Life After BOB
Ian Cheng
LAS Art Foundation

A large-scale, technically complex institutional production combining live-streamed simulation, architectural build, and continuous public operation across two floors of Halle am Berghain.

Life After BOB: The Chalice Study was co-commissioned by LAS, The Shed and Luma Foundation.

Life After BOB: The Chalice Study was commissioned and presented by LAS Art Foundation, in partnership with The Shed and Luma Foundation. Installed within the post-industrial architecture of Halle am Berghain in Berlin, the exhibition marked the first time Ian Cheng translated his simulation-based practice into a  physical exhibition environment.

As Exhibition Producer, I led the realisation of the exhibition in Berlin, working closely with the artist’s studio in New York and the LAS production team in Berlin to translate a live AI-driven simulation into a durable spatial and operational structure.

Spatial Production

I directed the full architectural build across multiple spaces and levels of Halle am Berghain — from a suspended cinema structure spanning floors to soundproofed screening environment, transitional exhibition zones, and integrated interactive and NFT stations. The project required careful spatial choreography across a complex industrial site while maintaining the technical integrity of the live simulation.

Production Leadership

I negotiated production scopes across multiple vendors and technical suppliers, structuring delivery models to align the exhibition’s architectural ambition with institutional budget constraints.

I managed a team of assistants, worked directly with Berghain’s technical crew on site, and coordinated continuously with LAS Art Foundation to align artistic intent, institutional standards, and operational delivery.

Operational Phase

The exhibition operated as a live system rather than a static installation. Throughout the exhibition run, I oversaw daily operations and technical stability, maintaining five live-streamed screenings per day across the entire duration.

Not a single scheduled screening was cancelled.

Deinstallation

Following the exhibition, I directed the deinstallation across two floors of Halle am Berghain, dismantling complex architectural and technical structures while coordinating the transition between venue and institutional teams.

Press:

  • “(…) the exhibition is a hypnotic, techno-psychedelic future in the grips of a Great Anomic Era.”

  • “This exhibition is a fundamentally physical and bodied experience (…)”

  • “Ian Cheng’s latest film – presented by Light Art Space at Berlin’s techno mecca, Berghain – is set in a little too fast paced future where artificial intelligence is wired to the human nervous system.”

  • “(…)visitors at LUMA Arles in France, The Shed in New York, and the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul have had the opportunity to see Life After BOB, but the Halle am Berghain may be the most ambitious iteration yet.”

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Theo Triantafyllidis