Artist and open-source AI engineer
Mingde “MT” Zeng
Mingde “MT” Zeng is a Chinese-Canadian artist and open-source AI engineer based in Toronto. His current practice centres on AI and agentic systems, spanning generative imagery, interactive environments, installation, sound, and moving image. He brings technical experimentation and personal experience into his work, exploring the artistic possibilities of systems that can generate material, interpret it, and participate in its further development.
About
His works often begin with an image, a phrase, or an encounter from everyday life. These starting points develop through generation, selection, composition, and the systems he builds around them. Some works take shape as photographs, recordings, and installations; others continue to unfold through the activity of AI agents and the participation of an audience. Agents can sustain a conversation, interpret events, and shape what happens next within conditions he establishes. A work’s own commentary and interpretation can also become part of its material. His name, likeness, and voice frequently enter these processes, connecting experiments with AI to questions of personal experience and self-representation.
Photography informs his attention to framing, sequence, and display, while open-source engineering makes building and modifying systems part of his artistic process. He develops the visual and sonic character of his works alongside their behaviour, attending to how they look, sound, and unfold over time. Making and experiencing a work can change its direction, allowing new questions and possibilities to emerge through practice.
Education
- 2022
- B.Math., Honours Computational Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Exhibitions
- 2026 (forthcoming)
- 200 Years of Echoes — Camera Collection ExhibitionYin Studio, Hangzhou, ChinaPresenting Speaking for the Collection, an exhibition-specific interactive AI installation. Exhibition included in the French Ministry of Culture’s Bicentennial of Photography programme.
- Oct 2024
- 500px Visual FestChina World Art Museum, Millennium Monument, Beijing, ChinaExhibition documentation.
- July 2023
- The Reason We Live HereSan Sheng Art Space, Markham, Ontario — Group ExhibitionGroup exhibition documentation.
- April 2023
- Wake UpWhite Coffee, Suzhou, China — Group ExhibitionGroup exhibition.
Talks and activities
- Feb 2025
- Artist Talk, “Rethinking the Creative Process with AI,” Ant Art
- Jan 2025
- Panel Discussion, “The Intersection of AI and Creativity,” Mars Commune
- 2024
- Juror, The 3rd Xiaohuoqiu Documentary Photography Award
Awards
- 2024
- 500px Best 10 Grand Award
- 2023
- 2nd Place, Event / Social Cause, International Photography Awards
- 2023
- 3rd Place, Editorial / Press, Political, International Photography Awards
- 2023
- Platinum Winner, Editorial Photography, MUSE Photography Awards
- 2023
- Gold Winner, Black & White Event Photography, MUSE Photography Awards
- 2023
- Honorable Mention, Photojournalism / Story, Neutral Density Awards
Zines
- 2023
- Jiexiangzhi Annual, Group Zine
- 2023
- Popcan Vol. 1: Wake Up, Group Zine