MEMORY is the second generation of D.O.U.G., the robotic drawing system Chung has been developing since 2015. Where MIMICRY (Generation 1) tracked the artist's gesture in real time, MEMORY introduces a neural network trained on two decades of Chung's archived drawings. The first-generation system watched; MEMORY remembers.
In collaborative performance, the robotic arm draws from this memory bank while Chung draws alongside, producing a two-handed composition in which the machine's mark carries the learned trace of Chung's own hand.
MEMORY was acquired into the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022, the first AI model collected by a major cultural institution. It links the 2015 origin of the practice (MIMICRY) to the current body of work (RECURSIONS, 2026).
It is currently on view in Why We Make at V&A East, London, through 2026.
Drawing Operations Unit: Generation 2 involves robotic memory.
It is an initial exploration into the machine learning the drawing style of the artists hand.
The robotic arm’s behaviour is generated from neural nets trained on the artist’s drawing gestures.
In a sense, the robotic arm has learned from the visual style of the artists previous drawings and outputs a machine interpretation during the human / robot drawing duet.
Drawing Operations Unit: Generation 2 — MEMORY
Gestures from previous drawings are collected and saved, existing as a memory bank for D.O.U.G._2. Analysis of visual style of historic artists to translate into gesture, as well as colour palette as a collective memory bank from which robotic arm will be able to select.
绘图操作单元第2代 (Drawing Operations Unit 2)：这一代的机器人涉及机器人的记忆。这是对机器人学习艺术家手绘风格的初步探索。机器人的手臂通过在艺术家绘画手势上的训练而产生神经网络的行为。从某种意义上说，机器人手臂已经从艺术家的图画视觉风格中学习，并在人类/机器人绘画二重奏期间呈现出机器的表达。
Research
READING LIST
Avanessian, Armen, et al. Speculative Drawing: 2011-2014. Sternberg, 2014.
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Galloway, Alexander R. Protocol, or, How Control Exists after Decentralization. 2001.
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Bad New Days: Art, Criticism, Emergency. Verso, 2015.
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Clark, Andy. Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension. Oxford University Press, 2011.
CREDITS
Technical Direction
Sougwen Chung
Prototypes:
Mary Franck
Francis Tseng
SUPPORTED BY
Supported By
CG Arts
Bell Labs
NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC), Tokyo
Operational Art
drawing alongside robotic systems since 2015
Sougwen Chung — Drawing Operations Unit: Generational Timeline
Seven generations of investigation, 2014 to present. Earlier generations are never fully archived — four remain in active operation.
Duration & Overlap
© 2026 Sougwen Chung / SCILICET.
𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘳𝘵
drawing alongside robotic systems since 2015
For acquisition, commissioning, & press: office@scilicet.xyz ⇢
© 2025 Sougwen Chung / SCILICET.
embodied collaboration; metamorphic ecologies.
For press and collaborations: ⇢office@scilicet.xyz