“Empty Rider” by Lawrence Lek
2024 · colour CH, UK · En · 16’ · In competition
“Empty Rider” is a single-channel video installation that extends Lawrence Lek’s use of cinematic language and simulated environments to explore the architecture of control. Developed using computer-generated animation, the work follows the trial of Vanguard, a sentient self-driving car accused of an attack on its human operator.
Framed as a courtroom drama, Empty Rider explores the legal status of electronic personhood and autonomous machines. The video is rendered from the perspective of a surveillance drone observing Vanguard in a vast, empty tribunal. Three testimonies unfold: the corporate prosecutor argues for full autonomy and criminal intent; the car’s AI therapist pleads for doli incapax, the presumption that a child cannot be held responsible; finally, Vanguard issues a statement grounded in machine subjectivity.
Originally commissioned for the 18th Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement in Geneva, Empty Rider marks the final chapter in Lek’s Smart City saga, following Black Cloud (2021) and NOX (2023). Together, these works form a sustained investigation into identity, agency, and affect in the age of artificial intelligence.
Director’s biography
Lawrence Lek (b. 1982, Frankfurt am Main) is a London-based artist working in moving image, digital animation, and installation. Often staged as immersive environments, his projects take the form of cinematic virtual worlds that explore technology, memory, and the architecture of real and imagined space.
Recent solo presentations include NOX, LAS Art Foundation, Berlin (2024); Black Cloud Highway, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2023); and Farsight Freeport, Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel (2019). Recent institutional exhibitions include the 24th Biennale of Sydney (2024); 18th Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Geneva; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; de Young Museum, San Francisco; and Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul. Lek’s work is held in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, New York; M+ Museum, Hong Kong; Rubell Museum, Miami; and Princeton University Art Museum.
Lek studied at Trinity College, Cambridge; the Architectural Association, London; The Cooper Union, New York; and completed his PhD at the Royal College of Art. His accolades include the LACMA Art + Technology Lab Grant, Jerwood/FVU Award, VH Award Grand Prix, and the Frieze Artist Award. In 2024, he was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI. He is represented by Sadie Coles HQ.
