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Google announced on September 29, 2026, two new AI-created artworks by Xin Liu and Eunjo Lee, produced during an online artist residency with LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture Lab. ‘nom nom’ explores emergent collective intelligence, while ‘In Your Eyes, Before My Own’ blends Korean Hangul phonetics, Buddhist philosophy, and 3D animation.
Google has announced two new artworks — “nom nom” by Xin Liu and “In Your Eyes, Before My Own” by Eunjo Lee — created during an online artist residency with LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture Lab. The works, unveiled on September 29, 2026, use Google AI tools to explore questions of philosophy, psychology, artificial life, and consciousness.
The residency was designed to support artists working in digital world building and the simulation of living systems, according to a report by Freya Salway, Head of the Google Arts & Culture Lab. Liu and Lee were selected, in Salway’s description, for their exceptional technical skill and artistic imagination.
Liu’s “nom nom” examines how collective intelligence might arise when millions of small particles interact. According to Google, the piece draws on research into artificial life and emergent computation by Google researchers Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Alexander Mordvintsev, and on the concept of Neural Cellular Automata (NCAs) — models in which large numbers of particles form, compete, and dissolve into what the artist describes as a living ecology.
Lee’s “In Your Eyes, Before My Own” uses what the artist calls a “techno-alchemy” process bridging ancient philosophy, linguistics, and modern psychology. Google states that Lee converted hand-drawn sketches into 3D assets using Nano Banana and Veo, layered motion-captured choreography onto characters, and mapped Korean Hangul phonetics over the 3D environment so that the linguistic system reflected the landscape’s geometry. Both works were commissioned by LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture.
Why These Commissions Matter for AI Art
The announcement reflects a continuing effort by major technology companies to position AI as a creative and philosophical medium rather than purely a productivity tool. By pairing artists with in-house AI research — including work on neural cellular automata — the program offers a public showcase of how frontier AI research can be interpreted outside laboratory settings.
For readers following debates about AI and creativity, the works also illustrate two contrasting approaches: Liu treats intelligence as something distributed and emergent across many small systems, while Lee uses AI generation tools to build connections between language, philosophy, and digital identity. Both pieces were made with Google’s own tools, which means the commissions double as demonstrations of the company’s AI product capabilities in artistic hands.
The Residency Behind the Works
According to Google’s announcement, the Online Artist Residency with LAS Art Foundation was structured around a central question: how artists can use technology to deepen understanding of life, matter, and consciousness. The program’s stated focus areas were digital world building and the simulation of living systems.
Liu grounded “nom nom” in research by Google researchers Agüera y Arcas and Mordvintsev, the latter known for his work on cellular automata and visualisation techniques. Lee’s piece references the Buddhist concept of Indra’s net, which holds that all entities reflect one another in an infinite web — an idea she connects to the structure of modern neural networks. LAS Art Foundation, the commissioning body, has previously supported artists working at the intersection of technology and contemporary art.
“I want to explore an image of intelligence distributed across millions of tiny neural networks that react only to their surroundings — not as a singular mind above the world, but as a living ecology of fragments.”
— Xin Liu, artist
What Google’s Announcement Leaves Open
The announcement does not specify where or how the works can be viewed beyond an online video presentation, nor whether physical exhibitions are planned. It also does not detail the residency’s duration, selection process, or whether further editions with additional artists will follow. Google noted that portions of its published report were generated with experimental AI, and the company did not independently publish technical documentation for the artworks themselves.
Descriptions of the works’ effects — such as intelligence “naturally arising” from particle interactions — are the artists’ and organisers’ characterisations rather than verified scientific claims.
Availability and Future Residencies
Readers can currently explore “nom nom” through the video walkthrough referenced in Google’s announcement, and both works are credited as 2026 commissions of LAS Art Foundation and Google Arts & Culture. Google encourages audiences to follow its newsletters for updates on the Arts & Culture Lab’s projects. Whether the residency becomes a recurring program, and whether the works appear in a gallery setting, has not been announced.
Key Questions
Who created the two new artworks?
Xin Liu created “nom nom” and Eunjo Lee created “In Your Eyes, Before My Own.” Both were commissioned by LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture and announced on September 29, 2026.
What AI tools were used?
According to Google, Lee used Nano Banana and Veo to convert hand-drawn sketches into 3D assets, while Liu’s piece drew on research into Neural Cellular Automata by Google researchers Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Alexander Mordvintsev.
What are the artworks about?
“nom nom” explores how collective intelligence can emerge from millions of interacting particles. “In Your Eyes, Before My Own” connects Korean Hangul phonetics, Buddhist philosophy, and psychology through a 3D animated environment.
Where can the works be seen?
Google’s announcement includes an online video guide to “nom nom.” Details about any physical exhibition or broader public availability have not been announced.
What was the residency’s purpose?
Per Google Arts & Culture Lab head Freya Salway, the residency aimed to support artists exploring digital world building and the simulation of living systems, guided by the question of how technology can deepen understanding of life, matter, and consciousness.
Source: rss
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