OCTOBER 29 & 30, 2024 - BARCELONA

SYMPOSIUM
Exploring the intersectionS
of Arts, Science, Technology
and Society as catalysts
for change
REPORT
PUBLICATION CREDITS:
Report: Silvia Zayas
Pictures: Daniel Cao
Edition: HacTe, Barcelona’s Hub of Arts, Science and Technology
Layout: HacTe, Barcelona’s Hub of Arts, Science and Technology

CONFERENCE BOARD:
Steering Committee:
Pau ALSINA (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, ES); Tere BADIA (HacTe – Barcelona’s Hub of Art, Science & Technology,
ES); Andrés Eduardo BURBANO (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, ES); Aurélie DELATER (Gluon, BE), Rosanna DI NUZZO
(MEET Digital Culture Center, IT); Chiara FRENCIA (Inova+, PT); Vanessa HANNESSCHLÄGER (Ars Electronica, AT); Jurij
KRPAN (Kersnikova Institute, SI); Jana PUTRLE (Kersnikova Institute, SI); Lisa SHCHEGOLKOVA (Ars Electronica, AT);
Rita SOUSA (INOVA+, PT); Ramona VAN GANSBEKE (Gluon, BE).

Scientific Committee:
Camille BAKER (Royal College of Art, UK); Nuno CAMARNEIRO (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, PT); Manuel
CIRAUQUI (Fundació EINA, ES); Michele COLETTI (Grenoble École de Management, FR); Andres COLMENARES (Elisava,
ES); Salomé CUESTA (Universitat Politècnica de València, ES); Rick DOLPHIJN (Utrecht University, NL); Alexandra
GARATZOGIANNI (Leibniz Information Center for Science & Technology & Leibniz University Hannover, AT); Inge
HINTERWALDNER (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE); Dalila HONORATO (Ionian University, GR); Gwendolin
KREMER (TUD Dresden University of Technology, DE); Gunalan NADARAJAN (University of Michigan, US); Manuela
NAVEAU (University of Arts Linz, AT); Pedro REIS (Universidade Lusíada, PT); Everardo REYES (Université Paris 8
Vincennes-Saint-Denis, FR); Cristina SÁ (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, PT); Chris SALTER (Zurich University of the
Arts, CH); Tomás SÁNCHEZ CRIADO (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, ES); Morten SØNDERGAARD (Aalborg University
and Momentum Biennial, DK).

Co-Chairs:
Pau ALSINA (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, ES); Tere BADIA (HacTe, ES); Andrés Eduardo BURBANO (Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya, ES).

Project Manager:
Anna PINOTTI (HacTe, ES)

CO-ORGANIZED BY:

WITH THE SUPPORT OF:

S+T+ARTS in the City is funded by the European Union under grant agreement LC-01984766 under the STARTS – Science,
Technology and Arts initiative of DG CNECT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not
necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can
be held responsible for them.
 INTRODUCTION
Over the past seven decades, the discourse on intersection of the arts, technologies, and
the dialogues and intersections between the arts sciences, within the global challenges of
and sciences has undergone a profound contemporary society.
transformation since the inception of the “two
cultures” debate. Today, numerous publications, Co-organised by HacTe, Barcelona’s Hub of Arts,
institutions, organisations, academic Science and Technology, and Universitat Oberta
associations, and funding programmes, such as de Catalunya (UOC) in the framework of the
S+T+ARTS in the European context, testify to the S+T+ARTS in the City project, on October 29th &
burgeoning emphasis on transdisciplinarity. 30th, 2024, the event brought together in
Barcelona contributions from more than 50
However, amidst this progress, persistent international academics, researchers, artists,
questions and concerns remain, particularly with policymakers and practitioners working on the
regard to the dissemination and impact crossroads between the arts, science and
assessment of projects within these technology, proposing a journey through the
transdisciplinary fields. A key challenge is to genealogies of interdisciplinary practices, to
develop effective methods for observing, reflections on potential values social and ethical
monitoring, evaluating, and identifying key changes, epistemologies and ontologies,
variables illuminating project findings and legacies, practices from past and ongoing
respecting their inherent complexity. projects and material and ethical questions, as
well as looking to the future of S+T+ARTS
This symposium addressed these needs by initiative throughput panel discussions,
convening an international dialogue that spanned roundtables, conferences, workshop and project
academic discourse and practical applications. presentations in the poster and audiovisual area.
By fostering collaboration and knowledge
exchange, it explored new strategies for Overall, the event aimed to explore
accurately addressing, monitoring, and measuring transdiciplinarity to address societal challenges
the multiple impacts of projects situated at the through research and innovative practices.

ACCES TO THE SYMPOSIUM RECORDING

ACCES TO THE SYMPOSIUM WEBPAGE

1
 1ST DAY - TUESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2024
Comments in pink are personal from the person writing this report

After arrival and accreditation at the front desk... Brussels, and the S+T+ARTS in the City project,
emphasizing the need for democratic education
and awareness in a rapidly digitised space. He
A little bit of desorientation, a little sandwich and also proposes the need to discuss the future of
coffee to help me feel better...
the S+T+ARTS initiative during these days.

..we are greeted with a few welcome words by Tere Badia outlines the HacTe initiative, an
Manel Jiménez (Vice-rector for Culture at independent association gathering 11 institutions
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC), Alberto that acts as a mediation organization for
Rabbachin (Deputy Head of Unit at the European interdisciplinary collaboration, existing
Commission), Christophe de Jaeger (Director of communities with interstitial powers. HacTe
GLUON and S+T+ARTS in the City project), Tere promotes the ACTS network in Spain ,which
Badia (Co-Chair and Director of Barcelona's Hub facilitates collaboration across disciplines and
of Art, Science and Technology, HacTe), Andrés highlights the necessity for fostering
Burbano (Co-Chair and Professor at the Arts and intersectional practices. She underscores the
Humanities Department of UOC) and Pau Alsina importance of this symposium as a common
(Co-Chair and Associate Professor at the Arts playground to gather agents and interdisciplinary
and Humanities Department of UOC). projects.

Drawing from his 30 years of experience Manel Andrés Burbano recognises the large number of
Jiménez discusses UOC, the world's first online high-quality submissions received in the open call
university, emphasising the political interest in of the Symposium, reflecting the poor limitations
creating this public service. He highlights the first of disciplinary boundaries. His speech addresses
seven studies at UOC aimed at fostering the the background coincidences (the COVID
intersection of technology, science, and the arts, pandemic and the concept of pollution) of the
noting how the arts contribute to knowledge books written by the keynote speakers: “Sensing
creation within scientific paradigms. Over time, a Machines” by Chris Salter and “Aeropolis” by
mutual understanding has emerged where Nerea Calvillo. This background also makes a
methodologies in science and the arts can difference in the ways we approach the
intertwine, allowing knowledge transfer between intersectionality that concerns us.
the two fields. This led to the formation of a
collaborative group of academics and educators,
culminating in the HacTe consortium, which This reference to Calvillo's book acts (subjectively) as a
hosts the Symposium with leaders in the ASTS kind of filmic montage-at-a-distance with the very end
field as Pau Alsina and Tere Badia. of these days, or as a kind of “choose your own
adventure”, you can go to page 23.

Alberto Rabbachin highlights, through a video- As an auditory misunderstanding of Calvillo-Calvino,

message, the importance of curiosity and I’m remembering that Calvino (Italo Calvino) and his
experimentation in bridging communication gaps Invisible cities will appear repeatedly during this
and generating unique solutions to current symposium). Wait.

challenges through the integration of science,

technology, and the arts. He insists on disrupting Pau Alsina stresses the need to critically
linear thought also for the creation of policies for reimagine how art and science can provide
the current challenges we face as society. solutions to contemporary challenges,
encouraging us to use this actual collaborative
Christophe de Jaeger presents GLUON, an arts, learning environment across and through fields,
research and education platform based in expanding and rethinking them.

3
OPENING TALK movements like Bauhaus, Dadaism, and Futurism.
It highlights how emerging technologies in the
The Art-Science Complex: early 20th century, especially electronics and
Observations from the Field computing, influenced artists and designers,
particularly during the Cold War. Cybernetics
emerged as a key interdisciplinary field,
Keynote speaker: Chris Salter, Zurich University
connecting artists like Nam June Paik, Allan
of the Arts
Kaprow and John Cage, who explored feedback
Respondent: Veronika Liebl, Ars Electronica
control and interaction. The narrative shifts to the
Moderator: Pau Alsina, UOC
1960s counterculture, which protested the
Vietnam War and embraced technological and
After Alsina's introduction, Chris Salter began
perceptive experimentation for personal and
with a black and white image. Four white males
political expression, leading to the creation of
working in a “concert” in Stanford in 1967.
institutions dedicated to art and technology, such
as Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT), the
The photo was taken the same day he was born, or so Art and Technology Programme at the Los
I seem to understand... Too fast for my spanglish.. Angeles County Museum of Art and the
So, I decided to record the Symposium in audio, too. Architecture Machine Group at MIT, among others.
However, he notes critiques from the 1970s, such
The photo heralds a genealogy that runs through as Jack Burnham's view that art struggled to use
Stanford, which until the 1990s was making technology for social relevance. The resurgence
money from computer-based music. “Just a from the 1980s to 2001 saw hybrid institutions,
strange idea,” says Salter wryly. His genealogy but Salter critiques linear and individualistic views
begins with John Chowning, best known for of “invention” emphasizing that instead true
having discovered the FM synthesis algorithm in innovation is collective and historically rooted.
1967. In 1973, Stanford University sold the
license for his discovery to Yamaha (from Japan),
with whom Chowning, who apparently had no What about women and... and… and…?
idea about computation, worked to develop a
family of electronic synthesizers and organs. The text also critiques teleological and
deterministic narratives in “innovation”, dispelling
myths such as the linearity of innovation cycles,
The slide reads: and emphasizes the importance of collective
“THE PERFORMANCE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN”
effort in driving innovation. Salter differentiates
One page publicity introduces the DX FM digital between innovation and invention, arguing that
synthesizers and features some drawn portraits of true innovation is dynamic and involves a network
the composer Jerry Goldsmith (who composed the of historical trends, contexts and collective
soundtrack for Rambo), Elton John, Chick Corea and
endeavour rather than isolated contributions from
Quincy Jones speaking wonders of Yamaha...
individuals. This narrative is no longer useful today
as other narratives emerge such as AI, big data,
What do the histories of techno-science-based-art
COVID, Black lives Matter…
offer us, given their long entanglement with
questions of infrastructure, innovation, invention
and experimental practice?

Salter examines the Art-Science Complex, a

network of historical and theoretical assumptions
surrounding collaborations between artists and
scientists from the 1950s to 1970s, especially
during the rise of electronics and computing in
the 1960s. His lecture explores three main
themes: Innovation, Interdisciplinarity, and Unity.

Innovation: This section traces art and

technology collaborations, referencing

5
Interdisciplinarity: Drawing on Born and Barry's As conclusion, Salter's reading of an alternative
work, Salter discusses and amplifies various history of the art-science complex is thus meant to
interdisciplinary "logics"—such as accountability provide a corrective to the ongoing
and defamiliarization—which reconfigure socio- neoliberalisation of creativity made possible by
technical relations rather than just creating new keeping such art-science connections black-boxed
objects. He argues that interdisciplinarity is not - as somehow driving the 'natural processes' of
simply collaboration among fields, but a linear, market-driven innovation as the work of
rethinking of relationships and suggesting that individual geniuses outside of their socio-technical
interdisciplinarity does not solely imply contexts, and seeing interdisciplinarity itself as a
collaboration among distinct disciplines. frictionless social configuration where everyone
speaks the same languages and has the same set
Unity: The last section explores the concept of of values and...what replaces knowledge...?
epistemic cultures and critiques narrow scientific
models used to understand the arts. The strength Veronika Liebl gives us insight into her personal
of science lies in an “heterogeneous assemblage learnings on interdisciplinary collaborations and
of subcultures” (Galison and Stump, 1996). He, complexities and brought 3 concrete proposals for
along with Haraway and Suchman, advocates for the S+T+ARTS initiative:
"situated knowledge" and "situated action", while
critiquing traditional male-dominated narratives Involve Artists Early: Advocate for more inclusive
in science and notions of objectivity. Paul and diverse models in the S+T+ARTS initiative by
Feyerabend's notion of epistemological anarchy involving artists at the earliest stages of project
calls for blurring disciplinary boundaries, development to help redefine the core problems
suggesting that there is no single method or and assumptions, encouraging innovative thinking.
ultimate structure in knowledge. The current model, which brings artists in later as
"experts," limits their influence.

Focus on Systemic Change: Shift focus from

simply measuring project outputs to evaluating the
transformative and societal impacts of
interdisciplinary collaborations. This includes
assessing the quality of partnerships and the role
of “innovation catalysts” in overcoming
communication challenges. There is also a call for
developing interdisciplinary educational and
vocational programmes that go beyond domain
expertise, supporting research-driven, long-term
projects that involve citizen science and
community-driven activities for broader
knowledge creation.

Establish Regional Centers: As sustainable

regional hubs across Europe to facilitate
interdisciplinary training and collaboration,
enhancing networks and exchanging best
practices, much like existing models (the UNESCO
City of Media Arts and Fab City are mentioned).
She concludes with a call to action for continued
collaboration and innovation in S+T+ARTS during
the next ten years “and we probably also need to
challenge ourselves a bit in advancing the models
we use”.

6
Overall, the conversation between Salter and Liebl
with the public highlights the difficulties faced in
I feel a kind of Spanish/Portuguese GAP.
fostering interdisciplinary work due to I assume that Spaniards, Portuguese,
institutional limitations and the necessity of and others like me, may not understand
finding flexible approaches to overcome these anything they are talking about.
challenges. Liebl talked about the differentiated
I’m feeling this strong cultural
temporality of production between disciplines, and class gap since the beginning.
noting that scientific projects typically span 3 to 4 Let's take into account inclusions
years, while artists often produce within 3 to 4 and exclusions that matter,
not only in references but also in
months, and emphasizing the need for deadlines
the potential for certain types of
in research to bring clarity and focus to projects. not institutionalized artists.

“Artists move in and out of

AAAAAH... institutions all the time”,
What kind of art are we talking about?!? I hear someone say.
Object-based art? Many of us no longer
work within those frameworks... The speakers discuss the need for creative
workarounds to navigate the restrictive rules and
Both speakers offer a critique of institutional regulations imposed by institutional frameworks
hurdles, pointing out that while artists and
in both art and science, acknowledging that these
researchers are interested in interdisciplinary
structures can be unforgiving and limit
work, institutional frameworks often create
innovation.
barriers that hinder collaboration. They discuss
an essential difference between countries: "it's
different than Austria, different than Germany, “only one, its late” / coupling sound /
similar in Belgium, similar in France where these nothing new in public questions
schools have not been granted the right to give
research degrees”.

