[ISEA2006] Artist Statement: Shu Lea Cheang – Baby Love (2005)

Artist Statement

Invited Artwork. Venue: City Hall Rotunda

Baby Love is a participatory installation that consists of 6 autonomously mobile teacups with 6 clone babies. The teacups are modeled after spinning carnival rides, playing out loud love songs uploaded by public via the web at babylove.biz and transmitted to the babies via wireless network.
The love songs collected are coded as ME (memory and emotion) data for the clone babies. By taking a teacup ride with the babies, the ME data is retrieved, jumbled and eventually crashes. Baby Love situates human and baby clone riders in a perpetual spin of the familiar fairground with contemporary remix pop culture.

Baby Love is a National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts commission. US exhibition liaison: Taipei Cultural Center (TECO), New York

With support from Council for Culture Affairs, Taiwan in collaboration with SQV Design International, Tatung University – Mechanical Engineering department, eLife Techonology Innovation Center and Sony Computer Science Laboratory Paris, France