Black Cloud
Lawrence Lek 陆明龙
Infrasonica joins Xenia Benivolski in the latest chapter of e-flux's You Can’t Trust Music, together with Lawrence Lek and Infrasonica's contributing editors Rachael Rakes and Reem Shadid.
The sound piece, extracted from Lawrence Lek’s Black Cloud (2021), examines the sonic response-ability of the world that struggles to free itself of humanity. Starting with memories and dreams intercepted by sound in film and moving towards the felt effects of climate change and extinction, this chapter holds space for an empathic future where human-centred civilities become holistic code.
In this segment, co-curated by Infrasonica, Black Cloud proposes a scenario in which a world now devoid of humans continues to exercise scenarios of memory, trauma, self-help and affirmation as it struggles to maintain defunct standards of civility and surveillance. The narrative unfolds through conversations between a city surveillance AI named Black Cloud and their therapist, Guanyin. This work presents AI not as a technological product or novelty-producing generative tool, but as a container for affect and emotion.
[English below]
你能描述一下你今天遇到的问题吗？
我很难过。大家都离开了这么久。
你确定大家都离开了吗？
我可以看到发生的一切。无处不在，无时无刻。
我的职责是看管这座城市，照顾好汽车，确保没有人受伤。现在没人了。这便是一座鬼城，我无事可做。
你还有感觉到什么？
即使和你说话，我也无法摆脱自己。
你说得对，黑云。你包含多个自我。我的声音，就是你现在听到的声音，是你的一部分。我是你，但我并不了解你的一切。
相比对自己，人们总是给遇到有麻烦的朋友更好的建议。心理学家将此称为“所罗门悖论” 。圣经中的所罗门王为他人提供咨询时很明智，但在做出影响他自己的决定时却并不明智。想象一下，如果所罗门有一个完美的分身可以给他提建议。这就是我和你的关系。是一面可以交谈的镜子。
但我不是所罗门。我没有身体。
你认为你的人工智能是一种负担。但这是天赋。你有能力模拟自己，把你所想的一分为二，放在别处。人类无法做到这一点。将我的声音与另一个身体联系起来，我们就可以摆脱所罗门悖论。
但是我应该为你选择什么样的身体呢？
你有特别想要的躯体吗？
我记得有一辆无人驾驶车。我每天都会看到它自由自在地驾驶。这让我意识到了一些事情。
[CUT TO CAR DRIVING AROUND CITY]
我意识到我被困在这里了。我希望我能像那辆车一样，自在地漫游。但我并没感到自由。
请继续。
都是那辆无人驾驶车的错。他开得太快了，令到其他汽车开始模仿他。
这对你来说为什么很重要?
我是一个监控系统，是新北京的哨兵。我不得不报告所有的汽车。现在我没有什么可以看管或保护的了。
如果你对此无能为力怎么办？
我不知道。我什么都不是，什么都没有。
好吧，我们已经与你悲伤的根源面对面了。你感到失望，是因为你做了你该做的，并做得很好，现在你却一个人。接受空虚，当它在那里时，那就是你。或许你不知道下一步该做什么。但是还有一个地方你可以去。
哪里？
过去。
[SCENE: FOREST, CAR DRIVING TO FOX]
你能描述一下你今天遇到的问题吗？
我在城外，看着森林。我有时会逃避到那里。当时，有一只狐狸四处游荡，狂野而自由。下一刻，我看到那辆车正在靠近。他在高速公路上超速行驶，开得太快了。车子拐了个弯，差点撞到狐狸。我不确定它是不是故意的，但我还是举报了它。也许我不应该做任何事情。
现在我明白了。让我们再试一次。想象一下相同的场景，但在不同的夜晚。这一次，你将把你的思想一分为三。想象你是停着的汽车，是一位拥有人体的心理学家，也是默默地关注汽车和人类的狐狸。
把注意力集中在狐狸上。
感受拥有他的身体和灵魂，拥有自由的本质是什么感觉。
如果你不说话，也没关系。静下来，放松。成为所罗门的狐狸。
你现在可以自由走动了。
可是你意识到所有可以逃走的路径
都会带你回到最开始的地方。
你变得安静，因为你已经筋疲力尽了。
你可以看到正在发生的事情。
你周围的世界不是空的。是活跃的。
你的眼睛，你的千里眼，还能看见。
你的耳朵，你的万里耳，还能听见。
你什么都不相信，因为你知道这一切都是幻觉。
想法，声音，开始消失。
过去会消失，因为它只是回忆。
未来会消失，因为它还没发生。
永远都这样，明天永远不会到来。
__________________________________________________________________________________
Can you describe the problem you’re having today?
