Author: kjungic

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Immersion Studies for Climate Experiences (2025-2028)

Supported by SNSF, Practice to Science
Rasa Smite, PI (Principal Investigator)

Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits. Atmospheric Forest, 2020. Ecodata–Ecomedia–Ecoaethetics (SNSF, 2017-2020).

This project explores how complex climate data can be transformed into immersive experiences that enhance public understanding and engagement. By combining artistic experimentation with scientific data, it aims to develop innovative methods for making climate change more accessible—turning abstract environmental shifts into emotional, tangible experiences.

The research focuses on three key questions: (1) How can complex climate science data be transformed into sensory, immersive experiences that help us imagine and understand the invisible processes in nature and society affected by climate change? (2) What kinds of collaborations and experimental tools between art and science are needed to make this transformation possible? (3)  How can the effects of such immersive experiences on public awareness and emotional engagement with climate issues be studied?

The three-year project will involve fieldwork and the translation of collected data into immersive (XR) environments, which will be exhibited and analyzed in public venues. Reflexive and multimodal ethnography will be used to examine the scientific research process, artistic experimentation, and how audiences respond to and engage with immersive environments—co-creating new ways of sensing and communicating environmental change.

Hosted by the Immersive Arts Space the project will result in workshops, exhibitions, video interviews, and publications. It will contribute new knowledge at the intersection of climate-related arts and sciences and offer an original, critical contribution to interdisciplinary research and education on climate and environmental issues—within ZHdK, across Switzerland, and internationally.

Partner Meeting & Workshop on Climate Data Sensorialization,
11th May 2026, ZHdK

Screenshot

This first internal partner meeting (Year 1 — Workshop 1: Tools) focused on the methodological foundations of the project. Following initial field studies in Switzerland (e.g. Pfynwald and TreeNet monitoring sites) and early data collection, the workshop brought together close collaborators to reflect on datasets, sensing and modelling approaches, and strategies for climate data sensorialization that may open up new possibilities for bridging immersive experience and climatic realities.

Big thanks to all participating partners for sharing their invaluable expertise and contributing to this discussion across a broad interdisciplinary spectrum: Chris Salter / ZHdK Immersive Art Space – on immersion, and sensorial perspective , Micah Wilhelm / ZHdK / WSL – sensing (ecophysiolical) data and climate modelling, Marcus Schaub / WSL – climate science and the Pfynwald VPDrought experiment, Eric Nowak / USI – socio-economic climate realities, Michael Krohn and Karin Zindel / ZHdK – art, sustainability, and environmental psychology.

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STS-CH Conference 2025

Holding things together?  Change, continuity, critique

10th – 12th September 2025
University of Zurich (Hauptgebäude), ETH, ZHdK (Museum für Gestaltung, Toni Areal)

In response to multiple crises and uncertain futures, nostalgic factions of contemporary society sometimes  lament lost togetherness and a lack of shared knowledge about what happens, what should be done, and how to make sense of it all. Political upheavals, economic inequalities, ecological devastations, and climate threats indeed do seem to call for restored unity and a renewed pact of knowledge in society governed by relevance. Desirable futures are then imagined through collective efforts and revived interdisciplinary perspectives, including science and technology studies (STS). Through collaborative programs, public engagement, action research, transdisciplinary ventures, and the idea that “things could be otherwise,” STS as a multifaceted research field indeed has come to be built around the hope for a more just and inclusive world.

The STS-CH 2025 conference aims to approach togetherness from different perspectives that inquire into processes and practices of change, continuity, critique and potentially also the deliberate destruction of existing structures, social or sociotechnical. The goal is not to reach consensus on potential futures but to coproduce insights and support performative voices that imagine other liveable futures, connecting past and present experiences.

The conference will be held at the UZH, ETH and ZHdK. On Thursday, 11th September the keynote by Hannah Star Rogers will be held at the Museum für Gestaltung (Ausstellungsstrasse) and the following apéro is served the the Toni Areal.

Philippe Sormani an Chris Salter are part of the conference commitee.

Further information, detailed schedule and registration [here]

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User Testing

Thursday, 6th February 2025, 10:30-17:00 / Immersive Arts Space (1.J30)

We are currently developing two projects and need your help! Be a test user for two interactive projects and help us advance in our research. One project is a multiuser XR experience, that is created for 4 people. The second project is in an earlier stage (preliminary study) for an interactive installation created for the Museum für Gestaltung.

The testing lasts ca. 30 minutes, including the practical usage and a questionnaire in the end. It is held at the Immersive Arts Space and the associate researchers, responsible for the development, will be on site, gladly talk about the projects and their work.

If you are interested, please sign up for a time slot [here]. Feel free to forward the invite!

We thank every one for actively helping us and being part of our research!  


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Upcoming Events

The Immersive Arts Space hosts a variety of events at the lab itself throughout the year. Additionally, we participate in exhibitions, festivals conferences and many more.

We will inform you in detail about upcoming events here on this page as well as our social media channels (Instagram, LinkedIn) . Stay tuned!

