Vaster than Empires 2024

The artists assembled a bespoke, generative AI system to interpret themes in the writer Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fiction story “Vaster than Empires.” Theo Downes-Le Guin reads an excerpt that conveys the ruminative but tense mood of the short story, whose characters are often in conflict with one another as they confront a profoundly alien environment. Through a delicate balance of visuals and implied emotions, we invite the audience to traverse the thin boundaries of self and other. The work aims to challenge our preconceptions about what entities possess intelligence to deepen humans’ sense of connection to alien Others in the vastness of the universe.