7
PANEL DISCUSSION I Ong clarifies that his work is not just a passive
observation of nature, as in 19th century art, but
Towards Hybrid Research an active exploration of microscopic life and its
Scenarios interactions, from passive witness to active
companion... His experiments aim to connect the
Participants: Derek Curry, Jennifer Gradecki, Lúa Umwelt (worldview) between humans and
Coderch, Marta Royo Llonch, Joel Ong microorganisms. He uses various strategies,
Moderator: Andrés Burbano including visualization and sonification
technologies, proposing speculative intermingling
The panel discussion, moderated by Andrés of natural and cultural worlds through
Burbano (UOC), covered topics on the biosemiotics and extra-verbal language, while
raising critical questions about the concept of life
intersection between art and science, highlighting
and its artistic representations.
how these disciplines can collaborate on
innovative research. Here are the main points:
The project aims to develop an interspecies future
through collaborative practices, including plants,
+ Joel Ong, York University. Untitled Interspecies
animals, fungi, and microbes. Ong emphasizes the
Umwelten
importance of welfare regulations that include
non-human considerations. He also explores what
Ong presents the project Untitled Interspecies
kinds of environmental histories can be
Umwelten, which explores interactions with
articulated.
microorganisms, specifically focusing on the
microbe Euglena gracilis. Euglena gracilis is a
Ong prioritizes, not so much the human voice as
well-studied organism commonly used as a
an imposed narrative, but rather SENSORY
bioindicator in polluted ponds, bioengineered for
MEDIATIONS. In his earlier experiment, a
powdered supplements, biofuels, and genetically
visualization interacts with a localization chatbot.
modified in various ways, reflecting biocapitalism
An algorithm observes and tracks its contortions…
and new forms of care. It also performs
What examples of LOMs (Learning Object
photosynthesis, making it hard to classify strictly
Metadata) for creating compositions, sense, and
as plant or animal, and can be observed in
emotional expressions… When Euglena stretched
performative expressions. Rarely a microbe is
out it would be “happier.” In his tracking of
seen as an individual; it’s usually perceived as
movements, he draws on concepts from dance to
part of a group. Ong asks, what would it be like to explore improvisation and systems.
live as a microbe? Ong frames his work within
"Biotic Games hackaction". “We can't impose our will on a system. We can
listen to what the system tells us and discover
While sharing images, “hybrid notes,” and how its properties and our values can work
handwritten sketches, he comments that, “The together to bring forth something much better
Euglena should not follow the game; the game than could ever be produced by our will alone. We
should follow the Euglena”. The microbe thus can’t control systems or figure them out. But we
becomes the PROTAGONIST of a video game. can dance with them!” quotes Donella Meadows in
Ong combines digital technology and “Dancing with Systems.”
bioengineering in his project, inviting viewers to
reimagine the relationship between humans and
other species. His work challenges traditional But we can dance with them!
representations by suggesting that the game
should adapt to the behavior of microorganisms Ong also references Donna Haraway and her "tiny
rather than imposing objectives on them. The companions" that help him grapple with life cycles,
work also critiques the tendency to prioritize death, and care for living organisms. Collaborating
quantitative data over non-human narratives and as both an artist and a caregiver of these
perspectives. The project raises new questions organisms made him reflect on dealing with life
about the concept of life, moving beyond cycles and the confrontational nature of working
traditional artistic perspectives to reveal closely with these beings, sometimes akin to a
microscopic worlds. “graveyard”.

9
In response to an *AUDIENCE QUESTION*. He that they are currently seeking funding while
explains that he’s focusing on simplicity and that prioritizing adequate compensation, long-term
it's not a data visualisation piece, although it's commitment, and valuing the artistic sensitivity of
being contextualised within that sphere, it is more scientists who genuinely wish to participate. This
about trying to adopt a different perspective. How project requires sensitivity and openness from
to make environmental monitoring today, the both sides: scientific and artistic. The aim is to
more senses we have, the more we will know create a "bidirectional nourishment" approach that
about an environment. He emphasizes the fosters better mutual understanding between
importance of changing the paradigm from just disciplines. The research began the construction
data centric practices, to alternative modes of of a common glossary.
seeking information, more conversational
narrative approaches to understanding and
histories that are embedded within environments.

Andrés Burbano adds that sentience at the

microscopic level is also intelligence, and how
this concept raises questions about how these
organisms feel and express themselves, posing
fascinating questions for consideration.

+ Lúa Coderch, Centre Universitari d’Arts i

Disseny de Barcelona & Marta Royo Llonch,
SHOOK Studio / ICM-CSIC. Gleaning the art and
science collaboration filed: a data ecology
prototype

Lúa Coderch and Marta Royo discuss the

experimental collaboration between scientists
and artists from the Institute of Marine Sciences
(ICM) and the University Centre of Arts and
Design in Barcelona (BAU), who are jointly Two key words have been added to this glossary:
exploring interdisciplinary methodologies based
on hospitality and care. Inspired by Agnès Varda's Rigour, as intrinsic to both fields, exploring
documentary The Gleaners and I (Les glaneurs et objectivity versus subjectivity, biases, and
la glaneuse), they explore the concept of prejudice, and hospitality appears as essential;
"Gleaning" as a metaphor to establish and metaphor, as a strategy to create a new
collaboration between artists and scientists. The common language. After viewing Agnes Varda’s
project emphasizes the recovery of discarded documentary together, the idea of GLEANING
materials from scientific research. The appeared, and they began to develop it as a
"discarded" is taken as a basis for new meanings methodological strategy. This metaphor raises
and artistic reinterpretation. important issues such as value, residue,
perspective, the forgotten, kindness, and
The project is process-based rather than focusing community.
solely on artistic production. These findings have
emerged from collective encounters such as Throughout various phases, they have identified at
exploratory sessions with speakers in different ICM all the samples that scientists use for
cultural contexts to determine which dynamics knowledge production but ultimately discard. Then
work and which do not, documentary screenings some sessions between artists and scientists
(Varda), interactions, and prospections with have included open discussions and "gleaning" of
scientific samples. interests – Can artists glean the scientific field?
They have created cartographies with three
As an update on the ongoing project, they gleaning fields (data, material samples, AV
highlight the importance of reporting, and explain registry) to collect possible interests.

10
In response to a subsequent *QUESTION FROM psychology, aiming to build resistance to
THE AUDIENCE*, they make an important remark: persuasion attempts.
gleaning is not a concept that comes from the
arts to be applied on sciences. Gleaning involves The work on these animatronic sock puppets can
metaphors that move things from one place to be described as TACTICAL ETHNOGRAPHY, and
another, and this is what works for them. uses aesthetic and theatrical strategies. They
Moreover, while initially focused on objects, it apply techniques from Epic Theater (Bertolt
also works to unite communities to collaborate. Brecht), such as critical distancing, and others as
They also point out the tendency of a specific breaking the fourth wall, and even humor as a
scientific profile that believes these projects are distancing technique, allowing participants to
merely to “communicate their research.” They critically reflect on the content.
insist on the importance of having the right artist
and mediator, among other factors. The puppets speak content derived from various
disinformation campaign datasets, with
Burbano later commented on the fruitful nature of accompanying visuals displayed on a screen. The
the idea of gleaning, comparing it to the circular aesthetic design of the puppets, with their
economy. exposed wire, reinforces conceptual aspects of
the project and emphasizes the role of technology
in online disinformation campaigns that enable
+ Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki, the spread of disinformation, including
Northeastern University. From Algorithms to fragmented media landscapes and content
Allegories: Leveraging Scientific and Artistic recommendation algorithms that promote
Epistemologies to Combat Digital Disinformation engaging but potentially sensational content.

Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki presented Epic Insights from user testing were shared to gather
Sock Puppet Theater (MediaFutures 2023), an valuable feedback for improving the installation’s
artistic research project and interactive interface and accessibility. Which voices to use,
installation combining analytical methods, social what content to include, and whether the content
science research, and artistic practices. The was sensitive for the target group. More natural
project aims to help viewers critically reflect on and human voices were found to be less effective;
the tactics used by imposter social media it was suggested to slow down AI-generated
accounts to promote polarization and voices slightly to improve accessibility for non-
disinformation, employing artistic methodologies native English speakers. This led to improvements
to combat this issue. They have created an in the installation's interface including
interactive traveling theater with animatronic adjustments to AI-generated voices and content
puppets. descriptions. The meeting concluded with a
demonstration of the animatronic puppets
performing disinformation posts, showcasing the
The project defines disinformation as “an
project’s practical application.
adversarial campaign that weaponizes multiple
rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing –
The moderator provided concluding remarks,
including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-
highlighting key points from each presentation.
truths, and value-laden judgments – to exploit
They emphasized the potential of exploring
and amplify identity-driven controversies” (Díaz
SENTIENCE at microscopic levels, the concept of
Ruiz & Nilson 2022, 29). Disinformation
bringing CIRCULAR ECONOMY to scientific
campaigns target multiple countries (Russia's
processes, and the power of using HUMOR and
2016 elections, Syria, and China) and topics, such
DISTANCE to communicate complex ideas in art-
as climate change and political issues. The
science collaborations.
audience is encouraged to share any
disinformation campaigns they know about for its
potential inclusion in the project. The project uses I’m repeating again:
data from various sources, including researchers, GLEANING, CIRCULAR ECONOMY,
government agencies, and journalists, and is SENTIENCE, HUMOR.
grounded in inoculation theory from social

11
PANEL DISCUSSION II performative arts, research labs to inspire
scientists, and businesses with innovative
Confronting values and measures product ideas. To measure the impact of such
in projects and policies projects, Coletti introduces the concept of
ADDITIONALITY, affirming that projects with well-
defined additionalities tend to be more
Participants: Sofia Greaves, Michele Coletti,
successful, as they have clear objectives that
Teresa Sanchis, Mona Hedayati, Adrien Lucca
Moderator: Simona De Rosa resonate across sectors. These additionalities
are supplementary benefits or impacts that these
The second panel, moderated by Simona De Rosa projects create beyond their primary goals,
(T6 Ecosystems), discussed the complexities of including not only input (funding, expertise,
measuring the impact of art, science, and collaborations), output (results such as
technology initiatives. It involved two rounds: one publications, artworks), or economic income
focused on learning their perspectives and how (which is very important for empowering
they are addressing the issue of measurement professionals), but also social additionalities that
and value in their daily work, and a second round, focus on societal impacts, raising citizen
more specifically related to their position on how awareness, and fostering community
to measure the impact of initiatives involving the engagement; educational and cultural
arts, science, and technology. additionalities related to the preservation or
innovation of heritage and new cultural narratives
pushing creative boundaries; and policy-making
I have decided to present each proposal advocating for greater support and integration of
separately to facilitate your reading. the arts in scientific and educational agendas.

+ Michele Coletti, Grenoble Ecole de This holistic view helps ensure that European-
Management. Towards a management map of funded projects achieve meaningful impacts
Arts+Science projects across multiple dimensions. It also investigates
ways to better integrate artists into research
Arts+Science initiatives have existed for a long groups and foster transdisciplinary collaboration,
time, with their initial goal being to trigger such as through the use of mediators.
creativity and innovation within the host
organization, and then to address broader He emphasizes the need for understanding
societal challenges. However, there is little Art+Science Project success factors: Preparation
research on the managerial side of these and planning, clear definition of goals and
initiatives. By leveraging expert inputs and objectives, effective communication and
interviews, applying collaborative research, and
collaboration, flexibility and openness to
coding the 9 documents derived from the
exploration, supportive organizational culture,
Reference Framework IPMA Project Excellence
institutional support, engagement of
model, this study aims to identify the key
stakeholders, alignments of expectations,
components of Arts+Science projects and their
differences...
success factors, a kind of map of Arts+Science
project management elements.
*QUESTION* The mediator asks about the
challenges and Coletti points out that project
A critique of The Dragui Report (2024) and its
funding tends to lead to an excessive broadening
omissions are posed, noting how it mentions
of objectives, creating ambiguity about what is
technology 137 times and innovation 147 times,
being attempted. It would be better to be a little
but creativity or arts appear 0 times. Coletti
more precise in terms of focus, because this
explains that this framework IPMA outlines three
allows projects to be more convergent. He
dimensions: people in purpose, processes and
criticises the lack of discussion about the
resources, and project results.
projects failures.
He also reviews the goals and owners/sponsors,
+ Teresa Sanchis, Institute for Bioengineering of
such as government/associations for citizen
Catalonia. Art and bioengineering to explore
awareness, cultural centers, innovation in
human condition and knowledge generation
13
From her experience with the Institute for presearcher), presented at ARTS Electronica
Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), she discusses 2022; and the exhibition “A=A, B=B” at the Antoni
the integration of humanities, social sciences, Tàpies Foundation, where cameras were installed
and art to create connections between disciplines to show in real-time what was happening in the
and address ethical and philosophical dilemmas IBEC lab. It also highlights their recent Artists-in-
in bioengineering. Residence programme, which started in 2022,
with two experiences: one by Roser Cussó, with
Transdisciplinary research there focuses on the Laboratory of Human Landscapes. After a year of
Engineering of Molecular Systems Based on attempts to connect the artist with researchers
Biological Self-Assembly, Synthetic Biology, and through workshops and symposia, the experience
Nanomedicine for Advanced Therapeutic improved the following year with Tess Marschner
Systems; Preserving, Regenerating, and (2023/2024). As an anecdote, they mention that
Fabricating Human Organs and Tissues: she presented her video at an event, and many
Biomodels and Tissue Engineering; Ubiquitous researchers began to reflect on how gender
Sensors, Engineered Living Sensors, and Smart affected their research.
Data Analysis: Bioelectronic and Biomedical
Signal Processing; Molecular Mechanobiology;
and Advanced Microscopy, Imaging, and
Biological Mapping...

Some open questions arise in the IBEC: What is

life? When does consciousness begin? Is there a
limit to human life? Can we achieve immortality
through digital twins? Should we alter our DNA to
prevent disease or even death? How far can we
modify a human before they become something
else? These questions reflect profound ethical
issues related to biotechnology, artificial
intelligence, and the limits of science in modifying
human life. And these lead recursively to other
questions: How do we, as animals, interact with
other animals in the lab, and how does this affect
our research? How are our research practices
influenced by our backgrounds, gender...?

IBEC has several objectives that emphasize

reaching wider audiences, exploring novel ways Despite these emerging collaborations with
of engaging society and creating impact,
artists at IBEC, some new challenges are raised:
improving communication of complex ideas,
funding constraints, lack of connections with the
fostering transdisciplinary collaboration,
art world, misalignment of expectations,
encouraging creative thinking and innovation,
difficulties in integrating artists into research
opening new avenues of research, and fostering
groups, and barriers to achieving true
reflection on the human condition and how
transdisciplinary collaborations. Sometimes
knowledge is created.
scientists view artists as "butterfly hunters." With
young researchers, it's easier, she said, as they
It is nice to hear how, as self-reflection, are offered training but underlines the difficulty to
she acknowledges that at first, place an artist in a research group. She also
she viewed art as a way of communicating reflected the role of mediation as crucial to
science to other audiences, but later came
to see it as part of true transdisciplinarity.
connect the two worlds.

