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I’m genuinely honoured to receive the Lumen Prize this year and I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone I collaborated with on this series of works. I’m saddened and perhaps even devastated I wasn’t given a chance to attend the ceremony. The UK Immigration bureaucracy considered my visa application to not be straightforward, which leads to undefined duration in processing time. As a holder of a Russian passport, for the past 14 years, I have been wrestling with the western immigration bureaucracy, while living, studying, and working in England, Austria, Sweden, and Japan. I was on this escapist train, looking for a place, where I could be inspired and focus on my work, running away from unjustness and limits on what I could possibly do, should I have chosen to remain in my home country. I think many of us agree that art and culture can and should operate across borders as a humanist project in the first place. And…

Hot off the press: the newest issue of the brilliant Neural magazine is out – and I’m incredibly honoured (and humbled, and honoured, and humbled, and h…) to be featured in its pages. Among many excellent contributions, this issue includes an in-depth conversation exploring synthetic cognition, emerging memory architectures, and a deep dive into a wide arc of my recent and ongoing work. It’s not often that one gets the space and attention to reflect on such themes in such depth, and I’m deeply grateful to the Neural team for the thoughtful dialogue and editorial care. If you’re interested in critical perspectives at the intersection of media, art, and technology, this issue is definitely worth a read.

A few sneak peeks into what occupied me mostly after February 2022 and what it brought upon us. Hashd0x — our collaborative open source and hacktivist software project and my recent work Proof Of War based on this tech stack. The work has been presented at this year’s Ars Electronica festival and received S+T+ARTS Prize Honorary mention, an award initiated by the European Commission that honours projects that demonstrate the successful integration of science, technology, and art to contribute to social and economic innovation. Hashd0x & Proof of war Raspberry Pi based camera, custom-built software, mobile app, smart contract, web platform, LED screen, smartphone, server rack. Hashd0x (spelled [hæʃdɑːks]) is a tactical software, designed to combat disinformation by enabling instant and spoof-proof on-chain evidence capture and forensics tools through hashing content and data and storing it on blockchains. Proof of War showcases a 3D model of the remnants of a house in Borodyanka, the most destroyed city in the Kyiv…

Content-aware-fill the gaps within historical records, like one fills a selected area of pixels in common image editing software. Or do not. Augmentation of any knowledge with synthetic epistemics of computed automations is inevitable. Or is it? Content Aware Studies is currently on view at Charim Galerie, Dorotheergasse, Vienna, as part of the curated by_ Vienna festival, actually curated by @julesandaet. Marble, polyamide, machine learning algorithms, 3D scanning, 3D printing, video installation; Began in 2017, the series of works is an inquiry into reverse-archeology via technologies of artificial neural networks & machine learning systems to reconstruct missing fragments within the sculptures of classical antiquity as well as to exercise speculative object-oriented historicism of never-existed, yet algorithmically genuine, documents of synthetic histories. As always I remain beyond thankful to everyone who worked with me on this series over the years.

While I’m coping with a terrible seasonal burn out after Ars Electronica and multiple other shows in a row. (more on which hopefully soon) Traditionally, here is an annual pic from Venezia.

Content Aware Studies is now on view at Charim Galerie, Dorotheergasse in Vienna, as part of the Сurated by_ Vienna festival – this year curated by Jules & Aët. Marble, polyamide, machine learning algorithms, 3D scanning, 3D printing, and video installation Begun in 2017, this ongoing series is an inquiry into reverse-archeology using artificial neural networks and machine learning systems to reconstruct missing fragments within sculptures of classical antiquity. It also explores speculative object-oriented historicism, proposing algorithmically generated, yet historically plausible, documents of synthetic pasts that never existed. As always, I remain deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to this series over the years.

As I’ve admittedly been falling behind on the usual social media rhythms, perhaps for a reason, I wanted to finally share a few stills from the Public Spaces Conference 2023: For a Collective Internet, held this year in my beloved Amsterdam. I was honored to participate in person and engage with a vibrant community of thinkers, artists, and technologists who are all committed to reimagining the internet as a truly collective and just space. One of the highlights was co-hosting the S+T+ARTS Panel: Making Collective Datasets for Justice alongside some brilliant colleagues – fellow recipients of this year’s S+T+ARTS Prize, who, like me, are deeply invested in exploring how art and technology intersect to address social equity through data and algorithmic justice. It was inspiring to witness such rigorous, creative, and heartfelt discussions that push boundaries and open new possibilities for collaboration. Looking forward to continuing these conversations and collective efforts.

