[DATAGOV Core] Fwd: Ars Electronica News 1/2026

Thu Feb 12 14:15:30 CET 2026

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From: Ars Electronica Linz <news at ars.electronica.art>
Sent: 12 February 2026 14:10:36 CET
To: Federico Bonelli <fredd at trasformatorio.net>
Subject: Ars Electronica News 1/2026

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Kreative Ideen für morgen

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The end of a pleasant fiction
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“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

What Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) once wrote feels strikingly contemporary. Across politics, technology, and culture, we appear to be living in exactly such an in-between moment—aware that something fundamental is coming to an end, yet unable to see clearly what will replace it.

Politically, this uncertainty has led leaders such as Canada’s Prime Minister to speak of a “rupture in the world order”: the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsher reality, one in which geopolitics is increasingly unconstrained by rules or limits.

Technologically, it marks a phase in which many highly qualified workers are caught in a self-defeating loop: coders build AI systems meant to surpass them; writers and translators refine AI-generated texts, hastening the automation of their own labor; musicians and sound designers train generative audio tools that threaten to replace commissioned work altogether.

Culturally, this interregnum manifests in growing polarization. As social media converges with generative AI, echo chambers deepen and feeds are increasingly saturated with machine generated content. The visual culture that once allowed us to distinguish between the real and the fabricated is eroding – along with a shared sense of reality (explored further in our latest podcast episode with U.S. artist and photographer Trevor Paglen < https://cdn.mlwrx.com/sys/r.aspx?sub=kHbVMrD6af2-dPAXibCbLCw_kBSKKmAMZuo-91csh9ohGc9_6efkXKinB0D-81atExvOvan&tid=19gdrB-Dx5lm-5XwaDDMaan9-eHyGuHV1we8&enc=3KpRFHxcn0dbmSuKyy6-EC7KkdYocAV5LEQUXK6g0djalUZh5a61BNrFCchYeEhXDdAtlfKjxhkahv5b5DmDp!IBEikjtJMa2nAHOzjyT001&link=XG89 > ). 

At the same time, experiments such as Moltbook offer a glimpse of what an agentic internet might look like—one in which we may no longer know whether we are interacting with humans or bots.

Gramsci’s words remind us that moments like this are decisive. The future is not yet born—and what emerges in its place depends on how we understand, shape, and respond to the forces at work today (more on this in this month’s blog post by Mario Schmidhumer < https://cdn.mlwrx.com/sys/r.aspx?sub=kHbVMrD6af2-dPAXibCbLCw_kBSKKmAMZuo-91csh9ohGc9_6efkXKinB0D-81atExvOvan&tid=19gdrB-Dx5lm-5XwaDDMaan9-eHyGuHV1we8&enc=3KpRFHxcn0dbmSuKyy6-EC7KkdYocAV5LEQUXK6g0djalUZh5a61BNrFCchYeEhXDdAtlfKjxhkahv5b5DmDp!IBEikjtJMa2nAHOzjyT001&link=XG8b > ).

With this in mind, we continue working with artists, creators, and companies around the world to help shape alternative futures—and to move, collectively, in a more thoughtful and responsible direction.