Teresa exemplifies and presents two projects + Sofia Greaves, Postgrowth Innovation Lab.
from the IBEC framework: “Tasmanian Tiger; SciArt Collaborations at the Joint Research
Case Study of the Museum of Extinction” by Centre: Knowledge Valorization beyond Economic
Antonio Muntadas and Benedetta Bolognesi Value
14
In this presentation, Greaves discusses the EU Much of the findings emerged from a four-month
Knowledge Valorisation Framework (KVF) ethnography with 32 interviews and 14
adopted by the Commission’s R&I strategy and its transdisciplinary projects, supported by
assumptions regarding the value of art and participant observation and bottom-up coding.
science collaborations. She conducted an One key impact of these transdisciplinary
ethnography at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), collaborations was making accessible knowledge
a major EU research institution, to understand the forms that are both complex, engaging citizens in
impact of these collaborations from the new ways. Greaves argues that theories of arts-
perspectives of artists, scientists, and policy based research must be integrated into the KVF
makers. Since 2016, the JRC has been focusing to better understand how transdisciplinary
on innovation in science and policy-making, and research structures generate outputs.
citizen engagement through sci-art projects, with
a focus on transdisciplinary collaboration. Their She presents a case study of the Specter(al)s of
curatorial statement invites artists, artist- Nature project, which addresses surface water
scientist-policy makers to participate in summer change with a global surface dynamics atlas. The
schools, exhibitions, and more. project was achieved by researchers who applied
architectural techniques like 3D sculpture
Greaves emphasizes the need to rethink the EU combined with satellite imagery to create objects
KVF to better capture the immaterial and that represented the changing nature of surface
relational changes generated by art and science water. Several testimonies from scientists and
collaborations. Within the current framework, policy makers highlight the importance of
impact is understood and measured as rethinking science and not taking it for granted. It
“sustainable production services, solutions, and has an impact in policy making, in thinking of
knowledge-based policies that benefit society.” water as a body, “not just knowing it in your brain,
but really feeling it”, understanding water as a
However, she argues for a broader evaluation dynamic, as a moving body over time, rather than
that includes non-economic impacts. a static entity.

+ Mona Hedayati, Concordia University, University

of Antwerp. ASTS as Method: Towards Critical
Interdisciplinarity

Mona Hedayati introduces the concept of Art,

Science, and Technology Studies (ASTS) and its
methods of exposing and subverting techno-
scientific knowledge. She discusses the
importance of public-facing practices and the
need to critically engage with that knowledge,
emphasizing how intelligent machines as socio-
technical systems reshape human interactions
with the world. Reflecting on STS as Method,
John Law claims that methods ingrained in
object-processes of study and methods of STS
practices are intertwined, underlining the fluidity
and incoherence of methods and their
relationship with the messy world 'out there.'

STS----ASTS

Hedayati proposes instead ASTS as an

interdisciplinary field that neither adheres to the
so-called 'scientific method' nor mere artistic
representation/exploration, but enables a

15
reciprocity between artistic and STS methods. co-inhabitants. Could we, in some way, balance
ASTS is contingent, performative, and situated, the needs of humans in the city—the need for
highlighting art's unique stance in critiquing and light, the pleasure it brings—and the potential
engaging with technological infrastructure, threat that light poses? Light pollution represents
providing a public-facing platform to raise ethical a critical challenge for urban ecosystems.
and critical questions, and making complex
human-machine dynamics accessible and LED light, used to illuminate cities for the last 20
tangible through artistic inquiry. years, degrades visual experiences for other
species, such as hawkmoths. He will present
Her contribution goes beyond the state of the art, alternative findings, a critical review of existing
encouraging the development of meaning. She literature, and discuss potential solutions. He
presents two particular methods: Exposing and critiques how these technologies are promoted in
Subverting. Exposing critiques techno-scientific terms of energy efficiency (the amount of visible
objectivity and its capabilities, exemplified by light the device creates, but for humans).
Trevor Paglen's ImageNet Roulette. Subverting
involves adopting technical pipelines and altering This human-centric nature of LED lights and the
their functionalities, as demonstrated by Winnie potential for induced color blindness in animals
Soon's Unreasonable Character Series. raises the challenge of defining light pollution
from non-human perspectives. We tend to forget
She emphasizes the need for artists to engage that color is extremely human-centered; we live
with urgent concerns and develop practices that surrounded by colors that we cannot see
serve a broader purpose beyond formal because we are not equipped with the proper
aesthetics, exposing and critiquing the often- spectral sensitivity. Flowers have colors and
unquestioned objectivity of techno-scientific pigments that have been selected because they
knowledge. By integrating methods from both art are the product of co-evolution between insects
and science, ASTS enables a public-facing and plants. In moonlight, we see perhaps in white,
critique that questions the societal implications but insects might see a form of neutral light for
and ethical concerns tied to technologies such as different reasons because the moon has
artificial intelligence and surveillance systems. ultraviolet light that we don’t see but still
stimulates the eyes of nocturnal insects.
*AUDIENCE QUESTION*. When asked about the Intuitively, when you don’t stimulate a cell in the
role of the researcher or artist in developing retina, you essentially create a color darkness.
projects at the intersection of art and technology, There’s a famous work by Olafur Eliasson, for
she points out that there’s a constant obsession example, where only one type of photon is
with mastering the craft of art-science present in a room, and everything seems black
technology, often focusing on understanding and white.
technical pipelines or software mastery, which is
sometimes seen as the end goal. She critiques From a Nature Communication article, he finds
this formalism, noting how it often leads to brute- that the color rendering of light that contains no
force aesthetics. She encourages her students, UV light was equivalent to or better than sunlight,
and herself as a practitioner, to think about what which was quite strange. He then re-implemented
can serve urgent concerns and raise awareness, the mathematics and analysis behind the article
instead of simply focusing on formal practice or and found that something was completely wrong.
attracting large institutions and funding. At some point, the math went haywire and
created false colors in the data that didn’t exist.
+ Adrien Lucca, Studio Adrien Lucca. Rethinking The article uses human categories, like black
Artificial Lighting: Balancing Human and Animal colors, such as black flowers, which don’t make
Visual Needs in Urban Environments sense in the context of an animal that doesn’t see
blacks because their cells don’t have the same
As an artist working with light and color, Adrien spectral sensitivities as ours. The most
Lucca developed a methodology for designing interesting part was that there are many ways to
lighting schemes that harmonize the needs of define light pollution, but one new way would be
human residents with those of our ecological to say that it’s possible to induce a darkness of

16
colors. So, if the light spectrum doesn’t match collaborations. The conversation on impact
your visual system, some colors might change or includes examples like Utrecht's Creative Coding
disappear. Center raising awareness about citizens' digital
rights, attracting political attention.
So Lucca explored the impact of LED light
pollution on nocturnal animals, emphasizing the The audience points out the common asymmetry
need for public awareness and policy change. in collaborations between well-funded
institutions and artists bringing projects to them.
*QUESTIONs* The moderator initiates a debate A suggestion emerges to integrate scientists and
on the next big challenge beyond climate change professionals into artists' environments to foster
and biodiversity loss. Lucca highlights the value deeper, more liberated engagement. Though
of contributing to programmes or initiatives that some call this idea utopian, noting the lack of
can be meaningfully used by policy makers and "safe spaces" in the world, there is a strong call
experts. Sofia changes the perspective of growth, for structural change, redefining rules, and
from a purely economic concept to one driven by reshaping funding and assessment processes.
collaborative change in research practices, such Trust-building, metrics for evaluating it, and time-
as requesting permission before collecting water intensive storytelling and testimonials are
samples or incorporating moments of reflection. highlighted as essential elements in this
transformation, and all these processes require
Teresa addresses the issue of institutional unding time.
and impact measurement by explaining a service
being developed to help scientists and artists
evaluate the effects and biases of their TIMETIMETIMETIMETIME

17
PANEL DISCUSSION III representation in art, creating installations such
as “Desde la Ceguera” at the Centro de Cultura
Embracing social and ethical Digital in 2023, which address systemic violence
changes and the lack of protection for women in Mexico.
They emphasize an important point: “We don’t
Participants: Anni Garza, Gro Sarauw, May make art ‘about’ our collaborators”, their identities
Abdalla, Clarice Hilton, Alessia Gervasone, are never included, as there is an ethical protocol
Antonio Irre Catalano for this.
Moderator: Raoul Frese
The research extends theoretically, questioning
The discussion featured presentations by various information asymmetries and ethical practices in
digitalization. Through collaborations with
artists and researchers addressing social and
activists and communities, they create concrete
ethical challenges. The discussion underscored
security tools and manuals that strengthen local
the importance of ethical considerations and
networks, fostering technological autonomy and
transdisciplinary collaboration in artistic
shared knowledge. When asked by the audience
practices, moderated by Raoul Frese (Vrije
about the project's beginning and ending, they
Universiteit Amsterdam).
commented that although receiving funds for
structure results, they aim for the model not to
+ Anni Garza Lau and Gro Sarauw, Ghost Agency.
rely solely on their team, but for communities to
Ghost Agency: Women’s rights in the digital age
be able to replicate it autonomously.

Anni Garza Lau and Gro Sarauw present their

project "Ghost Agency" focused on women’s REPLICABILITY, AGENCY and CO-DESIGN
rights in the digital era, combining art,
cybersecurity, and activism. The project
investigates and addresses online safety for
women, especially in contexts of structural
violence, such as Mexico, where women and
transgender people face heightened risks due to
surveillance technologies and a digital
infrastructure that perpetuates inequalities and
dangers. For example, public transportation
becomes a space for harassment.

"Ghost Agency" uses artistic and collaborative

practices to empower women and vulnerable
communities. They hold sessions with Mexican
women to explore their challenges and co-design
software and strategies that empower
communities to evade surveillance. Participants
include women from diverse backgrounds and
ages, mothers seeking justice for missing
children, rural and Indigenous women, activists,
and LGBTQ+ activists... They design technologies
that enable them to reclaim their safety and
privacy in digital spaces. Their work is an
advocacy for human rights in the digital age,
talking about Fostering Digital Sanctuaries for
women’s rights... There is an emphasis on the co-
authorship of their own agency.

The project also explores grammars of invisibility

(following Denise Ferreira da Silva) and

19
+ May Abdalla and Clarice Hilton, Anagram. This The goal of “Goliath” is to use VR not just as
is not a simulation: measuring impact of a virtual entertainment, but as a training tool for mental
reality documentary created to inspire empathy health professionals, helping them better
towards people diagnosed with schizophrenia understand their patients’ experiences. One
with a view to improving medical outcomes. doctor who has used the VR experience in their
practice highlighted how it enabled them to see
May Abdalla and Claris Hilton, along with Lucy schizophrenia from a new and empathetic
Watkins, present a virtual reality (VR) perspective, improving their relationship with
documentary project designed to foster empathy patients. This project also includes training
towards people with schizophrenia. sessions that create a safe environment for
participants in order to share personal
experiences, raising ethical challenges in creating
a respectful and secure space.

Some of the ethical considerations raised

included the possibility of negative reactions to
the experience or triggering traumatic memories.
Thus, in these training sessions, the team has
been working to create a boundary space where
participants feel comfortable sharing their
experiences. For them, it’s important how
perceived empathy reduces anxiety, builds trust,
and makes patients more likely to seek medical
intervention.

The Anagram team continues developing similar

projects; their next experience is a mixed-reality
piece focused on ADHD, also aimed at opening
new forms of empathy and understanding toward
those with the condition.

SAFE TRAINING SPACES...

This VR experience, called "Goliath", is an

immersive documentary based on the life of a + Alessia Gervasone, Department of Art History
man named John, diagnosed with schizophrenia. at the University of Barcelona. Post-extractive
The story allows users to sensorially experience and decolonial imaginaries in transdisciplinary
what it’s like to live with this condition, researches.
highlighting the reality of isolation and social
stigma faced by patients. The project, which won During her presentation, Gervasone addresses
the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Film the concept of EXTRACTIVISM, a capitalist
Festival, has had a major impact, with over a paradigm that involves the massive extraction of
natural resources, affecting both the land and its
million downloads—a rare achievement in the VR
inhabitants. She also reflects on other types of
field. It raises questions about embodied
extractivism: agro-extractivism, immaterial
storytelling and how technology can be used to
cultural extraction, data mining, and extraction
achieve this.
related to the politics of bodies. She proposes
They have brought together groups of people and
exploring how artistic practices can contribute to
invited them to use VR to recreate instances of
a post-extractive way of life, the revaluation and
psychotic episodes. This approach helped them
preservation of cultures threatened by
gain a broader context about potential uses of the
extractivism, and how artistic discourse in
project (e.g. that doctors could see what it really
political ecology and transdisciplinary
feels like to experience psychosis, suggesting
collaboration can help envision a more
that it could strengthen the patient-provider
sustainable future. She offers a field of
relationship).
problematization that challenges traditional
20
narratives around extractivism and opens up Gervasone emphasizes the need to rethink
spaces to explore sustainable and equitable development in ways that prioritize Indigenous
alternatives through art and interdisciplinary culture and ways of life. Alternative models of
collaboration. economy and governance might emerge by
integrating Indigenous knowledge into
Gervasone presents two case studies from which biodiversity conservation. She also advocates for
she unpacks several challenges: using alternative and decolonial epistemologies,
where Indigenous and alternative knowledge
Soliman López: His project, presented in the systems can offer solutions to contemporary
context of the United National Conference COP16 challenges and be valued and legitimized in
in Bogotá, focuses on biodiversity preservation. academic and artistic contexts.
López works with an Indigenous community that
has been displaced by agricultural extractivism How can artistic and scientific practices work
and uses a participatory approach to collect DNA together to decolonize knowledge and promote a
from local trees, which he analyzes, encapsulates, more inclusive and diverse understanding of the
and replants. The project aims not only to world? She suggests building shared imaginaries,
preserve the natural environment but also to redefining the ethics of care to include not only
protect the community’s cultural heritage, humans but also ecosystems and non-human
creating a participatory museum with community- beings, shifting community participation models
led management that aligns with Indigenous to redefine cultural and economic management in
values. contexts of exploitation, and rethinking
collaborative strategies to ensure that all voices
Tabita Rezaire & Yussef Agbo Ola: Omi Yemoka are heard and respected.
Tengku merges scientific research with spiritual
rituals, exploring relationships between aquatic She raises a critical question: should artistic and
microorganisms and human life. This installation cultural initiatives truly lead to significant
invites interaction with alternative knowledge changes in governance and economic practices,
systems and is an effort to reflect on new ways of or are they merely symbolic? How can we
structuring life and society in the future, measure the impact of these practices on the
emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary reality of affected communities?
collaboration and respect for cultural and
biological diversity.
“Care for the land, care for the earth,
care for the ecosystem…Care as a right”,
she states.

