic agents as a “seventh kingdom of life.” We do this through theoretical research and by creating large always online multiplayer worlds with generally capable agents that users can interact with through real time motion capture; we see these worlds as staging grounds for various different art projects: films, performances, sculptures, games, etc. — the ground to explore human-agent relationships. We are compiling an anthology of works in this format, “The Almanac of Artificial Seasons.” And we host focused groups based around some of these ideas: one for simulations, one for embodied AI and one for theory. And then ultimately we throw events for the general public, where they can experience our finds.
Groups (on hold)
Simulation Sessions:
Every 3rd Monday at Gray Area, we convene 3D simulation artists for a brief talk and two hour hack session. These sessions seek to sustain a local community of 3D designers, artists, and technologists, facilitate peer teaching and learning.
Embodied AI Study Club:
Every 3rd Wednesday at Gray Area, we convene a group of ML experts and amateurs to study embodied ML methods: RL, IL, computervision, LLM2Action, etc. We also do small scale experiments and demos in human-agent social interaction.
Theory Study Club:
Every two weeks, in partnership with The Carl Jung Institute of San Francisco, we convene a reading group looking at historical psychological concepts (the collective unconscious), tracing them through to the present day of social media and AI technologies.
Theoretical Research
Simulated Identities In Context
A report for the Goethe Institute on the bi-directional flow between ancestral identities and simulated identities.
THEORIES OF LIFE ON THE NET
(1.) life on the net: serf and sovereign agents
theories of artificial superintelligence
(1.) manifesto of harmonious co-evolution
(2.) gardening in the novascene
(3.) a taxonomy of post-biological life
(4.) of angels, asi and enchantment
(5.) ASI and the state
Curatorial Research
The Almanac of Artificial Seasons (Simulation Anthology)
This anthology centers on the infrastructures—economic, technological, and logistical—that shape production, consumption, and resource use, spotlighting questions of power and sustainability. It recognizes how emerging AI, biotech, and synthetic processes might push evolution beyond biology, situating humans as both catalysts and stewards of this next chapter. Cultivating emergent ecosystems while preserving Earth’s biodiversity becomes a critical ethical concern. Rejecting shallow performative radicalism and nativist scapegoating that mask billionaire-driven environmental devastation, it opens a space where tangible realities and authentic poetic speculation collide. Through theoretical essays, comics, and documentation of artistic projects—Unreal Engine worlds, motion capture performances, interactive narratives—it investigates the shifting landscapes shaped by climate disruption, accelerating AI, and a creeping neo-feudal order.