A throwback to last week’s keynote at the Weizenbaum Conference in Berlin, hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. I had the pleasure of presenting our award-winning visual evidence software and protocol, Hashd0x, which is dedicated to combating misinformation through secure, blockchain-based verification. Alongside the talk, we premiered a new AI piece titled 1 & ∞ 🪑, exhibited at the conference venue – Silent Green Kulturquartier. The work was developed in collaboration with my long-time studio mate and AI artist Artem Konevskikh. This was the 5th Annual Conference, focused on the theme “AI, Big Data, Social Media, and People on the Move,” bringing together researchers and practitioners to reflect on the evolving dynamics and implications of digitalisation. A big shoutout to all the colleagues and collaborators who have been part of the Hashd0x development journey – your contributions continue to make this work possible.

This book holds a special place in my library. Published with the support of the European ARTificial Intelligence Lab, in partnership with Ars Electronica, it brings together contributions from 13 cultural and six scientific institutions across Europe. I’m honoured that my series Content Aware Studies is mentioned as one of the early examples of AI-driven, research-based artistic practice. Special thanks to the Onassis Stegi Foundation, Irini Mirena Papadimitriou, Ars Electronica, and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport (BMKÖS) for their support.

CAS XXII-I Deep Frieze (Triptych Fragment 1/3), 2021. Breccia marble, concrete, machine learning algorithms, unique synthetic dataset; dimensions: ~108x90cm. Produced with support from: Onassis Foundation & Garage Museum. The Content Aware Studies (started in 2017) is a series of artistic investigations that spans computational, sculptural, screen-based and textual works that together critically examine what artistic, technical and philosophical capacities Ai technologies hold, both as means for automatic historical investigation & synthetic knowledge production. Artificial neural network is directed to replenish lost fragments of classical sculptures. Analysing thousands of 3d scans, it generates models, which are then 3D printed, marble fabricated and used to fill the voids of the original sculptures.

It was an adventure, perhaps, a good one, to be on the jury for the first Asta Award for art, science & technology in Art & Ai category. To me personally, or rather politically, it was indeed not an easy decision to engage in a cultural initiative in my infamous motherland for the first time since the full-scale invasion (let’s admit this war is actually on for many years now). However, the community, which includes some of the most brilliant local (or previously-local) people that took part in the jury is a group of some extraordinary people within the art & science cultural project out there, who I genuinely want to stay connected to despite complete inability & geographical spread as a result of forced mobility. Athough perhaps this mobility harm is incomparable to that of many others as a result of this catastrophe. Anyway, I genuinely believe that in the times like this, we also need to try and…

Some views from the exhibition “Navigating the Digital Realm” at the European Commission’s DG Connect building in Brussels. The show is curated by the wonderful team at GLUON (curator: Nicolas Wierinck), in collaboration with LUCA School of the Arts, Snowball, Ars Electronica, and Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts Brussels. Photos by © Fabien Sylvestre.

I was somewhat quiet about it. To be fully honest I find it challenging to speak and publish much these days as the pain of the bleeding world is taking its toll on me. I’m sure so it does to many. However for the sake of exercising letting out those tiny bits of life that happen to be on the brighter side — mine was definitely in Japan for the past few months. I was incredibly lucky to have been taking part in an academic visit at the Geidai University of the Arts in Tokyo, a city I have an escapist romance with lately. And a place, where I’m currently working on some new stuff largely inspired by the unique locality.

This is dedicated to my friend, with whom we currently share our escapist life in Tokyo. A town that with slightly varied degrees of capacity we both admire. Seasonal greetings to you guys. Take care of those you love.

Fondazione Prada recently published a remarkable catalogue dedicated to the exhibition Recycling Beauty — an unprecedented study on the reuse of Greek and Roman antiquities in post-antique contexts. The catalogue features my work CAS_05 Julia Mamea in the essay “Digital Artifacts: Processing Antiquities in Contemporary Art” written by Patrick R. Crowley. The exhibition is curated by Salvatore Settis and Anna Anguissola, with Denise La Monica, and designed by Rem Koolhaas/OMA in collaboration with 2×4 Inc. Photos © OMA, Fondazione Prada.

Excited about the ongoing research and data capture work we’re currently undertaking with the vast fossil collection at the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. It’s a real privilege to engage with such an extraordinary archive of natural history. I believe some truly fascinating developments are on the way – more to share soon. For now, here are a few glimpses of us 3D scanning a thousand-year-old specimen, working alongside Artem Konevskikh.