21
+ Antonio Irre Catalano, Independent artist and *AUDIENCE QUESTION* The discussions that
researcher. PLart: research practices on arose during the session reveal a series of issues
wilderness between art and science about the limitations of ethics in artistic practice,
and the nature of interdisciplinary collaboration.
What would you ask if you could talk to a plant? Someone states that as artists we address a
The project “PLart” about Plant Communication multiplicity of personalities, so one of the central
stems from this question, and from the topics is the ambiguity surrounding the definition
observation that the biology underlying all living of what it means to be an artist in the current
beings has a lot in common. Catalano addresses context, specially when working in
the intersection of art and science with this transdisciplinary areas that combine art, science,
multidisciplinary work, which includes public art, and other fields. The freedom associated with
theater, and a focus on contemporary social being an artist contrasts with the reality that this
issues. His interest lies in fostering empathy role also involves rigorous discipline and the need
towards the environment, arguing that this to define and structure work autonomously,
connection is fundamental to change our which can be a challenge in an environment
relationship with nature. Catalano invites where the expectations of the art industry are
reflection on the act of interacting with trees, strict.
suggesting that we should ask permission before
hugging them, highlighting the need for a deeper The panelists agree that art must also involve
connection with the natural world. In his research, deep ethical considerations, especially when
Irre emphasizes the biological similarity between working with vulnerable communities. The need
humans and plants, raising questions about the to create a trust space and a responsible
nature of communication, wondering about why approach towards the narratives and realities of
we speak, and how different cells share a the people involved is key to the success of any
common foundation, opening a field of reflection collaborative project. Artists must recognize their
on the interconnection of all forms of life. role in this context, not only as creators, but also
as dialogue facilitators and agents for social
He also addresses ethics in research, suggesting change.
that the well-being of plants should be as
important as that of animals. This ethical
approach is reflected in his first installation If you
could talk to a tree (2015), which he placed in
various locations in the city, inviting people to ask
questions to the trees. The installation fosters
introspection on the connection between humans
and nature. However, it became very personal
between the person and the trees, to the point
that he stopped reading the questions. He started
with this idea and later incorporated all those
thoughts into his first theater show. "If you start
to think you can communicate with these trees, or
with all the trees around, first of all, you start to A NOTE ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM FORMATS
see things. And then you change your I’m missing more knowledge sharing
perspective". He also mentions works such as that is not exclusively discursive,
talking-head style, or descriptive exhibitions.
The Infinite Meadow (2016), referencing Italo
If we want to change the forms,
Calvino, and Plant Stillness (2022). we can change the classic modes
of presentation such as panels and conferences.
Finally, Catalano expresses the loneliness he
More practice, some collective experience, a walk...
feels as an independent researcher and the need Attention fluctuates when the temporal
to build communities that support the exchange intensity of the talks is so high.
of ideas. He believes that the only way to change The quality of listening gets lost,
bodies cannot endure sitting for so long,
our relationship with the environment is through
and I can see how half of the audience
empathy. is looking at their phones.

22
2ND DAY - WEDNESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2024

ROUND TABLE: Veronika Liebl, Ars Electronica

S+T+ARTS Dialogue We see a photo with lots of

people laughing and looking at camera.

Participants: Tere Badia, Christophe De Jaeger,

She starts exposing their collaborative university
Rosanna di Nuzzo, Jurij Krpan, Veronika Liebl
projects, highlighting the role of Regional Arts
Moderator: Pau Alsina
Centers in Linz over the past few
years,emphasizing on the importance of
The discussion, moderated by Pau Alsina from
integrating arts and sciences in higher education
the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, focuses on
and advocating for this interdisciplinary approach
the experiences and challenges of the S+T+ARTS
to also be applied in primary and secondary
initiative, with particular emphasis on its impact
education, and summer schools. Liebl stresses
and the potential role of Regional S+T+ARTS
that fostering curiosity, experimentation, moments
Centers (RSC) in leading rooted transdisciplinary
to fail, and openness—skills necessary for 21st-
innovation and promoting cross-cutting
century collaboration—is key. This approach, while
collaboration between European regions. Pau
not a universal model, aims to promote the
introduces each participant and asks them two
structural role of Regional Arts Centers in creating
questions each, generating two rounds of
meaningful collaborations and educational
conversation.
programs in secondary education.

In this presentation
an image triggers the text.

Christophe De Jaeger, GLUON

We see a picture with a kind

of wooden market-boat in a river at sunset.

Food is an important topic within the innovation

agenda in the Brussels region. “If you look at the
history of art, there has always been a connection
to food”, like in Baroque and Flemish paintings.
The future of our food systems is a key focus.
People believe that technology can change and
improve food systems. They think that food
"grown in labs" will be the future — a view aligned Rosanna di Nuzzo, MEET Digital Culture Centre
with ecomodernist ideas. The future of farming is
seen as crucial, not just in connection with We see a picture of people working
technology. In San Francisco, a project involves a with colourful post its in the wall
boat that navigates the city, distributing bio-food, and a text: “Charrete x Policy Making”
led by activist artists working alongside activist
farmers. This project is aimed at creating a more Since 2019, she has led regional projects exploring
sustainable way of doing things. The question is the intersection of art, science, and technology to
raised: how is food distributed between farmers promote sustainable innovation. She has worked
and citizens? It organizes early markets, and with artists and industries, engaging in
there are screenings and radio programs on the partnerships with institutions like Politecnico di
boat. Milano. Her work focuses on using data and AI to

24
inspire new city policies and sustainable innovations as positive utopias...". They come up
practices, such as urban mining and circular with ideas that have the potential to allow people
processes to promote sustainability. She to see their position from imaginary worlds. They
emphasizes the importance of collaboration of are developing a methodology to bring artists
S+T+ARTS in the City with local institutions and outside of the art world and he states that they
artists to bring cultural approaches into regional perform reverse engineering...
programming and funding structures, contributing
to a transformative ecosystem. They take the
topic of invisible cities (taking as a reference the Right then I’m feeling a terrible
punch in my stomach.
novel by Italo Calvino) as urban minds.
It's a somatic perception of class gap again.

Jurij Krpan, Kapelica Gallery for Contemporary We clearly don't have the same
Investigative Art problems or challenges.

We see a picture of four men looking Tere Badia, HacTe

to a woman who is explaining
something in a kind of futuristic lab. She doesn't show a picture.
So, I’m imagining a brilliant black
rectangle with plenty of possible
images instead of the main slide
of the session they are projecting
to fill that gap
(of the image not the one on my stomach).

HacTe was founded by the Universitat Oberta de

Catalunya and became an independent
organisation in 2023. It is composed of 11
organizations, including universities, research
centers, cultural institi¡utions and entities
representing business and economic sectors in
Barcelona. It is conceived as an "EXTITUTION"
rather than an "INSTITUTION" (inside). An
EXTITUTION signifies an outside form, proposed
as a SURFACE or INTERFACE, allowing for
temporary and fluid assembly or disassembly.
Temporality is seen as unusual, with a focus on
strong action, moving beyond sectors and
disciplines to explore new possibilities. Its goal is
to activate connections between diverse
communities, operating with a MATRIX logic,
shifting positions and crossing boundaries of
education, production, artistic research, and
industrial prototyping, rather than following a
Krpan talks about their work done within the linear path. HacTe doesn’t adhere strictly to
S+T+ARTS initiative over the years, which fosters predefined lines of innovation. It aims to identify
innovation through artistic imagination, itself as a radically interdisciplinary organization,
advocating for more than just critical emphasizing strategic action to step beyond
observations but for ideas that inspire reflection traditional spaces. It works strategically with
on our position in the world. His approach interlocutors at various political levels, grounded
emphasizes the importance of bringing artistic in extensive experience within a mature
thinking into innovation processes, which is ecosystem, with a political vision to break away
central to the projects developed at the gallery. from traditional spaces and act together to create
They start by building their own laboratories so new collaborative spaces.
that artists can work alongside scientists and
engineers. They have someone who speaks In the second round, Pau proposes revisiting the
different languages... "We are pushing these specific role of Regional S+T+ARTS Centers by
25
asking about the complexities involved and how The S+T+ARTS initiative plays a crucial role by
they can contribute to create ecosystems. fostering innovative connections between arts,
science, and technology through mechanisms
like the Dutch approach, offering a unique
The metaphor of the ecosystem comes up framework that doesn't yet exist elsewhere, says
all the time. In other contexts too.
Jurij Krpan. He gives us an illustrative example
The mere movement of ideas
is pertinent, or we will wear that highlights the challenges and potential of
it out like “love from using it so much” building strong networks: they presented ideas to
(“...amor de tanto usarlo”, quoting the Ministry of Culture that were not heard;
the super popular Spanish singer
afterwards, turning to the Ministry of Technology,
Rocío Jurado).
they showcased their work… By persistently
engaging, sending informational letters, and
Christophe de Jaeger says that S+T+ARTS plays
inviting key figures to experience Ars Electronica
a critical role for GLUON, especially in fostering
they managed to convince them. They loved the
intersectoral collaboration. Engaging with
experience and this resulted in subsequent
politicians proves challenging, highlighting the
meetings and broader recognition of the potential
need to persuade them about the importance of
of this scheme. Though it shifted from
their work through more structured methods.
substantial funding to none over four years, the
European funding is vital, as it aligns with
groundwork laid by S+T+ARTS demonstrates the
GLUONs forward-thinking approach, which is not
potential to create a resilient political
always reflected in Brussels or Belgium. While
infrastructure for interdisciplinary collaboration.
promoting cross-sectoral work seems evident,
convincing political figures remains a significant
Tere Badia talks about the importance of two
challenge. They have engaged with institutions
basic things: the different material conditions
like Innoviris, creating international networks for
among institutions and agents from different
dialogue among innovators, agencies, and
fields involved in ASTS processes, and the
entrepreneurs to learn from one another. This
precarious systems of artists, on one hand, of
collaborative systemic approach is essential for
scientists having a big pressure, or entrepreneurs
state and regional innovation efforts.
meeting tight demands or developing new
ventures. The major challenge is time— the time
Veronika Liebl thinks in hubs connecting the
is the fucking... problem.
center to make it accessible to other sectors.
There are hundreds of requests, as well as
failures. There is a strong focus on the doing,
Yeah!
with opportunities to connect the centers to Laughter erupts from the audience
academiacross Europe, but it's still unclear how for the first time.
to build networks for exchanging goals. It
TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME
requires infrastructural funding to create such
systems.
Pau asks what allows that and also which
methods can be implemented to evaluate and
Rosanna di Nuzzo states that the idea of an
capitalize on the impact of collaboration in
ecosystem allows for the pursuit of
research and the industrial field… The challenge
collaborations with industrial partners, research
of measuring industrial impact and the
institutions, and other entities. First, it focuses on
importance of involving stakeholders throughout
promoting a culture of interdisciplinary
the collaborative processes. Some of the more
collaboration by identifying exemplary cases to
relevant and no repetitive things are written
demonstrate its potential to enhance both
below:
economic and social innovation. This culture is
built on trust and should extend to educational
settings within academia. Additionally, mapping
(The atmosphere has eased after the laughter)
out possible resources within a given territory can
strengthen these relationships, as evidenced by
Jurij Krpan wonders how to translate this
initiatives like the AI and Robotics Lab in Milan,
practice and philosophy to a broader audience
which could help shape future policies and
and tell us that they have invested heavily in
funding strategies.
26
education, from an ideologically interested “when climbing a mountain, it doesn’t matter who
perspective, exploring the “black boxes”. is with you; the focus is on the task”.
Sustainability in funding has been a struggle for
years, and investing is crucial. Some *AUDIENCE QUESTIONS* focus on
recognition and brands. A man in the audience
Rosanna di Nuzzo states that both from the thinks that a strong brand helps with
researcher’s and the artist’s perspective it’s not positioning... How can we improve the
easy to work together. She emphasizes the need recognition of institutions and branding in the
to create contexts for “serendipity”, where ideas context of living laboratories and artistic-
and collaborations can flourish organically. scientific collaboration? It is criticised that the
effectiveness of branding is perceived differently
Tere Badia tells us that years ago, at Hangar, to from different distances; it is stronger up close,
avoid the sense of knowledge hierarchy, they but less evident from afar. Tere Badia says that
explored how to bring artists and scientists branding requires distilling complex situations
together. Initially, scientists questioned why they into messages that are too short.
were there, critiquing the lack of rigor of the
artists' methods. The knowledge hierarchy was
evident. Artists were brought to scientific centers Pau says we talk about INTERSECTORIALITY and
and viceversa leaving a feeling of being that we’re talking about something existing
“extracted” or taken advantage of. To overcome between departments, ministries, and between
this, they raised the idea of “expedition”: bringing different spaces like research centers, cultural
roles and skills without judging or evaluating centers, universities, and industries—this “in-
others beforehand. In terms of creating trust, this between” is everywhere and nowhere. Different
was a pivotal part of the methodology. objectives, different approaches, different
cultures must be addressed, with a lot of
The metaphor changed perceptions about who language-building needed in between to enable
was doing what, without pre-determining others' collaboration.
skills—you simply solved the problem at hand,

“We could create a

European network called
‘In Between”, jokes a panelist…

27
PANEL DISCUSSION IV enlarged representations of their mouths or
hearts, resulting from their experiences surviving
Epistemologies and the floods.
Methodologies
Their work raised questions about the
community's timeline for restoration and
Participants: Carolyn Kirschner, Guillemette
biodiversity, using drawings to explore ways to
Legrand, Maxim Velli, Lola Kengen, Jessica
Coldrey, Carla Molins-Pitarch support flood recovery. Ethnographic knowledge
Moderator: Tomás Criado was generated not only through observation of
“others” but by understanding collectively these
The panel, focusing on epistemologies and embodied experiences. Given the local drug
methodologies, with a strong emphasis on the culture and community apprehension towards
HOWS to create conflicts or facilitate encounters, outsiders, they focused on testing and tracking
exploring different approaches, processes, iterative methods to build trust and relationships
dynamics, frictions, and problems of through mixed methods, with emphasis in
interdisciplinary collaboration. The structure of iteration, to build relations assessing how
the panel includes five presentations followed by different engagement approaches impacted
three blocks of questions to explore challenges participants' feelings of empowerment and
and solutions. It was moderated by Tomás Criado whether their insights were valued by the
(Universitat Oberta de Catalunya). engineering team.

+ Jessica Coldrey, Independent engineer. The presentation included the animation "Tracing
Epistemologies of Healing: Hybrid Visual Precarity", which connects scientific data with
Research in Flood-Affected Communities lived experiences, exploring the sensory impact of
anthropogenic natural disasters. The animation
In the Northern Rivers of Australia, specifically in depicted shapes and sounds from the floods,
Nimbin, shortly after catastrophic floods had illustrating how hybrid methodologies can
devastated the area, Jessica Coldrey was hired by advance post-disaster humanitarian practices
a tech startup to design and manage the first and advocacy. They experimented with
humanitarian application of drone tree planting. rectangles and shapes to convey the chaotic
Meanwhile, her colleague Emily Ragus was aftermath, with white symbolizing healing and
working on flood relief in South Africa. In that renewal.
coincidence, both recognized the importance of
understanding the sensory experiences of flood + Carolyn Kirschner, Goldsmiths, University of
survivors through similar methods. London. A Case for the Intentional Mis-Use of
Scientific Tools and Processes as a Productive
Approach to Art/Science Research
At the precise moment she is talking
about floods, the terrible DANA storm
Kirschner examines ERROR as a crucial element
is strucking Valencia. A terrible reminder
that knowledge exchange occurs in knowledge production, transcending the
too within specific, material boundaries of established disciplinary
and historical contexts. methodologies. For her, “error generates
knowledge, and knowledge, in turn, leads to
Inspired by Creative-led Research and Sarah error”. During her presentation, she discusses a
Pink's Sensory Ethnography, where “ethnography range of experimental art/science case study
is produced in the contexts of embodied and projects that explore how the intentional misuse
emplaced experiences”, they worked through of scientific tools and technologies can create
participatory mapping and clay modelling to unconstrained spaces for interdisciplinary
document changes in space in affected informal exchange, new perspectives on familiar topics,
settlements while considering the community’s and innovative collaborative approaches.
role in healing. The clay modeling served as
"boundary objects" to facilitate interviews and
She lists several types of errors with examples,
surveys, allowing participants to represent
including: processing error (citing a NASA failure
themselves and their altered self-images, such as

29
to detect a large ozone hole in the 1980s), She illustrates this point with her project
instrument error, accidental or human error Landscape of False Information, which uses
(which can lead to discoveries, such as X-rays), magnetometers to produce a sculpture that
modelling error (highlighting limitations in materializes the history of errors accumulated in
weather forecasting), and historical error, relation to the Earth’s magnetic field, created
represented visually on the screen by the using Blender modeling software. Drawing from
“periodic table of collective delusions and various data sources, including one of the earliest
misconceptions”. Finally, she discusses quantum maps of the Arctic Ocean, the project reflects on
error, using Schrödinger's cat to illustrate the the current rapid movement of the magnetic pole
ironic notion that error and non-error can coexist towards Siberia, a phenomenon that remains
simultaneously. unexplained.