Thank you for being part of it!
Your Ars Electronica Team

PROGRAMM
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TICKETS
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BLOG
Guanaquerx / Paula Gaetano Adi, Photo: Pavel Romaniko
The lonely genius is a thing of the past
The future is co-created: In networked systems, many people work together to shape the future, take responsibility, and develop viable solutions to complex challenges. Artists play a special role in this: They continuously experiment with new forms of collaboration, beyond economic schools of thought and established hierarchies.
Read more
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PODCAST
Trevor Paglen
The Politics of Seeing and Being Seen
Using both the conditions and limitations of the photographic medium, Trevor Paglen's investigations into state surveillance, military operations, and data collection raise questions about truth, deception, and imagination. In the new episode of "Art Is Not a Thing" we talk to the American photographer, author, and geographer about UFOs, psyops, the power of manipulation, and how seeing and being seen are deeply political.
Check it out!
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ARCHIVE
Gulliver’s World, Photo: pilo
Cutting Edge: Dive into new worlds
For our blog series Cutting Edge, we ask members of the Ars Electronica team to delve into our archive. In this issue, Michael Mondria, Managing Director at Ars Electronica Solutions, gives us an insight into “Gulliver’s World”, a project that turned visitors into active creators, enabling them to create, modify, and develop their own virtual worlds.
Read more
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OPEN CALLS
Photo: Ars Electronica / Martin Hieslmair
Prix Ars Electronica & S+T+ARTS Prize 2026
Several of our open calls are still running until March 4: The Prix Ars Electronica < https://cdn.mlwrx.com/sys/r.aspx?sub=kHbVMrD6af2-dPAXibCbLCw_kBSKKmAMZuo-91csh9ohGc9_6efkXKinB0D-81atExvOvan&tid=19gdrB-Dx5lm-5XwaDDMaan9-eHyGuHV1we8&enc=3KpRFHxcn0dbmSuKyy6-EC7KkdYocAV5LEQUXK6g0djalUZh5a61BNrFCchYeEhXDdAtlfKjxhkahv5b5DmDp!IBEikjtJMa2nAHOzjyT001&link=XG8z >  is looking for groundbreaking media art projects, while the S+T+ARTS Prize < https://cdn.mlwrx.com/sys/r.aspx?sub=kHbVMrD6af2-dPAXibCbLCw_kBSKKmAMZuo-91csh9ohGc9_6efkXKinB0D-81atExvOvan&tid=19gdrB-Dx5lm-5XwaDDMaan9-eHyGuHV1we8&enc=3KpRFHxcn0dbmSuKyy6-EC7KkdYocAV5LEQUXK6g0djalUZh5a61BNrFCchYeEhXDdAtlfKjxhkahv5b5DmDp!IBEikjtJMa2nAHOzjyT001&link=XG8A >  seeks innovative works at the intersection of art, technology, and science. Winners can look forward to prize money of up to €10,000 and prominent appearances at the Ars Electronica Festival.
Submit now
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Biosymbiotic Exoskeleton / Dorotea Dolinšek, Photo: Matjaž Rušt
EMAP Artist Residencies 2026
With the support of the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, the European Media Art Platform (EMAP) invites artists working in digital, media, robotic, and bio art to apply for a two-month residency in 2026. The call is open until March 13.

Apply now
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Photo: Planetum
Prix Ars Electronica Jury 2026
Every year since 1987, an ever-changing jury of international experts meets in Linz, Austria, to jointly select the winners of the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica. The jury members for 2026 have now been confirmed.
Read more
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FESTIVAL
Dynamics of a Dog on a Leash / Takayuki Todo, Photo: vog.photo
Curating Temporality: Embodied and Political Listening in Ephemeral Soundscapes
The barking of a robotic dog, the scraping of a chain across the floor, the audience’s low whispers, a sound that evokes light, and a sound rising in the dark. These are the sounds Son Hyerim remembers from her time at the Ars Electronica Festival as curator in residence of the ARKO-sponsored Curatorial Residency Program. In a guest article, she shares her personal reflections on the time spent there.
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FUTURELAB
Photo: vog.photo
Johann Strauss II and Creative AI
How can artists use the creative potential of AI technologies? On the occasion of the 200th birthday of the world-famous composer Johann Strauss II in 2025, the Ars Electronica Futurelab is addressing this question with Walzersymphonie (Waltz Symphony).
Read more
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Photo: tom mesic
New Master's program Immersive Arts and Digital Narratives
The Mozarteum University in Salzburg and the Ars Electronica Futurelab are collaborating on the X-Reality-Lab, where artistic innovations – from interactive dance performances to immersive theater productions – can be realized at the highest technical level. In the fall semester of 2026, the Mozarteum will launch the new two-year Master’s program Immersive Arts and Digital Narratives. The Futurelab will support the launch with lectures.
Read more
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