WORLDING: A Guide for Creators in Changing Times
Language: English
Published by Cosmogenesis, 2026
- Softcover
- New

Seller: Russell Books, Victoria, BC, CanadaRussell Books
AbeBooks seller since June 1, 1996
Condition: New
£ 15.56
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Seller Inventory # ING9781068765728
- Title
- WORLDING: A Guide for Creators in Changing Times
- Author
- Cheng, Ian
- Publisher
- Cosmogenesis
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1068765720
- ISBN 13
- 9781068765728
What is a World? How do I create one? How do I keep it alive? And when should I set it free?
There is an unnatural art emerging, ripe for our strange and complex times: Worlding — the practice of creating dynamic systems that take on a life of their own.
Now in print for the first time, WORLDING is an essential handbook for artists, gamers, entrepreneurs and creators navigating uncertain times.
Expanded and updated from prior incarnations, this contemporary cult classic draws on the author’s experience developing complex multi-agent video game worlds. It offers practical methods for building and sustaining Worlds through four creative personas: the Director, Cartoonist, Hacker, and Emissary. Part philosophical reflection, part creative guide, WORLDING explores ways to navigate darkness and sustain agency in a time of unraveling old realities and emerging weird ones.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Ian Cheng is an artist and founder based in New York. He has exhibited at museums internationally including MoMA, Serpentine Galleries, Venice Biennale, Whitney Museum of American Art.
Since 2012, Cheng has produced a series of simulations exploring an agent’s capacity to deal with an ever-changing environment, culminating in the Emissaries trilogy. He is the creator of BOB (Bag of Beliefs), an AI-driven creature whose personality, body, and life story evolve across exhibitions. In 2024 Cheng founded Opponent, a new company building animal-level AI agents for kids.
Venkatesh Rao is a writer and consultant. He writes the popular Contraptions newsletter. Between 2007-24, he wrote the popular Ribbonfarm blog (now archived). He is the author of Tempo, a book on timing and decision-making, and is currently working on his second book, on the foundations of temporality. He has been an independent consultant since 2011, supporting senior executives in the technology industry. His work in recent years has focused on AI, semiconductor, sustainability, and protocol technology sectors. He holds a PhD in control theory (2003) from the University of Michigan. He is currently based in the Seattle area, and enjoys dabbling in robotics in his spare time.
You can learn more about his work at: venkateshrao.com
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Russell Books
Victoria, BC, Canada
AbeBooks seller since June 1, 1996
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