Kirschner asserts that error is pervasive in Kirschner emphasizes the importance of seeking
various forms, many of which occupy a fluid spaces of error in art-science collaborations to
position. This creates crises in knowledge foster new knowledge and methodologies. She
production, specially as science traditionally concludes by discussing the implications of
confronts error, a challenge intensified by the searching for areas where existing knowledge
climate crisis and shifting paradigms. Agnieszka and methodological approaches falter,
Kurant's assertion that the very idea of suggesting that these “error spaces” could serve
eliminating error is absurd emphasizes that doing as rich sites for interdisciplinary collaboration,
so would annihilate the possibility of surpassing though their impact may vary significantly
the status quo. She suggests that while scientific depending on the context.
methodologies are designed to minimize error,
seeking out error voluntarily in the context of art- + Guillemette Legrand, Ecole des Arts Décoratifs
science collaboration may prove to be a (PSL) / Basel Academy of Art and Design
worthwhile endeavor. In this context, she (FHNW). Computing Tragedies with Hector
advocates for the intentional misuse of scientific
tools and technologies as a productive Legrand explores the climate model named
methodological approach, especially in areas Hector by examining the interrelations of its
where methodologies have not yet been technical, institutional, political, and socio-
established or formalized. economic realities. Hector is an open-source
Simple Climate Model available on GitHub,
designed for rapid assessments of various socio-
economic climate scenarios and calculating the
impact of temperature changes. Legrand argues
that these interrelations co-constitute how Hector
predicts climate futures, raising questions about
the model's onto-epistemological imaginary.

She explores how artistic-led research through

computational ‘bugs’ (The Underground Division,
2021) can help document the model’s logic and
socio-political implications and produce
transdisciplinary knowledge. She contrasts two
contexts: Hector as a model and Hector as a
myth. In the first context, Hector functions as a
political and economic infrastructure developed
at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
(PNNL) with funding from the U.S. Department of
Energy. This highlights the political materiality of
its infrastructure and the specific future it models
regarding fossil fuel economies and national
security. This shows the condition in which
Hector modeled the future and what future
30
Hector is modeling. advocating for diversifying climate modeling
practices to foster a more pluralistic and
Through various graphs and provocations, imaginative climate future.
Legrand questions whether Hector can
adequately address climate change or if it is + Carla Molins-Pitarch, CITM -UPC.
limited by a specific imagination. She employs Transdisciplinary Design Toolkit: Lab to Street.
bugging and debugging processes and engages Tangible Science Framework to collaboratively
with users to explore the thoughts and practices create art, tech & science experiences
behind the model, provoking the climate model to
act abnormally or irrationally. This debugging Molins-Pitarch presents the transdisciplinary
shifts the conversation to rethinking the model, design project “The Toolkit: Lab to Street,” which
describing the gaps, making it difficult to is an open-access resource that uses design
deconstruct its amateurism… reflecting on its methodologies to effectively communicate
technical limitations based on carbon complex multidisciplinary research to various
imagination and future climate scenarios. audiences. Initiated in 2020, the project
collaborates with molecular biologists and other
In the second context, Hector as myth (High stakeholders to tackle the challenge of
Emulations Calculator of Temperature), Legrand communicating molecular biology and translating
incorporates imagery from mythology, including laboratory work to public understanding through
Zeus (god of the sky and thunder) and Cassandra, design. The toolkit aims to establish a shared
to provoke discussions about the model's logic lexicon, a common framework, and a
and what she calls its "imaginary model." Hector comprehensive methodology for collaborative
is designed for socio-economic scenarios, projects.
challenging conventional dialogues around
climate models. She highlights the need to The project consists of workshops and
rethink the model and address its limitations prototypes to test and refine the toolkit. In the
while playing with various images, including first phase, they developed a beta version and
pictures of Zeus, ironically showing the figure of created a booklet, which was uploaded to the
Hector with a circle on his face, and the painting open repository Zenodo, addressing the
"Cassandra's Prophecy." "unknowns" for both designers and molecular
biologists. This phase identified needs for a
shared lexicon, common framework,
I hear a kind of explosion,
and I connect it with an invocation
comprehensible methodologies, clear
of that Zeus. But no. The thunder checkpoints, and a "shared recipe/protocol".
has started with an intense rain
outside that seems to try to drown
In the second phase, they produced a color-coded
out the voice of Guillemette Legrand
booklet to clarify the process, followed by a third
phase where the toolkit is evaluated by involving
This suggests that the architecture of Hector
collaboration with people from other disciplines.
reflects a mythological framework that regulates
The final phase included sharing the project
the environment. The prophecy of Cassandra was
through an exhibition titled “Life's Journey” which
fulfilled when Hector sealed the fate of God
before him; Hector is a dead figure whose destiny featured an interactive centerpiece: an interactive
is sealed, capturing in his last words, "I can see genome experience that allowed visitors to
my destiny before me." The forecasting model engage with their own genomes.
was realized when climate policies were enacted
according to sociopolitical conditions The toolkit fostered collaboration and trust
proportional to Hector's capabilities. Can the among participants from diverse disciplinary
model named Hector also foresee its own backgrounds. In conclusion, Molins-Pitarch
limitations while informing us about the emphasizes the evolving role of designers in
constraints of its imaginary? This insight raises science communication, highlighting the toolkit
questions about the model's ability to recognize as a key resource. The open repository has
its limitations and the reliance on a simple effectively engaged various community members,
climate model that privileges the sociopolitical and attendees can access it via the QR code or a
conditions of its creators. Legrand concludes by material version.
31
+ Maxim Velli and Lola Kengen, Learning Planet
Institute, Paris. Solarpunk Science: Transforming
Epistemologies for a Regenerative Scientific
Praxis

Breaking the fourth wall, Maxim playfully asks the

audience who among us are scientists and how
many of us really feel we can confidently speak
about doing creative work in our daily lives?

(a mysterious pause)

They emphasize that society struggles with

reconciling technical rigor and creativity, a
struggle that often begins early in education. The
speaker addresses the discomfort around
recognizing creativity within technical fields,
particularly engineering.

Then, Maxim Velli introduces Solarpunk, as a kind

of manifesto to explore its potential for
transforming epistemologies toward a disciplines rather than traditional lecture-based
regenerative scientific practice. Using slides education.
featuring short sentences and illustrations by
various artists, they build a text around several The speakers challenge the rules of academic
"what ifs" shortly explain as example: research, suggesting that researcher's prestige
should be defined by their impact on
What if schools were about building together? communities, rather than publication metrics.
What if universities taught connections, not They draw upon concepts from the "education of
niches? our desire," which encourages questioning
What if research was driven by purpose, not seemingly immutable limitations and practicing
pressure? speculative thinking and radical hope for a better
future.

A phrase displayed on the screen

lingers before transitioning
EDUCATE YOUR DESIRE
to the female voice of Lola Kengen:

The discussion introduces "solarpunk" through

Practicing this speculative thinking and reclaiming
the Solarpunk movement, which envisions a
radical hope, the belief that things can be different.
harmonious relationship between humanity and
nature. Solarpunk acts as a memetic engine that
They delve into the idea of creating spaces of
spreads possible futures, preferred futures,
conviviality, hope, justice, and desirable futures.
probable futures, and plausible futures. It serves
The presentation challenges the notion that
as a counterpoint to dystopian narratives like
technical rigour and creativity are incompatible.
cyberpunk, which recognized the historical link
They advocate for schools and universities that
between science fiction and reality and reversed
foster horizontal and vertical learning and
it, inviting us to speculate about desperate
collaboration, proposing a shift in educational
futures and the various ways they could exist, a
paradigms, envisioning schools as community
narrative that has dominated popular culture.
spaces that encourage horizontal and vertical
learning, allowing students to contribute
The speakers argue that scientists need to reflect
meaningfully to society from day one. In
on their values and aspirations and consider how
universities, they advocate for collaborative
these align with their work. They suggest that
exploration of real- world problems across

32
engaging with different epistemologies and adapting to the informal team culture. Coldrey
methodologies—referencing books like Refuture learned to change her approach, wearing a fun
Your Minds, Regenerative Scientific Praxis, bucket hat with mushrooms and greeting with a
Reverse Engineers, and Epistemic Justice—can knuckle bump, which helped to build trust and
help scientists assess whether their technologies friendship.
contribute to a desirable future. By envisioning a
better world, scientists may feel more motivated Challenging hierarchies and knowledge systems:
to work toward it and act responsibly to Some conclusions are that by incorporating local
accomplish that "vision." knowledge into the restoration design, projects
may have a better chance of long-term success.
Tomás Criado opens discussion stating that the The idea of the artist as a "translator" or mediator
interdisciplinary encounter is much more in interdisciplinary work emerges: when scientists
complicated than it might seem and invites the and artists collaborate on a project, artists may
speakers to delve into how their different introduce creative methods that are unfamiliar to
proposals shape or suggest ways to facilitate this scientists, while scientists can explain the
interdisciplinarity through methods like error, technical side to creatives in multidisciplinary
connecting mythology, using ethnography to spaces. When entering as an outsider, you often
generate design outputs, or even through play the role of mediator, adapting to
manifestos. He later mentions a "thread", viewing communicate in different languages. There’s an
it as an attempt to shape and foster an encounter, inherent error in this—experimenting with the
but acknowledges that such encounters are often roles meant to assume. These errors help to
filled with hierarchies and misunderstandings. challenge our assumptions. By adapting and
building friendships, errors in such spaces can be
Shaping encounters and cross-disciplinary valuable. Holding space for those errors and
collaboration: Maxim Velli, with a background in using them as an opportunity to iterate, it can
bioengineering, explains that in his work with lead to deeper connections and meaningful
biomaterials often has to explain to both impact.
scientists and designers why certain ecological
and social considerations are important in Fallibility in Science and Art collaboration: There
experimental design. For example, if in labs is an interest in the spaces of uncertainty and
scientists only care about the technical aspects how creativity can be applied to explore it. These
of biomaterials but without explaining why "unresolved" spaces, panelists argue, are places
ecological concerns matter, the materials may where cross-disciplinary collaboration can lead to
have no real-world application. He also shares new insights. Guillemette Legrand says “not so
that creating frameworks for cross-disciplinary much blaming the tool, but more about
collaboration helped both groups to see the value conversation?”. She places climate modeling in a
of each other’s work, giving the example of a difficult-to-define space, and that's where it
design framework used to encourage both becomes interesting and where perhaps a space
engineers and designers to understand each of mutual comfort is found. She shares the work
other's language and practices. The ultimate goal of a group called the Indigenous Mapping
was to show that collaborate without needing Collective, which explores ways of intentionally
formal degrees in the other field can lead to misusing scientific instruments in unconventional
deeper and more meaningful outcomes. ways. They collaborate with scientists using
satellites and other remote sensing technologies
Type of roles, errors and constant adaptation in to produce alternative maps of landscapes in
collaboration: This question about different roles counter-mapping and anti-colonial practices.
emerged from the audience. Coldrey shares her
experience in getting into a multidisciplinary team Overall, the conversation highlighted how cross-
as an outsider. She initially tried to project disciplinary collaboration, embracing errors, and
professionalism by wearing a suit and offering a integrating different kinds of knowledge, such as
formal handshake, but the team greeted her with local expertise and artistic approaches, can lead
a casual "g'day" and a knuckle bump. This initial to more innovative and successful projects.
"error" made her realize the importance of

33
PRESENTATION street puppet show in Paris. Colombo outlines
their no indifference, stressing the impact (an
Legacies of Transformative emotional one) the show had on them and shares
Collaborations: Insights from with us her desire to see this impact in the ASTS
S+T+ARTS in the City field, wondering how to evaluate projects as
S+T+ARTS in the City. She poses another
metaphor, imagining a drop of water falling down
Participants: Elisenda Ardèvol, Laia Blasco, Alba to a surface and generating different waves (or
Colombo, Anna Pinotti dimensions) so, like a drop, a project can impact
Moderator: Aurélie Delater in various dimensions of people's life.

This session critically examines the She advocates for the use of a Complex Holistic
methodologies developed by S+T+ARTS in the Assessment, a multimethod approach, for
City project to assess the impact of collaborative assessing and evaluating projects like S+T+ARTS
projects between artists, scientists, and in the City, emphasizing a comprehensive
technologists across five European regions. Key iterative approach that considers both
findings were presented, highlighting the quantitative and qualitative dimensions (more in
importance of both quantitative and qualitative depth).
data. The speakers are Elisenda Ardèvol, Laia
Blasco and Alba Colombo, from Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya and Anna Pinotti, HacTe, in a
presentation moderated by Aurélie Delater.

The moderator introduces her personal journey in

S+T+ARTS that began over a decade ago gaining
momentum in 2017 with the residencies, which
facilitated collaboration on a larger scale than
ever before. Their goal then was to enhance
cross-disciplinary collaborations, to ensure a
smooth communication between all parties
involved, and produce tangible results, though
impact measurement was not a primary focus.
They collected feedback and monitored
progress. Over time, S+T+ARTS initiative
expanded to address broader fields, establishing
a strong network and support system. A
significant development was the 2019 S+T+ARTS
Ecosystem, which gathered stakeholders under a
common branding, reinforcing the S+T+ARTS
community (she talks about a “big family”), at
both regional and local level. While the concept of
impact has always been central to S+T+ARTS'
innovation goals, she recognized that there is a
lack of structured impact assessments or strong
reports. With the S+T+ARTS in the City project,
they seized the opportunity to rigorously evaluate
impact, aiming to provide solid data for She insists that the qualitative gives us the
policymakers and stakeholders to support future possibility to add other kinds of information
funding and expansion. capable of giving a more holistic approach.
Here’s a summary of the primary methods
Alba Colombo begins her speech showing a black suggested:
and white picture taken in 1963 by Alfred
Eisenstaedt, who captured a group of kids and Integration of iterative and ongoing Assessment
their strong and different emotional reactions to a from the beginning: The evaluation process
35
should be built into the project’s design phase Elisenda Ardèvol helped develop the
rather than added at the end. Evaluations should methodological framework to measure the
be conducted at multiple stages of the project, impact of the S+T+ARTS in the City project artist
not just at the end. This ongoing assessment residency program, integrating both quantitative
allows for adjustments in response to observed and qualitative KPIs to assess the outcomes.
challenges or new insights and teams can make The project aimed to evaluate the programme's
real-time improvements and adapt to evolving effectiveness by not only counting quantitative
conditions. data but also analyzing participants' experiences
and engagement quality. As Alba Colombo, she
Circular Process of Evaluation: The speaker insists on the need of collecting both quantitative
suggests a continuous cycle for assessment: and qualitative data, gathered from reports,
define objectives, collect data, analyze, report, interviews, and focus groups with mediators,
share, and refine the approach as necessary. This artists and scientists participating in the
method allows for ongoing adjustments. programme.