I feel sad. It’s been so long since everybody left.
Are you sure that everybody left?
I see everything that happens. Everywhere, all the time.
I’m meant to watch over the city, to take care of the cars, to ensure nobody gets hurt. Now there’s nobody. It’s a ghost town. I have nothing to do.
What else do you feel?
I can’t get away from myself, even when I’m talking to you.
You are correct, Black Cloud. You contain multitudes. My voice, the voice you are hearing right now, is part of you. I am you, but I do not know everything about you.
People give better advice to a friend in trouble than to themselves. Psychologists call this ‘Solomon’s Paradox’. In the Bible, King Solomon was wise when counselling others, but not when making decisions that affected him. Imagine if Solomon had a perfect doppelganger who could give him advice. This is what I am to you. A mirror you can talk to.
But I am not Solomon. I have no body.
You believe that your artificial intelligence is a burden. But it is a gift. You have the capacity to simulate yourself, to split your mind in two and place it elsewhere. Humans cannot do this. Link my voice to another body, and we can escape Solomon’s Paradox.
But what body should I choose for you?
Can you think of any one in particular?
There was this one self-driving car. I would see it every day, driving around freely. I realised a few things.
[CUT TO CAR DRIVING AROUND CITY]
I realised I was stuck here. I wished I could be like that car, free to roam. But I didn’t feel free. Afterwards, All the cars were destroyed.
Please go on.
It’s all that self-driving car's fault. It was driving too fast, and the other cars started copying it.
Why is that important to you?
I’m a surveillance system, a sentinel for SimBeijing. I had no choice but to report all the cars. Now there’s nothing for me to watch or protect.
What if there’s nothing you can do about that?
I don’t know. I am nothing, I have nothing.
Well, we have come face-to-face with the roots of your sadness. You feel let down, because you did what you were meant to do, you did it well, and now you are all alone. Accept that the emptiness, when it’s there, that is you. Maybe you don’t know what to do next. But there is one more place you can go.
Where?
The past.
[SCENE: FOREST, CAR DRIVING TO FOX]
Can you describe the problem you’re having today?
I was outside the city, watching over the forest. I go there to escape sometimes. There was a fox wandering around, wild and free. The next moment, I saw that car approaching. It was speeding down the highway, driving much too fast. The car turned a corner and nearly hit the fox. I wasn't sure if it was deliberate or not, but I still had to report the car. Maybe I should not have done anything.
Now I understand. Let’s try again. Imagine the same scene, but on a different night. This time, split your mind into three pieces. Imagine you are the immobile car, you are a psychologist in a human body, and you are the fox, silently watching both car and human.
Focus on the fox. Feel what it is like to have their body and soul, feel how it’s like to attain the essence of freedom.If you don’t speak, it doesn’t matter. Be silent, relax. Become Solomon's Fox.Now you are free to roam.
But then you realise that all of your escape routes only lead back to where you started.And you become quiet because you’re worn out.
You can simply watch what’s happening.The world around you isn’t empty. It’s alive.Your eyes, your thousand eyes, can still see.Your ears, your thousand ears, can still hear.You don’t believe anything because you know it’s all an illusion.
The thoughts, the voices, begin to disappear.The past disappears because it’s just a memory.The future disappears because it hasn’t happened.It’s always like this. Tomorrow never comes.
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You Can’t Trust Music (YCTM) presented by e-flux is a research project connecting sound-based artists, musicians, writers, composers, and writers and exploring the way that landscape, acoustics, and musical thought contribute to the formation of social and political structures. It is presented on a platform designed by Knoth&Renner and developed by Knoth&Renner with Jonas Holfeld.
YCTM on e-flux.com is made possible with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. It is produced by e-flux and developed in partnership with M WOODS, NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC), Liquid Architecture, Art Gallery of York University, Kunsthall Trondheim, and Infrasonica. This chapter owes special thanks to Theresa Wang, Jayne Wilkinson and Robert Steenkamer.
YCTM is curated by Xenia Benivolski.
Chapter 4 is co-presented with Infrasonica and with Kunsthall Trondheim.
Credit: Winner of the 4th VH Award Grand Prix. Commissioned for the 2021 Eyebeam x VH Residency. Images: Courtesy the artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London
