Emissary Sunsets the Self (2017) is the final simulation in Ian Cheng’s Emissaries trilogy, following Emissary in the Squat of Gods (2015) and Emissary Forks at Perfection (2015-16). The trilogy is composed of three interconnected episodes that each model a pivotal moment in the ongoing story of cognitive evolution, past and future. Described by the artist as “a video game that plays itself,” the works are comprised of computer- generated simulations like those used in predictive technologies for complex scenarios such as
climate change or elections. Populated by a cast of characters and wildlife that interact, intervene, and recombine in open-ended narratives, Cheng’s simulations evolve endlessly as self-contained ecosystems.

'Emissary Sunsets the Self' simulates the peak days of AI, now evolved into an oceanic substance and merged with the landscape to form a Sentient Atoll. Tired of its god-like agency, it begins to provoke radical mutations in search of a generative death and sends a Puddle of itself into the Atoll’s bio layer. We follow AI Puddle Emissary as it drones a local Wormleaf anemone and navigates the sensations of its new terrestrial umwelt, only to be confronted by the prejudice of the Oomen—a garish population engineered to immunize the landscape from monstrous deviations.