Art & Computer Science
Innovation is an important key point at ETH, and innovation is closely linked to creativity and capability to find new approaches. Fine art provides a different kind of research of a subject, it allows artists to show and display details that might be more difficult to highlight in traditional research.
Since October 2018, the public “Art and Computer Science” talk series brings every semester an artist that had a well-founded knowledge of various components of computer science and apply this knowledge in its art practice. By attending these talks, ETH students, faculty, and general public gain an insight into art fields perhaps not seen, promoting a better understanding of art and generating a larger comprehension of what computer science can also be.
Talk series curators: Anna Flurina Kälin and Julia Schicker
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Previous talks
"Expressing Entanglement: Art & the More-Than-Human World" - Sofia Crespo
The artist external pageSofia Crespo has a passion for exploring the intersections of art, science, and artificial intelligence. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the fascinating intricacies of biological systems, she creates dream-like species using AI. Creating what she calls “speculative biology”, she focuses on the potential and issues that arise using machine learning. One such issue she has been working with is the limited amounts of visual data available on endangered animals and insects, which she combined with the potential to fantasise about biology in unforeseen ways. Her interest lies in examining these fantastical structures in order to create speculations about ecology and its current state of change. Like this, her creations challenge our perception of reality and also invite us to ponder the delicate relationship between humans and machines.
"Games in the Expanded Field" - Sarah Friend
external pageSarah Friend is an artist and software developer interested in different layers of the blockchain and networks in general. She has been engaged with blockchains as a medium for many years and her background in software development is a driving force behind her conceptual work. She examines the principles of cooperation, trust, and care and presents them in digital assets as well as physical installations. Her NFT works explore the market as a medium and seek to engage buyers in social games. In 2022, she was the Visiting Chair of Blockchain Art at The Cooper Union in New York and has written articles for Texte zur Kunst and Spike Art Magazine.
"Interactive Animation" - Michael Frei & Mario von Rickenbach
external pageMario von Rickenbach and Michael Frei collaborate on playful projects between video games and animated films. In this talk about interactive animation, Mario and Michael gave insights into different aspects of making their projects. They talked about inspirations, techniques, design approaches, and the unpredictable reality of releasing their projects on commercial video game distribution channels.
"DriesDepoorter.key" - Dries Depoorter
external pageDriesDepoorter is a Belgian artist who uses technology to make phenomenas of the time in a humorous and direct way tangible. For this, he builds his own devices and programs them accordingly. His catchy work addresses themes such as privacy, social media, artificial intelligence and surveillance. Among his creations are several products such as apps, games and interactive installations. He studied electronics for six years before making the switch to art school. Today Dries is exhibiting and holding talks internationally and also working as a freelance concept provider focused on digital processes.
"Network" - Joana Moll
external pageJoana Moll's work is a critical exploration of the way post-capitalist narratives affect the alphabetization of machines, humans, and ecosystems. Her main research topics include communication technologies, Internet materiality, virtual civil surveillance, online tracking, interfaces, CO2 emissions and language. She has lectured, performed and exhibited her work extensively around the world. Furthermore she is the co-founder of the Critical Interface Politics Research Group at HANGAR and co-founder of The Institute for the Advancement of Popular Automatisms. She is currently a visiting lecturer at Potsdam Universität and Escola Superior d’Art de Vic [Barcelona].
"Instruments of Creation" - Mario Klingemann
The ability to wield tools is one of the core qualities that define humanity. The evolution of human culture has always run parallel to the evolution of the tools and instruments at our disposal. Machine learning and what is commonly known as artificial intelligence is a very recent instrument that we have created, and we are starting to apply it to all possible areas, including the creation of art. As with any instrument, it takes time to learn how to use it skilfully or how to play it masterfully. external pageMario Klingemann has been experimenting with the possibilities of creating visual art with artificial neural networks for several years and is beginning to understand the potential and limitations of these instruments. In his talk, he gave insights into his process and showed some of the latest developments in this fast-moving field.