Interface Cultures

Only 4 weeks left to apply to the Interface Cultures Master’s Program at Kunstuni Linz! Interface Cultures explores the intersection of art, technology, and research through interactive systems, experimental media, critical making, and human-machine interaction. Develop your own projects while working with emerging technologies, prototypes, digital environments, and artistic research in an international and interdisciplinary setting. Application deadline: June 9 Interviews: June 30 & July 1 🔗 Apply now: https://calls.kunstuni-linz.at/calls/175S22/cg/index.php?lang=EN 📚 Learn more about the programme: https://www.kunstuni-linz.at/studium/studienrichtungen/interface-cultures/masterstudium #InterfaceCultures #KunstuniLinz #InteractiveArt #MediaArt #DigitalArt Image Credit: Beyond Paper, Qian Ye, Melanie Tonkowik, 2018, (c) IC Archives

Tomorrow, Laurent Mignonneau will take part in an online talk about Artificial Intellignce in the EU, along with Eva Fischer, Peter Knees and Merve Sahin, and moderated by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein. Europe stands at a pivotal moment in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. With the rise of open models such as DeepSeek, new opportunities are emerging across all sectors, alongside significant socio-political implications. Yet the challenge goes beyond innovation. From an arts and culture perspective, sustainability is no longer sufficient. A shift toward regeneration is needed: a mindset that moves from minimizing harm to actively restoring ecosystems and fostering life in alignment with nature. Artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, can play a central role in enabling this transformation. This panel will explore how the arts, togetherwith science and research, can drive Europe’s leadership in the development and applicationof a “regenerative AI.” Time and Date: Tuesday 12 May 2026 at 11 AM on Zoom (discussion length is 1h30) Free registration here: /261024238843353 Participants: - Eva Fischer, curator, director of Contemporary Immersive Virtual Art (Civa), cultural manager and lecturer, Vienna - Peter Knees, Professor at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and UNESCO Chair for Digital Humanism - Laurent Mignonneau, media artist and Professor at University of Arts Linz - Merve Sahin, architect and researcher Moderation: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, cultural manager, curator, author, and artistic director of the Future Platform ReGenerativa, Vienna Organization: ÖFZ / CFA

‘Syntactic Synthesizer’ by Christine Haupt, Eugenie Desmédt, Paul Kloker, Marton Zalka and ‘DreamAtlas’ by Ahmed Jamal, Emma Silvana Tripaldi, Till Schönwetter are showing at [Future] Territories exhibition at das LOT (Absberggasse 31, Wien, Österreich 1100) until the 10th of May! ‘Syntactic Synthesizer’: Large Language Models (LLMs) process language in ways that are fundamentally different from human semantics. With the - Syntactic Synthesizer, we explore how its statistical approach can inform poetic practices and approaches to experimental writing outside dominant narratives of Al. The custom-built instrumental interface allows interaction with a local LLM via its physical hardware, which enables the generative process in the first place, and invites participants to compose a short text with it. ‘DreamAtlas’ is a participatory web platform and artwork that transforms the intimate act of dream-sharing into an exploration of collective subconscious. Users anonymously contribute their dreams, which are analyzed to detect emotional tones and thematic resonances. Dreams that share emotions or imagery gravitate toward one another, revealing threads that bind individual experiences into a shared constellation, which visitors can navigate through a repurposed telescope.

Congratulations to Camilla Scholz (@camilla_scholz ) for the successful master thesis defense: ‘A Room in Time: Experiencing time in interactive, immersive environments.’ Best of luck with your future endeavours! #interfacecultures #masterthesis #interactiveart

IC excursion to Gmunden ⛰️ Huge thank you to @kunstforumsalzkammergut & @stadtwerke_verein_kunst_kultur for welcoming us and showing us around your wonderful galleries and spaces, it was a pleasure!

Join us next week for the thesis defence of Camilla Scholz (@camilla_scholz ) on Wednesday, 6th of May. 06.05.2026 | 14:30 at the Deep Space in Studio 1, 3rd floor, Hauptplatz 8, Kunstuniversität Linz. ‘A Room in Time’ Experiencing time in interactive, immersive environments. Time changes shape with every context. The constant ticking of a clock is challenged as soon as our emotions make time feel like it is flying by or dragging on. Physics further questions our assumptions about time, as it is entangled with space and influenced by gravity and motion. In media art, however, time is often treated as a background constant in which the artwork unfolds. Drawing on scientific and philosophical concepts, this thesis examines how different conceptions of time can be addressed in art, making time palpable within the experience. Based on the physical research presented in physicist Carlo Rovelli’s book “The Order of Time” (Rovelli, 2017/2018), various concepts of time are explored, focusing on how time is embodied in interactive artworks through immersive, sensory experiences. Two original artworks, “time moves faster in the mountains” and “in and out of time”, made for the Deep Space, an interactive, immersive environment, serve as case studies. The first explores the concept of time dilation, while the second approaches time from a personal and subjective perspective, imagining a new embodied metaphor of time. Within these artworks, time is actively experienced as the environment becomes an embodiment of time. This thesis argues that, by bringing different concepts of time into interactive, immersive environments, time is not merely represented but enacted and embodied, changing our perception of time. By performing time within a multisensory environment, abstract theories of time can be explored from a new perspective by experiencing them through the body.