Who would have thought — a show in one of the EU headquarters nowadays. And this is despite the fact that my European residence permit has recently expired while I wait (still…) for long-awaited permanent residency — which for the time being renders my travels across the EU somewhat semi-legal. Meanwhile, what used to be homeland is taken over by fascist regimes. In light of that, I’d wish that “being European” was more about sharing a certain set of values, rather than just fulfilling the criteria of a bureaucratic backend. I hope we’re heading there. I’m happy to be showing Content Aware Studies as part of the S+T+ARTS exhibition at DG Connect. Massive thanks to my studio-mate Artem Konevskikh for his help with the setup, and to Nicolas Wierinck for putting this group show together — filled with some truly brilliant work.

Honoured to be taking part in the exhibition Navigating the Digital Realm at the European Commission, DG Connect building in Brussels opening December 1st. This exhibition is made possible thanks to the support from S+T+ARTS (Science, Technology & the Arts), an initiative of the European Commission, launched under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Its purpose is to support collaborations between artists, scientists, engineers, and researchers to develop more creative, inclusive, and sustainable technologies. In collaboration with LUCA School of the Arts, GLUON, Snowball, iMAL, Ars Electronica, and BOZAR. Curated by Nicolas Wierinck.

A short and cropped excerpt from Air Kiss (2017) — a film (HD, 19’38”) accompanied by a website and book. The project was produced during our participation in The New Normal, a research programme at the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, directed by Benjamin Bratton. The film was a collaborative effort between Alina Kvirkveliya, Pavel Semyonovich, Pekka Airaxin, Karina Golubenko, and myself. Air Kiss explores a speculative near-future in which governance has been largely outsourced to artificial intelligence. The backdrop of the narrative outlines a strategy for decentralised AI-governance systems. It raises questions about the sociopolitical, cultural, and spatial implications of a world where computation has become the environmental condition itself. When algorithms predict, decide, and even mediate inner dialogues, what remains of personal agency? The envisioned system is a real-time, universally fair democracy that operates by continuously polling users through behaviour and active input, shaping cities and landscapes algorithmically.

Just stumbled upon this image of our film Air Kiss screened at the Deptford Moving Image Festival in London in 2019. Phew, those were the times. The film was produced during our time as part of “The New Normal,” a think tank at Strelka Institute, directed by Benjamin Bratton. Air Kiss was a collaborative effort between Alina Kvirkveliya, Pxkkx, Karina Golubenko, and myself. Created in 2017, the film is an HD 19-minute and 38-second piece accompanied by a website and book. Air Kiss explores a near future where governance is largely outsourced to artificial intelligence. The film presents a speculative strategy unfolding the mechanisms of a decentralized AI-governance system. The social, political, cultural, and spatial repercussions of these projected developments are vast. What does it mean to live in a world where computation is the surrounding matter itself? When algorithms predict, suggest, decide, analyze, and manage everything from basic income to infrastructure and even one’s inner dialogue, what are the limits of personal responsibility…

I am happy to share that the exhibition Codes and Algorithms: Wisdom in a Calculated World, curated by Manuela Naveau, opens tonight at Fundación Telefónica in Madrid, Spain. The show runs from October to April 2023. The exhibition features works by colleagues including Kyriaki Goni, Karin Sander, Mushon Zer-Aviv, Kairus Art+Research, Trevor Paglen, Shinseungback Kimyonghun, Manu Luksch, Danja Vasiliev, GYOC, Iosune Sarasate, Clara Boj, Diego Diaz, Pitscher, Giacomo Piazzi, and myself. I find it exceptional that this endeavor is organised by an institution historically responsible for laying the first telecommunication and internet cables across the Atlantic, connecting Europe to the Americas.

The brilliant exhibition Everything Will Be Fine by Tactical Tech is open for one more week only. Co-produced with Humboldt University Berlin and exhibited in front of the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin, this show features a collection of outstanding works by some of my favourite colleagues—and myself. I’m proud to present my piece The New Color, an ongoing online intervention started in 2011. This 5-channel video installation, film, website (thenewcolor.net), and book project was co-produced with Nikita Tsarev. The New Color is an online intervention and mystification of a scientific breakthrough discovery of a previously “non-existent” color. Presented as a website of a fictitious American company, the project features viral video ads and mockumentary interviews that attracted massive online attention. The website uses non-facts framed as news to explore the media’s intrinsic power to shape public perception and create new forms of knowledge production. It critically investigates the manipulative tools of media, its potential for disinformation, and how constructed fictions gain legitimacy. Don’t miss…

A wonderful outdoor exhibition, Everything Will Be Fine, curated by the brilliant Tactical Tech, opened last week in front of Berlin’s Deutsches Technikmuseum as part of Berlin Art Week. The exhibition is accompanied by a screening programme hosted by Haus der Statistik (HAU). Among many powerful and timely works, the show features pieces by some of my favourite colleagues across the space, including Disnovation.org, Nicolas Maigret, Vladan Joler, Agnieszka Kurant, Liam Young, Coralie Vogelaar, and myself. If you’re in Berlin, don’t miss the chance to visit — the exhibition runs until October 4th.

