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Google announced two new artworks by Xin Liu and Eunjo Lee, created during an online artist residency with LAS Art Foundation and Google Arts & Culture. The works, ‘nom nom’ and ‘In Your Eyes, Before My Own,’ use Google AI tools to explore collective intelligence, ancient philosophy, and linguistics.
Google has announced two new artworks by artists Xin Liu and Eunjo Lee, created during an online artist residency with LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture Lab. The works — Liu’s “nom nom” and Lee’s “In Your Eyes, Before My Own” — were made using Google AI tools and examine questions of philosophy, psychology, and artificial intelligence, according to a report published on Google’s blog on September 29, 2026.
The residency was designed, according to Google, to support artists in exploring digital world building and the simulation of living systems. The two participating artists were selected for what the organization described as their exceptional technical skill and artistic imagination. Both were asked a guiding question: how can artists use technology to deepen our understanding of life, matter, and consciousness?
“nom nom,” by Xin Liu, explores how collective intelligence can emerge from the interaction of millions of small particles. Liu drew on research into artificial life and emergent computation by Google researchers Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Alexander Mordvintsev, and specifically on the concept of Neural Cellular Automata (NCAs) — models in which millions of particles form, compete, and dissolve into a self-organizing ecology. A video walkthrough of the experience has been published alongside the announcement.
“In Your Eyes, Before My Own,” by Eunjo Lee, uses what the artist calls a “techno-alchemy” process that combines ancient philosophy, linguistics, and modern psychology. 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 to create a linguistic system reflecting the landscape’s geometry. Both works are credited as commissioned by LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture in 2026.
Why These Commissions Matter
The announcement highlights how major technology companies are positioning AI not only as a productivity tool but as a creative medium for commissioned art. By pairing artists with internal research — in Liu’s case, direct engagement with Google researchers’ work on emergent computation — the residency offers a model for how frontier AI research can move from the lab into public cultural works.
The two projects also illustrate two contrasting artistic approaches to the same technology. Liu’s work frames intelligence as distributed and ecological, while Lee’s treats AI as a bridge between ancient philosophical traditions and contemporary digital experience. For readers following debates about AI and creativity, the commissions show artists actively interpreting the technology rather than simply applying it.
How the Residency Was Built
The Online Artist Residency is a program run by LAS Art Foundation, a Berlin-based arts organization, in collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture Lab, whose head is Freya Salway. According to Google’s announcement, the program’s stated focus is digital world building and the simulation of living systems, with artists given access to Google AI tools during the residency period.
Liu’s piece builds on the lineage of Neural Cellular Automata research, a line of work associated with Mordvintsev, also known for earlier work on visualization techniques in neural networks. Lee’s work draws on Buddhist concepts, most explicitly the philosophy of Indra’s net, which she connects to modern neural networks in her artist statement.
“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
Details Not Yet Specified
Google’s announcement does not specify where the works are being exhibited, whether they are available as online experiences, in physical installations, or both, or how long they will remain on view. The dates and duration of the residency itself, and how the two artists were selected beyond Google’s general description, are also not detailed in the published report. Readers should note that the primary source for this article is a Google blog post, and some described elements — such as the characterization of the artists’ technical skill — reflect the organizers’ own framing rather than independent assessment.
Where to See the Works
According to the announcement, a video walkthrough of “nom nom” has been released to guide viewers through the experience, and both commissions are credited to LAS Art Foundation and Google Arts & Culture for 2026. Readers interested in future collaborations can sign up for Google’s newsletters, which the company says carry product updates and program information. Further exhibition details, if any, would come from LAS Art Foundation or Google Arts & Culture channels; none had been announced in the September 29 report.
Key Questions
What are the two new artworks about?
Xin Liu’s “nom nom” explores how collective intelligence emerges from millions of interacting particles, using Neural Cellular Automata research. Eunjo Lee’s “In Your Eyes, Before My Own” combines ancient Buddhist philosophy, Korean Hangul linguistics, and 3D animation to examine physical and digital existence.
Who organized the artist residency?
The Online Artist Residency was run by LAS Art Foundation in collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture Lab. Google announced the resulting works on its blog on September 29, 2026.
Which AI tools did the artists use?
According to Google, Lee used Nano Banana and Veo to convert hand-drawn sketches into 3D assets. Liu worked with concepts from Google research on artificial life and Neural Cellular Automata developed by Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Alexander Mordvintsev.
Where can the artworks be viewed?
Google has released a video walkthrough for “nom nom.” The announcement does not specify full exhibition details or venues for either work, so availability beyond the published materials is not yet clear.
How were the two artists chosen?
Google states the artists were selected for their “exceptional technical skill and artistic imagination,” but the selection process and criteria beyond that description have not been detailed publicly.
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