The application window for Interface Cultures is open! Explore the intersection of art, technology, and research and develop your practice by working with interactive systems, data, and experimental media! Apply by June 9 Interviews take place on June 30th & July 1st 🔗 Apply now: https://calls.kunstuni-linz.at/calls/175S22/cg/index.php?lang=EN 📚 Learn more about the program: https://www.kunstuni-linz.at/studium/studienrichtungen/interface-cultures/masterstudium Help us spread the word by sharing this post! 💡🚀 #InterfaceCultures #ArtAndTechnology #KunstuniLinz Image Credit: Post-Dervish Chant, Smirna Kulenović & TAZ 22, Indiara Di Benedetto, 2021, (c) IC Archives

Congratulations to Lilly Marie Stelzer for the successful master thesis defense: ‘On the nonexistence of detachment - text-based art as an artistic approach for societal critique‘ Our best wishes for all your future projects! #interfacecultures #masterthesis #textbasedart #societalcritique

As part of “Treffpunkt Kultur” at the ORF Upper Austria for outstanding artists in the region, Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau joined a public conversation reflecting on their lives and work. They are pictured here with Klaus Obereder, director of ORF Regional Studio. Founders of the Interface Cultures programme at the University of Art and Design Linz, Christa and Laurent have presented over 50 works in hundreds of exhibitions worldwide, and are among the most influential pioneers of interactive media art. Warm congratulations to Christa and Laurent on this recognition!

Join us next week for the thesis defence of Lilly Stelzer on Tuesday, 28th of April. 28.04.2026 | 13:30 at Domgasse 1, Seminar Room, 4th floor / DO0425, Kunstuniversität Linz On the Nonexistence of Detachment: Text-based Art as an Artistic Approach for Societal Critique This thesis explores the topic of language and the possibilities of critiquing language, and thus society, through text-based art. Focusing on the English language and the patriarchal society that surrounds it, an intersectional feminist perspective is taken to first examine the language regarding the patriarchal biases it exhibits, the process of linguistic change, and the influences of marginalised groups. It furthermore opens the conversation to the widespread adoption of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) and the influence they have on language, whether through deliberate use or an indirect influence. The artwork on the nonexistence of detachment acts as a guide through the thesis, offering an artistic confrontation with these topics. The work is ultimately analysed in its critique of language and society based on various elements it utilises in its critical and artistic examination. This thesis aims to show how language, exemplified through the English language, is a biased system which cannot be detached from its contexts, nor the people who use it. Through the analysis and discussion of the artwork *on the nonexistence of detachment* and its comparison with other, related works, this thesis illustrates how such a critique is possible in an artistic way and highlights the necessity of critically examining language, as well as the opportunities language presents. Photo Credit: 642_ARS-25_©-Violetta-Wakolbinger_4071 #interfacecultures #masterthesis #lillystelzer

Some results from the 3-day robotics workshop with @masamikkel 🦿 Thank you Mǎsa for returning to IC and teaching us how to assemble and animate our own robot eyes! #animatronics #creativerobotics #robots #robotics #roboteye

Did you hear the news?? The call for Interface Cultures is OPEN! Interface Cultures is about more than interfaces - it’s about connections: between humans and machines, systems and societies, code and culture. Throughout this Masters programme, you’ll experiment with interactive art, emerging technologies, and critical approaches to data and digital environments, all while developing your own projects and prototypes 👾 Applications are open until June 9th 🗓️ Interviews will take place on June 30th & July 1st 🗓️ 🔗 Apply now: https://calls.kunstuni-linz.at/calls/175S22/cg/index.php?lang=EN 📚 Learn more about the program: https://www.kunstuni-linz.at/studium/studienrichtungen/interface-cultures/masterstudium Share this post with anyone you think might be interested and help us spread the word 🗣️ #InterfaceCultures #ArtAndTechnology #KunstuniLinz #MastersProgramme Image Credit: César Escudero Andaluz, 2012, (c) César Escudero Andaluz