Campus View of Alfred University

MFA student’s artwork “Ba Huang” blasts off

Feb 07, 2024   |   Arts At Alfred News   Ceramics   News   NYSCC 125  

Artwork by Chen Tianchen, a second-year MFA student in Alfred University’s School of Art and Design, recently took off – literally – powered by a rocket that ignited off the coast of Laiyang, Shandong Province, China.

blast off art
Chen Tianchen's "Ba Huang" lifts off from a floating platform off the coast of China.

Artwork by Chen Tianchen, a second-year MFA student in Alfred University’s School of Art and Design, recently took off – literally – powered by a rocket that ignited off the coast of Laiyang, Shandong Province, China.

"Ba Huang," a 30x30 cm art piece composed of three layers of colored acrylic, rose into space on Jan. 11. The artwork included an embedded memory chip, loaded with an artificial intelligence language model developed by Tianchan, who also studied artificial intelligence algorithms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to the website Mana, “Ba Huang” is “the first AI-crated artwork in human history to enter space.”

The artwork is expected to remain in space for more than 20 years.

Tianchen is currently studying in the School of Art and Design's Institute for Electronic Arts. For an extended discussion of the historical significance of "Ba Huang," click on the Mana article, "In a Great Leap for Art and Technology Integration, Artist Tianchen's "Ba Huang" Ventures into Space."

Share this article