Multi-Methodological Approach: For a holistic

evaluation, the speaker emphasizes combining
quantitative (e.g., surveys, economic impact,
mobility) and qualitative methods. Qualitative
data adds depth by capturing subjective insights
on how the project impacted participants.

Iterative and Ongoing Assessment: By revisiting

the evaluation process at different project
phases, teams can make real-time improvements
and adapt to evolving conditions.

Stakeholder Engagement: Effective assessment

requires engaging stakeholders (e.g., artists,
participants) throughout the project. Gathering
feedback at multiple stages—before, during, and
after participation—yields a fuller picture of
impacts and recognizes the dynamic needs and
experiences of stakeholders over time.

Clear Objectives and Data Management: It’s

essential to have clear goals for each The framework identified five main dimensions of
assessment, including specifying the audience analysis: interdisciplinary collaboration,
(e.g., which impacts matter to whom). Proper innovation and creativity, residency dynamics,
data management and analysis models are public engagement, and long-term sustainability.
necessary for ensuring that collected data Each dimension was examined across three
accurately reflects the project’s success and entangled aspects: perceptions (participants'
impact, aligning with initial goals. expectations and feelings), actions and
conditions (specific steps taken and challenges
Legacy and Lasting Impact: She underscores the faced), and legacy (lasting changes and mutual
importance of understanding the project's lasting influence on participants' mindsets). The
legacy. This involves capturing how experiences framework, planned as a knowledge ecosystem,
and outcomes influence participants’ lives and provides insights that can be used to refine future
future projects. iterations of this kind of residency programmes,
ensuring a better meets its goals and supports
She gives some common mistakes to avoid: meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration.
underestimating evaluation time and resources;
lack of clear objectives; inadequate stakeholder Anna Pinotti explains that the analysis done
engagement and neglecting data collection. reveals some key findings about the

36
interdisciplinary residency programme. It fosters schedules and the specialized nature of the
deep collaboration, where both artists and projects.
scientists benefit, but data reveal that they
experience it differently. Artists value trust, There are only a few instances where a strategy
support, and advice from scientists, while for citizen involvement has been established. In
scientists see collaboration with artists as a cases where public engagement has been
source of inspiration, new ideas, and broader possible, it has fostered a sense of shared
dissemination of their work. However, scientists ownership and contributed to more human-
often feel a lack of strong mutual influence, centered, effective solutions. The programme
perceiving limitations in how deeply they can must work to create a more diverse knowledge
integrate their perspectives with those of the ecosystem.
artists. This dynamic highlights the challenges of
blending different mindsets and methodologies in These findings suggest that while the residency
a meaningful way. has successfully fostered innovation and creative
collaboration, structural adjustments, especially
The residency program is perceived as a in time allocation and integration of broader
collaborative space for innovation. This objective audiences, could improve future programmes.
is very much dependent on the role of the
facilitator that they call Innovation catalyst. Laia Blasco briefly introduces an ongoing HacTe
The residency process itself emerged as a and UOC report about another S+T+ARTS pillar
significant focus of analysis. One key problem called Academies, focused on educational
is its short duration (nine months), which artists activities. As a case study about how to assess
and scientists agree is not enough time to foster these activities, analysis findings show a lack of
deep, meaningful collaboration. Additionally, clear definition and systematic documentation,
"setting and integration" (work conditions, with little available public information about
facilities, and access to research environments) activities, particularly in science and technology
plays a crucial role in enabling artists to work education. Preliminary recommendations suggest
effectively with scientists. An important tension is enhancing data collection to better track and
the idea of Process versus Outcome: the need to evaluate these programmes, proposing
deliver a tangible result by the end of the improvements linked to multi method approaches
programme (artwork or prototype) conditions that allow the gathering of more quantitative data
joint research processes and the desire to engage (such as institution involvement, participant
in an open-ended collaborative process. Artists demographics, and methodologies) and highly
and scientists valued the importance of relevant qualitative data (like open-ended
conversations and sharing time/space. responses and focus groups). There is a concern
that excessive structure might limit the
Finally, the roles of "innovation catalysts" Academies’ adaptability and creative openness.
(facilitators) and local expert groups are crucial in
enabling collaboration, but their involvement Anna Pinotti finishes proposing a paradigm shift
could be strengthened. The local expert groups, toward the design of complementary indicators
often mentors, provide guidance and expertise to evaluate interdisciplinary collaborations: the
that significantly impact the development of the transition from Key Performance Indicators
artists' projects, but their role could be expanded (KPIs) to Key Transformative Indicators (KTIs)
to also benefit the scientists. However, involving reflects a need for a transformative approach that
a larger audience or communities in these allows better understanding of long term effects,
residencies has been challenging due to tight impacts and sustainability of these initiatives.

37
CLOSING TALK To explore these issues, she proposes a project
journey, or a linear biography, through the
Arts, Science, Technology and experience with "In the Air," an ongoing
Society intersections: how to collaborative project that visualizes air
navigate them in practice? pollution,initiated at MediaLab Prado in 2008, and
its various iterations with different teams,
including apps, installations, and even a book
Keynote speaker: Nerea Calvillo, Centre for called Aeropolis. In this project, she highlighted
Interdisciplinary Methodologies, University of the importance of understanding the materiality
Warwick of air, the role of science and technology studies,
Respondent: Laura Benítez, Universitat Autònoma feminist technoscience and transfeminist,
de Barcelona intersectional and queer approaches in her
Moderator: Tere Badia, HacTe methods, and the ethical considerations in
knowledge production. The keynote also reflects
The intersections of Arts, Science, Technology on the personal and professional toll of such
and Society look good on paper, but they are work, balancing art, science, and technology,
inevitably messy, exciting, challenging and fragile dealing with different institutional demands, and
– the ingredients required for innovation and managing free labor. It allowed us to grasp the
change to emerge. However, how to navigate material, institutional, affective, spatial, economic,
these intersections in practice? What is at stake elements that, looking back, were needed.
at personal, professional, collective and
institutional levels? Who -with whom, where, Calvillo reflects on the high expectations that vary
when- has the capacity, desire, courage – and depending on the context, whether in an
privilege- to do so? What are the conditions that academic, artistic or architecture career, where
can facilitate, support, enhance, trigger or there's always something lacking, always
encourage these processes?” something missing. Although this project is often
considered a successful one, the question
Nerea Calvillo, problematizes the structural remains:
conditions that hinder the development and
sustainability of interdisciplinary projects and What made it possible?
calls for a critical rethinking of the evaluation
frameworks and funding models to support them
more effectively. She begins by questioning the
notion of intersection, assuming that there is
"always" something in common, but sometimes,
there is nothing in common. The disciplines that
go beyond the methods used have different
temporalities, challenges, interlocutors, and each
of these has its own problems, methods,
practices, expectations, evaluation processes,
timings, and world-making capacities. Calvillo
proposes another way of understanding this as
different galaxies with their own systems. She
suggests thinking of them as encounters,
battlefields or contact zones. She brings back
into the debate an idea that has been previously
brought up: "What is this space for us when we
are in it?". Is it a field, a practice, a product, a
transit zone, or telepathy, as suggested
yesterday?”. Referring to Badia's porposal of
expedition, Calvillo says that she loved the
concept and questions who is transiting, where,
and from where to where? How does orientation
work if it's a spatial collision?

39
...definitely not the conditions in the university Stable contexts and diversified contributions: We
because "things don’t happen in the air": they depend too much on political cycles; institutions
need materials, institutions and support. Why is it are not capable of maintaining long-term, and
always so homogeneous? “It is quite scary”, she something is always lost when an institution
says and she refers to the previous keynote talk closes.
by Salter, when every single human that appeared
at the intersection between science and art was a New forms of authorship and redistributed
white male. However, feminist and queer benefits: In science, there are sometimes three
methods, theories, and activism have been really paragraphs on authorship; in art, there is none.
important to open up non-institutionalized forms What happens if authorship is just a description
of knowledge. There is a need to focus on the of the project bio?
politics of knowledge production, on how things
are done, because all these processes matter What do we do it for? Are we doing it to test
from an ethical perspective into looking at what is possible futures? Are we engaged in science
missing in the picture: power relations, communication?
challenging categories, or putting inequality and
oppression at the center. What is the aim of each of these projects, and
does each of these aims require different
She critically unpacks some questions: evaluation criteria? What does success look like?
And for whom are we doing it? Who benefits? Can
Who funds the projects? Calvillo talks about we redistribute the benefits?
political parties dismantling institutions of
support (Medialab Prado in Madrid as an Calvillo thinks we also need new narratives on
example). why this matters, these intersections, what
impact is, or these encounters, or these battle
What free labour and emotional labour are points, because they take a lot of effort and time.
operating here? She reflects on unfunded
experimentation, including invested time, when
For me this has been a very
the product is not known in advance, and how
emotive presentation in which
curators focus on results and performance in a my gap feeling has been closed.
way that lacks empathy. She asks questions
about how she made co-design with participants, Laura Benitez brings to the table her obsession
reflected in who can offer time with or without with language, stemming from her background in
fees, and how artists bring the body to philosophy. “We've been discussing issues such
exhaustion: "Living in the not enough". What do as ethical responsibility, epistemologies, and care
we do with this contradiction, and how do we in depth”: intersectionality is key here, linking
care for ourselves? As solutions, it's crucial to go deeply with ethics, but she highlights that the use
beyond encounters and create new funding of language can be very complex and can even be
opportunities that require specific conditions, reversed in ways that prevent crucial questions
including experimentation. from being reduced to mere hypes, trends, or
cultural artifacts.
Funded practitioners: Compensated participation
as some grants don’t allow paying all She also critiques the opening keynote focused
participants... because it's externalizing labour... on masculine genealogies, stating that “when we
“but time is time”, she says. are facing this kind of presentations, we are
nourishing epistemic violence.” Benitez aims to
New evaluation criteria: Sometimes only the connect questions related to the material
artists are evaluated, but not the frameworks conditions of research, knowledge creation, and
where work happens, leading to impossible the presences and absences within those spaces.
standards. Regarding air and toxicity, Benitez reflects again
on the use of language and how it reveals who
Integrated Maintenance: How to maintain and collaborates with whom and what resources are
keep the project running within institutional involved.
websites and others...
40
She mentions the notion of “epistemic toxicity,” to hide the elephant in the room” or displacing
and how politicians often use toxic subjectivity to responsibilities.We must confront them.
obscure their responsibilities. She believes that
the approach to toxicity can open critical cracks Embracing intersectionality alongside
that allow different possibilities to be articulated interdisciplinarity requires genuine care, rather
from a transfeminist and intersectional than capitalizing on care as a trendy topic for
perspective. Toxicity, as a concept, remains open projects. Benitez highlights the differences
for articulation and transformation. between working for private or public universities
and the challenges posed by insufficient research
She also notes that many artists from Barcelona resources. Thinking about epistemic justice amid
are unable to attend the event due to material constant material difficulties is incredibly
conditions, such as lacking time or multiple complex. She calls for decolonizing knowledge,
working jobs. Epistemic justice is thus deeply noting that academia, like some artistic
linked to these unequal material conditions—a institutions, embodies both feudalism and
key issue for her. She references a report noting neoliberalism? Awareness of privilege and
that in 2023, 72% of artists in Spain were below understanding one’s place of enunciation is
the poverty line, emphasizing that labour essential. Decolonization is not a metaphor but a
conditions are crucial. Transforming these complex process involving historical
material conditions into terms of labour is responsibility, reparations, and more. Benitez
necessary for a meaningful change. invites us to transform material conditions and
open small cracks of possibility.

I wanna cry...
Tere Badia sits with them to reflect on material
conditions. What's happening in public
universities in terms of infrastructure? What
about the new cognitariat? What about
infrastructure-related issues or power relations?

Laura acknowledges being in a privileged position

but she has faced extreme power relations
struggles at the university over political and
gender-related issues. The exhaustion of being a
“killjoy” remains a burden, but Benitez finds
valuable staying engaged. She agrees with Bell
Hooks with the perverse use of academia as “a
pretty afective way of domination”, but she has
confidence that classrooms can still work as
spaces of possibility and potential.

Benitez warns against using language to *AUDIENCE QUESTIONS* begin. Someone asks:
transform critical questions into mere cultural “How can we make a six-month residency more
types or artifacts produced by cultural industries, inclusive?” Nerea answers that one of the
as this can lead to the erasure of bodies and challenges is extreme competition and the need
conditions. We carry ethical responsibilities for intersectional inclusivity, which depends on
toward these matters, and she emphasizes the the artist's choice in each situation. Some have
importance of embodied commitment. fewer opportunities because they always have to
Acknowledging the contradictions inherent in work... How do you come back to your work after
working with public funds from the European a residency? How can we shift the hierarchy of
Commission, while also being aware of agencies what matters? There is maternity leave, paternity
like Frontex with their biopolitical and leave, and no other leaves...? There is a need to
necropolitical practices, is necessary. She change the hierarchy of what matters, building
reminds us that nobody uses the term work-based positions that preserve jobs and
tanatopolitics: Why? She emphasizes “not trying rights. Could it be an artistic hierarchy? “We need

41
to get creative about it”. more than academia.

Audience questions open debate about the need A man from the audience poses a last question
for adequate working structures. Laura responds about a prejudice that scares him. His final
that perhaps, even today, unions need to be dissertation ends like this: “what I see working
rearticulated in the 21st century, but like any with artists is that if we give them a budget of
workers, artists need proper platforms to gain 30,000 euros for the project, they can't do it. They
knowledge, legal awareness, and tools to interrupt this very deep production, they can't
understand their rights. If not, you are always make certain mistakes (...) They interrupt their
relegated to a position of pity. For example, the misery, and they function perfectly in their little
critical work done by platforms like the Visual gardens, without responsibility, just interrupting
Artists' Union and the PAAC (Assembly Platform things. So this is what scares me”.
for Artists in Catalonia) is key for her. These
platforms are vital for claiming proper working As a beautiful end Tere responds with a little
conditions for artists and ensuring artistic work is story of the last century:
valued.
[…] “So they looked at a group of ants and noticed
Tere Badia asks about the relationship between that some of the ants were doing nothing at all.
weak infrastructures and academia or research Then they thought “maybe if we take those ants
centers. Do we really have enough centers for out, we can increase the productivity and it would
doing transdisciplinary research? Which role do be a colony of 100% productive ants”. OK, so they
the STAR+T+S regional centers play? Nerea did it. They took the unproductive ants away.
answers that public funding for these spaces is Suddenly, in both groups -the unproductive and
crucial to participation. Laura agrees that old the productive- things started to change. So in the
structures just reproduce themselves: “I would 100% productive group, some ants decided to do
say we don’t need more centers; we need to nothing. And out of that 100% unproductive
transform the existing ones”, referring as group, one group decided to do something”.
example to spaces like Hangar, that embodies

It's a very nice story.

