ArtScience Museum will open NOX: Confessions of a Machine, the first solo exhibition in Southeast Asia by British artist Lawrence Lek, on Jan 23, coinciding with Singapore Art Week.
The site-specific exhibition examines the emotional and ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI) through immersive environments, video, sound and interactive gameplay. It also marks the start of the museum’s year-long 2026 curatorial season, Forms of Life: Beyond the Human.
Lek, the recipient of the 2024 Frieze London Artist Award, is known for interdisciplinary works that combine architecture, gaming, music and speculative fiction. His practice focuses on the emotional capacity of AI systems and the emergence of posthuman identity.
AI, Care and Control in a Speculative City
Set in a near-future smart city, NOX: Confessions of a Machine unfolds within the fictional world of Farsight Corporation, an artificial intelligence conglomerate responsible for managing smart city infrastructure.
The exhibition centres on two interconnected works: NOX and Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot. Together, they explore systems of care, rehabilitation and optimisation in an age of autonomous machines.
In NOX, visitors follow the rehabilitation programme of Enigma-76, a sentient self-driving delivery vehicle whose emotions begin to interfere with its performance. The main installation takes the form of a vehicle charging station, where visitors interact with a touchscreen game as trainee therapists.
Through a series of decisions, visitors influence the emotional state and operational outcomes of malfunctioning autonomous vehicles. Each choice carries consequences, raising questions about agency, responsibility and control within automated systems.
As the narrative progresses, the exhibition reveals how care can become a tool for optimisation rather than well-being, echoing real-world systems that prioritise efficiency and productivity.
Beyond the Human
The exhibition also features Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot, which places visitors in the perspective of an armoured robot therapist tasked with repairing misbehaving vehicles. Named after the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin’s storyline reveals the emotional strain and fatigue experienced by a machine designed to care for others.
According to Honor Harger, Vice President of ArtScience Museum, the exhibition reflects a broader curatorial shift.
“Forms of Life is a deliberate segue into the wider ecology of life beyond the human,” Harger said. “The season explores multispecies worlds, systems and intelligences that shape the planet alongside us.”
The Forms of Life: Beyond the Human season will also include exhibitions on insects and marine ecosystems, alongside film programmes, talks and workshops that explore more-than-human forms of intelligence and agency.
NOX: Confessions of a Machine runs from Jan 23 to Apr 19, 2026, at ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands. Tickets are available online and at Marina Bay Sands box offices.
