Lynn Hershman Leeson

The Agent Ruby Files

March 30 - June 02, 2013

In 2001 - 2002 SFMOMA commissioned the web project Agent Ruby by acclaimed San Francisco artist Lynn Hershman Leeson for its pioneering online platform e.space. Since then, Agent Ruby — an artificial intelligence web agent — has conversed with online users, which has shaped her memory, knowledge, and moods. The work reflects the artist's longstanding interest in the interaction between fictional or virtual characters and real people or situations. This digital and analog presentation of this work from the collection, organized by SFMOMA Curator of Media Arts Rudolf Frieling, reinterprets dialogues drawn from a decade-long archive of text files, and reflects on technologies, recurrent themes, and patterns of audience engagement.