42
 AV & POSTER AREA
The symposium included a space for the display Metabolism of Techno-Financial Worlding
of posters and audiovisual essays. There was Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves (Engineering Fiction
also an opportunity to see the installation of & UOC)
Invisible Voice, by Mark Farid, artist in residence
at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) as “Metabolism of Techno-Financial Worlding” is a
part of the S+T+ARTS in the City residency speculative video essay that explores the process
programme. of financialization through the relationship
between finance, imagination, and the
computational production of uncertainty and
futures. It focuses on how Venture Capital exploits
the mythological aura of technology to advance
with its libertarian and technocratic agency. This
video essay, still under production, tells the story
of the Venture Capital Capacitor, a device that
exploits the energy of an invisible territory called
Reality³ to summon techno-financial entities from
the imaginary realm to material reality.

Invisible Voice
Mark Farid (University of the Arts London)

Invisible Voice is a digital arts and research

project featuring a browser extension, mobile app,
and interactive installation. Developed over three
years with EU support, it challenges societal
narratives on key issues like human rights and
The projects exhibited in this space were: corporate ethics. The plugin seamlessly integrates
into browsing, using data from 37 open-access
Wide Time - Space Psychology for improving sources to reveal company practices. The app
quality of life after cancer offers product scanning for deeper insights. An
Gioia Arieti (Wide Time) interactive installation adds a dynamic layer,
spotlighting brands’ impacts. Invisible Voice
As space exploration progresses, the focus has empowers users to align their actions with their
increasingly shifted towards addressing the values, driving change in politics and media.
psychological well-being of astronauts.
Recognizing the complexities of time perception
distortion during long-duration missions,
interdisciplinary research has developed a novel
calendar structure to measure meaningful time
units in space. This innovation, rooted in design
and psychological science, is currently being
tested with cancer survivors to assess its
applicability in post-treatment adaptation. The
study underscores the potential of integrating
design, science, and technology for future
advancements.
43
ASTER+S>ART^SEALIFE: SciArt works concreated It offers a transformative economic system that
in transdisciplinary teams in collaboration with reintegrates human metabolism and energy
marine biologists of the Institut de Ciències del needs with photosynthesis, redefining
Mar (ICM-CSIC) sustainability within planetary limits.
Rocio Garcia-Robles (University of Seville)

ASTER+S > ART^SEALIFE (@asterproyecto)

arises from the SciArt collaboration between the
Institut de Ciències del Mar (@icm.csic) and the
ASTER+S research group from the University of
Seville with invited participants (Netherlands,
Barcelona). We focus on how marine life is
developing beneath the surface under the
influence of climate change, with the dimension
of citizen science supported by the EMBIMOS
research group (https://minka-sdg.org/), and
using our eco-SciArt methodology for
transdisciplinary co-creation.

LEONARDO/ISAST LASER Talks: Interdisciplinary Somoure

Creativity for Innovation Mónica Rikić, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Christiana Kazakou (LEONARDO/ISAST LASER
Talks) Somoure is an artistic research project developed
during an EU S+T+ARTS residency, focusing on
Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is an international improving the social acceptance of assistive
program that ‘’democratizes’’ knowledge by robotics. The project explored various ways of
bringing together artists, scientists, humanists, integrating robots into healthcare systems to
and technologists for informal presentations, enhance the independence of patients requiring
performances, and conversations with the wider assistance. Conducted in collaboration with the
public. The mission of the LASERs is to Institute of Industrial Robotics (IRI) at CSIC-UPC
encourage contribution to the cultural in Barcelona, the research investigated how
environment of a region by fostering robots could be effectively integrated into
interdisciplinary dialogue and community building assistive roles while ensuring patient comfort and
in over 57 cities across five continents. LASER’s trust.
local & global nodes build a creative
infrastructure to address the world’s most
challenging problems and help us engineer a Fostering Interdisciplinary Alliances: Gluon’s Six-
better future. Stage Methodology
Ramona Van Gansbeke, GLUON

THE SOLAR SHARE An Edible Solar Currency The six-staged methodology developed by Gluon
DISNOVATION.ORG puts its emphasis on local ecosystems and global
challenges, representing a novel approach that
THE SOLAR SHARE stages a form of planetary pushes the boundaries of innovative practices. It
economics based on photosynthesis. THE SOLAR is based on the belief that the contribution of the
SHARE project challenges prevailing economic arts is key in facilitating new social imaginaries
models with insights from sunlight-harvesting and transformational narratives for the twin green
organisms, crucial to life’s metabolism. Featuring and digital transitions. This methodology enables
a one-square-meter microalgae bioreactor, it organisations to bundle and expand expertise and
highlights human dependence on photosynthesis existing networks and raise the skills and
and proposes edible microalgae as a new innovation levels within the challenges put
economic unit, representing daily biomass yield. forward.

44
 PARTICIPANTS
May Abdalla
Anagram

May Abdalla is a highly acclaimed director and artist known for using physical experience, technology
and storytelling in ground-breaking ways. Her work brings poetic insight and meaningful interactivity
to important contemporary issues with the aim of deepening our understanding of ourselves and the
world around us.

Pau Alsina
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Pau Alsina is an Associate Professor at the Arts and Humanities Department of the Open University
of Catalonia (UOC) and at the Official Master’s Degree in Digital Art Curatorship (ESDI). Since 2001 he
has been editing the scientific journal ARTNODES. He has chaired conferences (BCN ISEA, Art
Matters, Interface Politics), curated exhibitions (BCN Science Biennial, ISEA Possibles, Ars Electronica
Garden, NEO Cosmocaixa, Cultures of Change), advised public (FECYT, Barcelona City Council) and
private institutions (Fundación Carasso, BBVA, NAF) on cultural policies and the relationship between
arts and sciences. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Barcelona Culture Council.

Elisenda Ardèvol
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in the
field of Social and Cultural Anthropology, and visiting professor at the Department of Anthropology,
History and Humanities of Flacso (Ecuador). His research career stands out for its interdisciplinary
nature and the breadth of his fields of study, with his transversal focus on ethnography and qualitative
methodologies related to the media. His current lines of research in the Mediaccions group are
related to the development of digital ethnography, anthropology of design, creative practices,
environmental activism and narratives.

Gioia Arieti
Wide Time

Gioia Arieti, by day, works on large-scale digital transformation projects. By night, she is the founder of
Wide Time, a human-centered calendar designed for long-term Space missions. This calendar was
tested in an analog Space mission and has received international media coverage, including TEDx, the
Melissa Space Conference, and an art prize from a European Space community.

Tere Badia
HacTe

Tere Badia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of Barcelona and a Master’s
degree in Information and Knowledge Society from the IN3 (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute-UOC).
From 2010 until 2017, Tere Badia was Director of Hangar, a centre for artistic production and
research in Barcelona. From 2018 until 2022, she served as Secretary General at Culture Action
Europe in Brussels. Since December 2024, she is the Director of HacTe, the hub for Arts, Sciences and
Technologies in Barcelona.

45
Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves
Engineering Fiction

Andreu Belsunces is a sociologist of design, technology, and imagination. His research practices
engage traditional, speculative, and artistic methods to explore how material futures emerge through
the interplay of technology, industry, policy, and finance, particularly in relation to uncertainty, hype
and fiction. He is a lecturer in Science and Technology Studies, as well as critical and speculative
design, across several BA and MA programmes. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Tecnopolitica
research unit, at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Laura Benitez
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

Laura Benitez has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and is a researcher and university lecturer. Her research
connects philosophy, art(s), and technoscience. She is an associate professor at the Department of
Philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She also teaches at Elisava. She has served
as the coordinator of the Theory area in the Arts and Design Degree at Massana, where she taught
Critical and Cultural Studies. She has been a visiting researcher at the Ars Electronica Center and the
Center for Studies and Documentation of MACBA.

Marie-Carmen Bex
Deputy Director General of Innoviris (Brussels, Belgium)

An economist by training, specialising in Development, Population and Environmental Studies, Marie-

Carmen Bex is currently Deputy Director General of INNOVIRIS, the public funding organisation for
research and innovation of the Brussels-Capital Region. Marie-Carmen Bex specialises in R&D&I
funding policy and has been active in this field since the 1990s. After various experiences (BELSPO,
EU PermRep, etc.), she has mastered the institutional intricacies of the field, from the regional level to
Europe.

Laia Blasco
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Laia Blaso is director of the Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and lecturer on the Bachelor’s Degrees in
Multimedia and Design and Digital Creation at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). She holds
a PhD in Network and Information Technologies from the UOC, a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, a
Diploma in Graphic Design, with a Postgraduate Degree in Visual Culture and a Master’s Degree in
Multimedia Applications. Her artistic and academic research focuses on the creation, study and
critique of interactive visual tools for experimentation and learning.

Andrés Burbano
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Andrés Burbano is Professor at the Open University of Catalunya, UOC (Barcelona, Spain) and Visiting
Lecturer at Donau-Universität (Krems, Austria). He holds a Ph.D. in Media Arts and Technology from
the University of California at Santa Barbara (California, EEUU). Burbano is a scholar and
transdisciplinary artist; his research projects focus on media history and media archaeology in Latin
America and the Global South, computational technologies’ historical and cultural impact, and 3D
modeling of archaeological sites. Burbano was ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Chair and is the author of the
book “Different Engines: Media Technologies from Latin America” (Routledge, 2023).

Nerea Calvillo
Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies, University of Warwick
Nerea Calvillo (she/they) is an architect-scholar, based at the research Centre for Interdisciplinary
Methodologies (University of Warwick, UK), director of spatial design office C+ arquitectas and funder
of In the Air, an ongoing collaborative project to sense air(pollution). She works at the intersection
between spatial design, feminist technoscience, queer and environmental studies, and her current
research is on toxic politics, AI natures, atmospheres and queer urban political ecologies. Her work

46
has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Royal Academy of Arts, Canadian Centre for
Architecture or the Shanghai Biennale; and published in interdisciplinary journals like Social Studies
of Science, Journal of Extreme Events or Public Culture. She is author of Aeropolis: Queering air in
Toxicpolluted worlds.

Evy Ceuleers
Manager of the Science Promotion department at Innoviris (Brussels, Belgium)

Evy Ceuleers is a trained linguist specialized in multilingualism research. Since 2020, she has been
the manager of the Science Promotion department at Innoviris, the public funding organization for
research and innovation of the Brussels-Capital Region. In this role, she is committed to promoting
science and technology to young people and the general public. She co-organizes the annual I Love
Science festival and is passionate about the intersection of arts and science, aiming to build a
resilient city ready for current and future challenges.

Lúa Coderch
BAU – Centre Universitari d’Arts i Disseny de Barcelona

Lúa Coderch is an artist, researcher, and professor at BAU, College of Arts and Design of Barcelona.
She holds a BA in Fine Arts, an M.A. in Productions and Research, and a PhD in Advanced Studies in
Artistic Productions from the University of Barcelona. She combines narrative practices and
sculptural and objectual practices in videos, performances, and installations that she configures as
research devices.

Jessica Coldrey
Independent Engineer

Jess Coldrey is a human geographer and humanitarian engineer who blends technical and creative
approaches to environmental challenges. She has presented work at COP26, the World Conference
on Ecological Restoration, and the British Ecology Society’s People and Nature journal. Recognised as
one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering and a guest lecturer at King’s College London, her research
connects science, creativity, and public engagement to drive community outcomes.

Michele Coletti
Grenoble Ecole de Management

Michele Coletti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management, Technology and

Strategy at the Grenoble Ecole de Management, France. His research focuses on collaborative
research and innovation and has been published in academic outlets such as Economics of
Innovation and New Technology, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Management, European Journal of Innovation Management, Journal of Environmental Management,
and Science and Public Policy.

Alba Colombo
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Alba is an associate professor and researcher at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Her research
centers on the critical analysis of the contemporary significance of cultural events and festivals as
social and cultural expressions, as well as spaces for resistance, disruption, and platforms for equity,
diversity, inclusion, well-being, and human rights. A specialist in evaluation models for cultural
projects, she emphasizes mixed methodologies that integrate both quantitative and qualitative
processes. She has advised various research and administrative institutions and currently serves as
the director of the Master’s degree in Cultural Management at UOC.

47
Tomás Criado
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Tomás Criado is an anthropologist, currently working as Ramón y Cajal Senior Research Fellow at the
Open University of Catalonia’s CareNet-IN3 group. His ethnographic and public engagement work
focuses on different instances of knowledge and material politics in settings where care is invoked as
a mode of urban intervention: be it as a particular mode of technoscientific activism (democratising
knowledges, design practice and infrastructures); or as a practice of articulating ecologies of support
(accessible urbanism; urban heat care plans).

Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki

Northeastern University

Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki are media artists who critique technological solutionism by
reverse-engineering technologies to reveal underlying assumptions and problems that arise through
implementation. They use methods from media theory and science and technology studies as a
means for critical engagement. They often replicate technologies used for social control or that have
a significant social impact, including open-source surveillance systems, financial technologies, and
neural networks.

Christophe De Jaeger
GLUON

Christophe De Jaeger (b. 1979) is an art historian and curator with a specialization in contemporary
art and collaborative practices bridging art and research. In 2009, he founded Gluon, an elementary
force uniting artists and researchers to cultivate artistic endeavors exploring science and technology.
Gluon facilitates artist residencies within corporations and research institutions. The nexus between
Brussels, a cosmopolitan hub, and Europe is integral to his work, as is his emphasis on engaging the
youthful and diverse young generations of this vibrant city.

Aurélie Delater
Independent Advisor

Aurélie is a supporter of art-tech collaborations at European level. She works with cultural and artistic
organisations across Europe that want to push the boundaries and question the use of technologies,
through art-driven projects. She is currently involved in the S+T+ARTS initiative, the largest European
programme in the field, and coordinating the S+T+ARTS in City project.

Simona De Rosa
T6 Ecosystems

Simona De Rosa (PhD) is partner and senior researcher of T6 Ecosystems srl. Since 2015, she has
participated in responsible positions in more than 10 European projects funded by the European
Commission under the research frameworks FP7, H2020 and Horizon Europe. Within the company,
she is coordinating the Policy dialogue and advocacy activities. She is currently deeply involved in the
research community on creative and cultural industries and part of the S+T+ARTS family since 2020.