The Lisbon edition of the show NEAR + FUTURES + QUASI + WORLDS recently concluded. After traveling for some time, the exhibition will be displayed again in Madrid this coming October. NEAR + FUTURES + QUASI + WORLDS showcased a selection of artworks from twelve artists in Berlin, Lisbon, and Bologna, surveying seven years of S+T+ARTS, an initiative of the European Commission fostering collaborations between art, science, and technology since 2015. Massive thanks to the European Commission’s S+T+ARTS program, curators Manuel Cirauqui and Silvana Fiorese, State Studio, and all colleagues who participated in the show, including Evelina Domnich and Dmitry Gelfand, Félicie d’Estienne d’Orves, Forensic Architecture, Iris van Herpen, Julia Koerner, So Kanno and Takayuki Yamaguchi, Kasia Molga & Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), and Etsuko Yakushimaru.

Save the date: EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, an outdoor exhibition by Tactical Tech, opens on 14 September at 7:00 PM outside the German Museum of Technology in Berlin. Co-produced by HAU Hebbel am Ufer, this large-scale public show investigates how technology influences the way people are informed, how they make decisions, and how they respond to contemporary global crises—from climate change and pandemics to political polarisation. Dear Berliners, you’ve been missed — hope to see you this Wednesday evening at Tempelhofer Ufer / corner Trebbiner Straße for the opening. The exhibition features an outstanding lineup of over 50 artists, researchers, and technologists, including: Paolo Cirio, Marjolijn Dijkman, Disnovation.org, Olalekan B. Jeyifous, Vladan Joler, Egor Kraft, Agnieszka Kurant, Sybille Neumeyer, Liam Young …and many more. I’m glad to be presenting the good old The New Color — an ongoing work exploring media manipulation and speculative science.

Decentralised Embargo (2022) is a provocative installation involving an electricity contract with EnBW (a known client of Gazprom Germania), a rack-mounted open-frame server with four Nvidia 3090 GPUs, a custom water-cooling loop, and Ethereum blockchain mining software. Presented initially at alexanderlevy gallery in Berlin, the artist requested the gallery to sign a supply contract with EnBW, one of Central Europe’s major energy providers. EnBW sources part of its electricity from Gazprom Germania—a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom, notorious for its geopolitical entanglements and its role in fueling the war in Ukraine. The server hardware, continuously mining Ethereum during the exhibition, consumed electricity derived, at least partially, from Russian fossil fuels. These fuels, through a chain of thermodynamic conversions, eventually powered the GPU-intensive mining rig. All mined Ethereum tokens were directly transferred to the official wallet address accepting cryptocurrency donations for the Ukrainian government. Through this process, the work enacts a form of infrastructural détournement: converting Russian-sourced energy into…

It’s been beyond heartbreaking to watch political fabric unraveling across the eastern ends of European geographies, the so-called post-Soviet states, including places I used to consider home. What once was home has been blatantly stolen along with vast masses of land, freedoms and futures of many. Exhausted by the pandemic, we watched this escalating horror show of power, idiocracy, brutality, grief, paranoia, revelation of long-standing insidious plans, dishonour, incompetence, condolence & despair. These events shocked, devastated, humbled, silenced and turned into apathy many, including myself. I often find my mind pierced by the very idea that this war is still on, and the horrific memories of seeing what had been revealed — glimpses, shreds of evidence and testimonies. Instinctively attempting to keep my sanity, my mind was going down the rabbit holes of thinking, making things and writing texts. This helped, it kept me occupied around the clock over these past couple of years. I felt muted by this horror…

Today and tomorrow are the final days to visit my exhibition Lies, Half-Truths & Propaganda [The Bad, the Worse, and the Worst] at alexanderlevy gallery, now located at Alt Moabit 110, Berlin. The show emerged as a direct response to the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine and includes works by invited artists, including those from Ukraine. It also presents a series of ideas and prototypes exploring how emerging technologies, such as web3, can be leveraged to counter the disinformation strategies that lie at the core of contemporary propaganda warfare. I’ll share more on the individual works soon.I’ll be at the gallery tomorrow – happy to give a personal tour if you’d like to drop by. Photo credit: Trevor Good