London’s Serpentine Gallery will launch its second Digital Commission by New York- based artist Ian Cheng in late March. Titled “Bad Corgi,” the commission is a mindfulness app for iOS in which you take control of a dwarfish demon pup – “Bad Corgi.”Tasked with benignly herding sheep and avoiding distraction in a world of chaos, the interactive simulation presents player with the opportunity to experiment with polluting the herd, losing points, and experiencing loss of control over “Bad Corgi.”According to the Serpentine, “Bad Corgi” reflects on the human mind’s mercurial states of focus, distraction, discipline, and uncanny ability to become possessed by an inner impulsive autopilot.“I see my simulations as a kind of neurological gym,” says Cheng, “in which art becomes a means to deliberately exercise the feelings of confusion, anxiety and cognitive dissonance that can accompany life in a world of intense change and uncertainty.”“In the little world of Bad Corgi, the player is subjected to various stress conditions in which control of Bad Corgi is quite literally seized by other forces, leaving the player to accept misbehaviours on the part of Corgi and the app itself.“In this way Bad Corgi functions as a shadowy mindfulness tool about refusing to eradicate stress and anxiety, and instead learning to deliberately setup and collaborate with those bad-feeling feelings.”“Bad Corgi” will be available from the Serpentine’s website and iTunes store
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