Jonathan Bruce Williams — Move 37, 2024, programmable LED lightbox
Jonathan Bruce Williams — Move 37, 2024, programmable LED lightbox

Move 37

Jonathan Bruce Williams
2024
73.3 × 109.3 × 10.6 cm
Programmable LED lightbox

"Move 37" endlessly iterates John Conway's Game of Life (1970) behind a Go board depicting the 37th move played by Google's AlphaGo against Lee Sedol in 2016. Initially dismissed as an error, the move proved decisive, a turning point in AI. The work draws an arc from Conway's cellular automata to contemporary AI systems whose influence is evolving daily. Framed by schematic human and robotic figures, the flickering board becomes an unstable arena, hinting at a future where human presence feels diminished, even obsolete.

Video

From Let's All Abandon Reality Together, Kai Matsumiya, New York, 2025.
© 2024 Jonathan Bruce Williams. All rights reserved. Copyright and permissions.