The rise of technological intervention and AI has marked a new era within the art world. But, for Chinese-Canadian artist and researcher Sougwen Chung, this wave of change isn’t about replacing human creativity, instead enabling humans and machines to synergize artistically. Based on the principles of Vedic meditation – and a painstaking development phase – Chung has identified a way to connect her brain waves to a robotic arm, initiating a technologically manipulated flow state used to apply brush strokes alongside those formed by her own hand.

In short film The Wave, Berlin-based writer and director Maximilian Andereya creates a portrait of Chung’s practice, and the robotic accomplice through which her future-driven vision has materialized. Developed over a year-long residency in Basel, Switzerland, Chung molded the need to be telepresent into a hybrid process that pushes the boundaries of her own mind, channeling thought patterns and physiology into an innovative artistic approach.

Simultaneously present and absent in the creation of her work, Chung is able to free herself creatively through the intense involvement required to programme these robotic systems. Differentiating between the fluidity of human creativity and the strict automation of machines, The Wave positions Chung at the center of untapped artistic territory, exploring the sense of harmony attained by expanding into new technologies.