Rosanna di Nuzzo
MEET Digital Culture Centre

Rosanna di Nuzzo is an independent project designer and manager, currently collaborating with
MEET Digital Culture Centre in Milan, overseeing research and innovation projects. She specializes in
social and cultural innovation, education, inclusion, and digital transformation. Since 2019, she has
led three Regional STARTS Center projects as an innovation catalyst, fostering collaborations
between art, science, and technology to drive sustainable innovation. Her work is dedicated to
empowering individuals and societies through interdisciplinary strategies.

48
Mark Farid
University of the Arts London
Mark Farid is an Artist, Researcher, and Lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, University of the
Arts London. He specialises in the intersection of the virtual and physical world, and the effect new
technologies have on the individual and their sense of self. Farid’s work embodies hacker ethics, such
as a focus on privacy policies, use of surveillance technologies, and campaigning for data privacy and
protection. His work forms a critique of social, legal, and political models.

Luís Fernandes
Artistic Director GNRation (Braga, Portugal)

Luís Fernandes (1981) is a musician and curator whose work focuses on exploratory music, sound,
art and technology. He was lecturer at institutions such as Berklee College of Music, Elektra Montréal,
Serralves, Off the page – The Wire, MAAT, and teaches at Universidade do Minho. He was artistic
director of Semibreve Festival (2011-2023) and is currently the artistic director of Theatro Circo,
GNRation, Index – art and technology biennial, besides supervising the program of Braga25 –
Portuguese Capital of Culture.

Raoul Frese
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Dr. Raoul Frese is a physicist at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and head of the hybrid forms laboratory.
He explores a wide range of photosynthesis-based technology, from biological solar cells to algae
powered robot and plant-human interactions. His research leads to novel technology that cooperates with
nature and the development of the trans-disciplinary method of artscience. Frese is the recipient of
several prestigious science grants in physics and humanities, and has been a long-term resident of
Malinese filmmaker Manthia Diawara which served as a model for the EU-network of Studiotopia.

Rocio García-Robles
University of Seville

Dr. Rocío Garcia-Robles holds degrees in Arts and Computer Science Engineering from the University
of Seville. Her award-winning doctoral thesis on Art Holography is housed in the MIT Museum. A
professor at the University of Seville, she supervises doctoral students in SciArt and STEAM fields.
She leads the ASTERISM research group, focusing on Art, Science, Technology, and Society synergy,
and directs the ASTER+S project, promoting sustainable, democratic, transdisciplinary co-creation.

Anni Garza Lau & Gro Sarauw

Ghost Agency

Ghost Agency is a techno-social art and research practice founded in 2021 by

Danish artist Gro Sarauw and Mexican media artist Anni Garza Lau. It focuses
on using non-visibility and anonymity as tools to advocate for human rights
amid Surveillance Capitalism. The project is currently sustained as a ‘micro
institute’ at Art Hub Copenhagen, the Nordic Culture Fund and the Danish Arts
Foundation.

Alessia Gervasone
University of Barcelona

Alessia Gervasone is a PhD researcher in Art History at the University of Barcelona and an
independent curator focused on art and political ecology. As part of the Art, Globalization,
Interculturality (AGI) research group, her work explores how art and curatorial practices foster post-
extractivist and decolonial imaginaries, integrating non-human governance. She currently
collaborates with the Espronceda Institute of Art & Culture as a project manager, overseeing
European projects.

49
Sofia Greaves
Postgrowth Innovation Lab
Sofia Greaves is a Postdoctoral Researcher working for the Postgrowth Innovation Lab (ERC) at the
University of Vigo. Sofia holds a PhD in Classics from the University of Cambridge, which explored
cultures of science, technology, and urban planning in the nineteenth to twentieth centuries. Her
postdoctoral research explored cultures of innovation in contemporary urban planning and European
policymaking institutions, focusing on the importance of introducing arts-based approaches to
address environmental issues.

Mona Hedayati
Concordia University, University of Antwerp

Mona Hedayati is an artist-researcher and a joint PhD candidate in the interdisciplinary humanities at
Concordia University, Canada and the digital arts doctorate program at Antwerp Research Institute for
the Arts, University of Antwerp, Belgium and a research fellow at St Lucas school of Arts in Antwerp.
Her work draws on computation arts and sound design. She has an MFA in digital media and an
advanced master’s in social-political art and design. Hedayati has been trained in media art and
design and her research-practice aims to bring social thickness back into the science and technology
practices that conventionally claim their fields as “immune” to social concerns.

Clarice Hilton
Anagram

Clarice Hilton is a designer and researcher at Anagram. She is a creative technologist and researcher
specializing in disability centered design, and is completing a PhD at Goldsmiths in embodied
technology and disability centered design.

Marko Hren
Head of Unit Slovene Sustainable Smart Specialisation Strategy (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Marko Hren is the head of unit for the Slovene Sustainable Smart Specialisation Strategy (S5),
focusing on digital and circular economy, deep tech innovation, and the creative sector. With
extensive experience in ICT development, humanities research, and social activism, he has engaged
in various stages of tech and social innovation within the quintuple helix. In the past 25 years, he has
continuously served as an evaluator and monitoring expert for both national and centralized EU
initiatives.

Antonio Irre Catalano

Independent artist and researcher

Antonio Irre Catalano (1980) Artist, independent researcher and cultural designer. He specializes in
site-specific and audience-specific art practices. He is a performer and an author of performances,
visual works, poems, short stories, and theater. As a cultural designer, he works on Public Art and
Relational Art projects. As a researcher, his current focus is a project between Art and Science on
plants and human-plant communication.

Christiana Kazakou
LEONARDO/ISAST LASER Talks

Christiana Kazakou is the Program Engagement Specialist at Leonardo/ISAST, where she manages
LASER Talks; a program of international gatherings that foster interdisciplinary dialogue and
opportunities for community building in over 57 cities and five continents worldwide.

50
 Lola Kengen & Maxim Velli
Learning Planet Institute Paris

Maxim Velli and Lola Kengen combine their backgrounds in biodesign, politics,
and climate education to tackle the reflexive impotence of their generation. Their
“Solarpunk Manifesto” podcast explores how solarpunk ideals can inspire shifts
in thinking and practice, particularly at the intersection of innovation and
sustainability. In response to the crises of political representation and societal
exhaustion, they advocate for radical hope as the driving force for more just and
desirable futures.

Carolyn Kirschner
Goldsmiths, University of London

Carolyn is a designer and researcher whose work explores complex relationships between humans,
ecologies, and machines. Her work has been shown at the Centre Pompidou (2023), ZKM Center for
Art and Media Karlsruhe (2022), Milan Design Week (2024), and A/D/O in Brooklyn (2020).
Publications include Perspecta (2021), The Polar Silk Road (2021), and Visual Ecologies of
Placemaking (2024). She is a Lecturer in Design at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Jurij Krpan
Kapelica Gallery for Contemporary Investigative Art

Jurij Krpan founded Kapelica Gallery for Contemporary Investigative Art in 1995 and has been its senior
curator since. He has curated national and international exhibitions, including the Slovenian pavilion at
the 50th Venice Biennale. Since 2012, he’s been the artistic director of the Kersnikova Institute,
supporting art research labs BioTehna and Rampa. Krpan integrates art with innovation for sustainable
development and is Slovenia’s Smart Specialisation Ambassador. He joined Slovenia’s National Council
of Culture in 2019 and became its president in 2024, lecturing globally on the Kapelica Gallery.

Guillemette Legrand
Ecole des Arts Décoratifs (PSL) / Basel Academy of Art and Design (FHNW)

Guillemette Legrand is an artist, designer, and researcher who documents and mobilises
computational infrastructures that produce knowledge about people and the earth to question the
cosmological imaginaries it naturalises. Guillemette’s work can be described as an artistic and
participatory intervention of algorithmic knowledge to re-imagine its frictions and possibilities through
interdisciplinary cooperations and multimedia installations. Guillemette is affiliated with the EnsadLab
(ENSAD-PSL) and the Critical Media Lab (FHNW-HGK).

Veronika Liebl
Ars Electronica

Veronika Liebl is the Ars Electronica’s Director of European Cooperation and the Managing Director of
its Festival/Prix/Exhibitions department. For over ten years she has been involved in programming
and the production of collaborative programs with partners from the arts, sciences and industry and
evolved, launched and completed numerous EU projects such as the STARTS Prize and the European
ARTificial Intelligence Lab. Furthermore, she serves as a member of the City of Linz Culture Council,
the executive board of the Linz UNESCO City of Media Arts and the Content Innovation Council of the
Frankfurt Book Fair’s ARTS+ program.

Adrien Lucca
Studio Adrien Lucca

Since 2009, Adrien Lucca develops a multidisciplinary body of work around color and light that questions
our perception of the physical world. In search of practical means of action to set up aesthetic
experiences, he has set up a research and production laboratory where he conceives his works in an
autonomous way at the intersection of art and science. To the antipodes of a sad passion for the

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normalization and the technicization of our relations to the physical world, Lucca believes that one
can highlight the strangeness of the link between the physical world and our perception of it by
appropriating scientific and technological resources. His most recent work aims at redefining the very
concept of “color”.

Nicolas Maigret
DISNOVATION.ORG

DISNOVATION.ORG merges contemporary art, research & hacking to critically translate complex eco-
social debates into operative and provocative exhibits. They create radical artworks staged as large
laboratory experiments focused on energy, ecology and economics that work as catalysts for crafting
futures that diverge from prevailing narratives. Their exhibits, books and videos permeated global
cultural landscapes fostering a critical dialogue at the nexus of artistic, political and scientific inquiry.
They co-edited A Bestiary of the Anthropocene with Nicolas Nova, an atlas of anthropic hybrid
creatures, and The Pirate Book, an anthology on media piracy.

Carla Molins-Pitarch
Image Processing and Multimedia Technology Center, UPC

Carla Molins-Pitarch, PhD, MFA, is an experienced designer, creative technologist, and researcher
working at the intersection of design, technology, and science to bring a tangible instance to complex
concepts. Currently, researcher at the Image Processing and Multimedia Technology Center, UPC
(DiCode: digital culture and creative technologies research group). Marie Curie Fellow, PhD in
communication UPF (Spain) 2019-2023; La Caixa Fellow, Design & Technology MFA ’19 Parsons, The
New School (NY, USA).

Joel Ong
York University

Joel Ong (PhD) is a media artist whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the
environment. His recent works explore the visibility and audibility of ambient phenomena with a
particular focus on the wind and the atmospheric microbiome. Joel holds a PhD from DXARTS at the
University of Washington (2017), and an MSc. In Biological Arts from SymbioticA at the University of
Western Australia. He was a recipient of the Petro-Canada Young Innovators Award in 2020 and is
Associate Professor in Computational Arts, at York University and the Helen Carswell Chair for
Community Engaged Research in the Arts.

Anna Pinotti Blanch

HacTe

Anna Pinotti holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the UB and a Master’s degree in
Cultural Management from UOC-UdG. She worked as a freelance cultural manager and consultant
accompanying public institutions and private organisations, mainly in the Basque Country. From 2020
to 2023 she worked in Conexiones improbables, an organisation that promotes open innovation
processes through methodologies of hybridisation between the arts with other sectors. Since January
2024, she is project manager of HacTe, the Hub for Art, Science and Technology in Barcelona.

Ricardo Rego
Councillor in Viana do Castelo City Council (Portugal)

Ricardo has a degree in Organisational Psychology, specialising in Organisational Management. He is

currently a councillor in the Viana do Castelo City Council with responsibility for health promotion,
human resources, sport, innovation and digital transition and heritage management, having also been
the mayor’s chief of staff between 2017 and 2020. He has developed several municipal projects,
including ‘Viana European City of Sport 2023’ and the Viana STARTS Project of the New European
Initiatives.

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Monica Rikić
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Mónica Rikić (Barcelona, 1986) is an electronic artist and recipient of the 2021 National Culture
Award of Catalonia. She combines creative coding and electronics with non-digital objects to create
interactive projects and robotic installations. Her work explores the social impact of technology,
focusing on critical thinking around alternative technologies and open hardware. Her projects have
been exhibited at national and international institutions and festivals for over ten years.

Gabriele Rosana
Freelance journalist and policy analyst

Gabriele Rosana is a freelance journalist and moderator, and a policy analyst based in Brussels.
Specialised in EU Affairs at the College of Europe in Bruges, he has extensive experience in cultural
policymaking, having worked as a policy advisor both in the European Parliament and with Culture
Action Europe, the major European cultural network of networks, organisations, and activists. He
contributes to various publications with stories and analyses on Europe and the European Union.

Marta Royo Llonch

SHOOK Studio / ICM-CSIC

Marta Royo (1990, Terrassa) is a scientific researcher (PhD in Environmental Microbiology), designer
and visual artist. She is an expert in the analysis of big data, conducting research at the Institut de
Ciències del Mar since 2012. In 2018, Marta co-funded SHOOK Studio to improve the accessibility to
scientific knowledge through art and design. They are specialists in mediating science/art
collaborations and their works have been presented at international festivals.

Georg Russegger
Head of Open Innovation Center at Ludwig Boltzmann Institut (Vienna, Austria)

As a trained media artist and researcher with a PhD in media anthropology, Georg Russegger works
and operates at the crossroads of open innovation and human-computer interaction. Research and
development, responsible innovation and knowledge valorization for academia, society and the
economy are key. My endeavor is to open artistic and creative methods of design for outreach,
engagement and education with agile impact. Skills transfer, capacity and community building to
empower and open up people’s desires to deal with global challenges and work together for a better
future fuel my inspiration.

Chris Salter
Zurich University of the Arts

Chris Salter is Professor for Immersive Arts and Director of the Immersive Arts Space at the Zurich
University of the Arts (ZHdK), Professor Emeritus, Design and Computation Arts at Concordia
University in Montreal, former Co-Director of the Hexagram network for research-creation in arts,
cultures and technology and Co-Founder of the Milieux Institute at Concordia. His artistic work has
been seen all over the world at such venues as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Barbican Centre,
Berliner Festspiele, Wiener Festwochen, ZKM, Kunstfest Weimar, Musée d’art Contemporain,
Muffathalle, EXIT Festival and Grand Palais Immersif-Paris, among many others. He is the author of
Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance ( 2010), Alien Agency (2015) and
Sensing Machines (2022), all from the MIT Press.

Teresa Sanchis
Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

PhD in Physics with a MSc in Leadership and Management of Science. 17+ years of experience in
project management and strategy development of R&D organisations. Currently, Head of Strategy of
the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). Responsible for the Art & Science programme of
IBEC and Open Science Strategy of IBEC. Executive coordinator of the Spanish Platform for
Nanomedicine. Passionate about science, technology, art, and what we can create together.

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Stefania Tamborini
Head of Communication and Cultural Enterprises at DG Culture (Regione Lombardia)

Stefania Tamborini is head of the office that deals with cultural activities, communication, cultural and
creative industries, european projects and funding at Directorate-General for Culture in Lombardy
Regional Government since 2021. She has studied and worked mostly in the area of public
communication. Graduated in mass communication at University of Bologna, she achieved a master
degree in digital communication at Politecnico of Milan in 2019. In Lombardy Regional Government
she, previously, oversaw institutional communication plans and strategies and managed projects to
promote high-quality agricultural goods and tourism. Finally, she has extensive experience teaching
public and social communication in both universities and adult education programs.

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