Lawrence Lek
Nøtel
On July 18, Fotografiska Shanghai is proud to present Nøtel, a groundbreaking solo exhibition by artist Lawrence Lek, marking the project’s first comprehensive showcase in China. This is an ongoing series that has been continuously evolving by Lek since 2015. Nøtel envisions a speculative model of future habitation, one that is fully globalized, standardized, and fundamentally transient.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Through multimedia installations, interactive gaming, and recursive virtual environments, with music composed by electronic musician Kode 9 (Steve Goodman), the exhibition immerses audiences in a futuristic space oscillating between luxurious experiences and technological alienation.
During the exhibition, Fotografiska’s space will be transformed into a real estate marketing suite for the fictional Nøtel Corporation, Lek’s design for the luxury hotel of the future. This immersive advertisement allows visitors to experience Nøtel through interactive video games, guided walkthrough trailers, and CGI prints, presenting the global hotel chain as if it already exists.
For the Shanghai exhibition, Lek has added a "CEO Art Collection" — a new room inside the game that replicates the installation in Fotografiska Shanghai's space, along with trailers from his previous works. Lek has created new wallpapers and prints for the physical exhibition space, intertwining virtual scenes from the game with the real world, embedding and reflecting the virtual space into the physical environment. This blurs the boundary between the virtual and the real, expanding the infinite possibilities of simulation as a form of spatial art.
Nøtel constructs a dystopian vision of the future through its “fully-automated luxury hotel” concept. In this speculative future, AI, drones, facial recognition and omnipresent sensor systems replace human labor, anticipating every guest's need to deliver ultimate privacy and hyper-personalized service, while simultaneously erasing both the traces of human work and any sense of belonging.
More than an exhibition, Lek employs speculative aesthetics to unpack the implicit consequences of technological reliance. The works seduces viewers with futuristic opulence, yet its sleek automation demands critical reflection: When algorithms preempt all desires and living spaces become replaceable, standardized commodities, do we consciously relinquish our privacy and autonomy?
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lawrence Lek is a London-based Malaysian Chinese artist who unites film, video games, and electronic soundscapes in a singular cinematic universe. Drawing from a background in architecture and electronic music, he builds interconnected virtual worlds that operate as three-dimensional collages of found objects and situations through the lens of science fiction. His worlds often feature the narratives of nomadic characters, wandering through alien technological landscapes in search of identity and control.
In his ongoing Sinofuturist universe, beginning with the 2016 video essay Sinofuturism (1839–2046 AD), Lek explores how the interplay between geopolitics and technology shapes a vision of the coming world that conflates China and its diaspora with artificial intelligence. In this and other works, the artist imagines how agency may be restored to the Other: a satellite in Geomancer (2017) wishes to become an artist, while AIDOL (2019) centers on the relationship between a fading pop star and an aspiring AI songwriter. Blurring geographical borders and the boundary between natural and artificial beings, Lek leads viewers to confront contradictions that humanity might face in the near future.
Lek composes soundtracks and conducts live audio-visual mixes of his games and films, often in collaboration with other musicians. Recent albums include AIDOL OST, Hyperdub; and Temple OST, The Vinyl Factory.
Solo exhibitions include NOX, LAS Art Foundation, Berlin (2023); Nepenthe (Summer Palace Ruins), QUAD, Derby (2022); Post-Sinofuturism, ZiWU The Bund, Shanghai (2022); Farsight Freeport, HEK, Basel (2019); Nøtel, Stroom Den Haag, The Hague (2018); and 2065, K11, Hong Kong (2018). He studied at Cambridge University, the Architectural Association, and The Cooper Union, and received a PhD from the Royal College of Art in 2022.