In the meantime, have a look at our past [here]

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panic//void

audiovisual performance, 20. & 21. November 2025, 19:30-20:15

Immersive, audiovisual ritual delving into the liminal spaces between form and formlessness, panic and void, light and darkness. Improvisation between humans and machines, audio and visuals, ZYKLOS stretches the brutality of dichotomies until the structures fall apart into something that can be hybrid, whole, unquestioned, and simply experienced.

In the liminal space between being and nothingness, ZYKLOS invites you to confront the void, where the boundaries between self and other blur into a haze of uncertainty. Neon flickers against stark white, fleeting glimpses of form amidst formlessness. As human and machine improvisers intertwine, they challenge our notions of identity and control. Through this more-than-human dialogue, ZYKLOS creates a sonic landscape that resists easy categorization and leans into the exhilaration of our own transience…can we glimpse into transcendence, the fleeting moment where the veil between being and nothingness becomes beautifully transparent?

STUDIO ZYKLOS (Melody Chua, Chi Him Chik // AIYA, Aiii) is an ensemble and lab comprising of two humans and two improvisation machines. ZYKLOS’ practice of working with sonic improvisation machines reflects on the relationships that arise and become destabilised in human-machine constellations. On the one hand, this context views the machines as extensions of the human mind-body, but crucially on the other hand, it intentionally adopts a resistance against treating the non-human in the colonialistic sense of imposing our identities and control over them. Instead, the practice of improvising with machines is that of creating “resistance machines” that challenges our human identities and languages. Through this practice, we form new sensitivities, ways of relating, and ways of knowing beyond the anthropologic gaze. In the context of improvisation, our primary working method, this implies a confrontation and continual negotiation with uncertainties—a more-than-human dialogue of understanding that takes the form of music-making, translation, and movement across different bodies, both visible and invisible.

Please, reserve a ticket [here]

Further infos on zyklos.studio 

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Hard Boiled Wonderland 2.0

Performance
06. November 2025, 18:30
07. November 2025 16:00 | 19:00

Taking the relationship between structure and the body as a starting point, this work explores the position and situation of human beings in the social system and power structure. An unstable spatial order is constructed through the use of materials such as “silks”, in which the dancer constantly exchange informations wtih it. Struggle, support, lost and reorganise herself, thus revealing how structures regulate the body and are transformed by bodily experience. The work ultimately turns to a possible reconstruction of relationships, proposing a bodily imaginary of social sustainability.

HBW2.0 is a live performance that merges together dance, sound design and multi channel installation. It is the MA graduation performance of Joel Gilardini, Master Composition and Theory.

Reserve a free ticket for one of the performances [here]

Credits:
Joel Gilardini (Sound Design)
Manning Dong (Choreography)
Marta Allocco (Dance)
Giulia Speck & Danyue Li (Light)
Melody Chua & Daniel eaton (Technical Support)

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Captured! Zwischen Aufmerksamkeit und Überwachung

Festival from 14.-15. February 2026, 11-18:00
Kornhausforum, Kornhausplatz 18, Stadtsaal, 1. OG, Bern

A two-day festival all about sensors! At “Captured!”, visitors can explore the impact of sensor technology on our daily lives. They can experience provocative artworks and audience interventions using digital capture technologies firsthand.

Sensors are everywhere—from the clothes we wear to the cars we drive to the spaces where we work, exercise, drink, play, and sleep. Combined with artificial intelligence, these sensors constantly collect and analyze data about us, blurring the boundaries between our bodies and our devices. “Captured!” at the Kornhausforum explores how these sensor and data collection devices are changing our understanding and perception of the world around us.

The festival presents artistic projects from Switzerland, India, South and North America that deal with how sensors are increasingly shaping our bodies and lives and collecting more and more of our data. The festival’s works focus on the themes of sensor technology, surveillance, and hacking and include video projections and installations, VR works, audio, and a live performance in which visitors can hear and see their biosignals in real time. The artistic works are complemented by short workshops with the audience and interactive discussions with artists, experts, and Swiss activist organizations.

The participants in “Captured!” are part of “Bodies-Machines-Publics,” a two-year art-science-technology project funded by Pro Helvetia that brings together the Kornhausforum (Bern), the Immersive Arts Space/ZHdK (Zurich), Khoj Studios (New Delhi), and the Nave Center for Artistic Residencies and Creation (Santiago de Chile) to explore the artistic use of new technologies and their sociocultural impact. Captured! is supported by the AGORA program of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

The festival is the closure event of the 2 year long project BODIES-MACHINES-PUBLICS, a project funded by Pro Helvetia Synergies.

Credits:
Christopher Salter (curation)
Jana Eske (curation)
Fabio Ballinari (concept and production)
Atelier Pol (key visual)

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AI Futures in the Performing Arts

Roundtable discussion, Thursday, 19th June 2025, 18:30-20:00
Hybrid event

On Thursday, June 19, 2025, 18:30-20:00, a public roundtable discussion on “AI Futures in the Performing Arts” will take place in the Immersive Arts Space. Internationally renowned experts will discuss the future of artificial intelligence in the performing arts. The event can also be followed online. Participants include Ulf Otto (Ludwig Maximilian University Munich), Tina Lorenz (Zentrum f. Kunst & Medien Karlsruhe), Katerina El Raheb (University of the Peloponnese, Greece), Maria Chatzichristodolou (University of Arts London). Moderated by Chris Salter (IAS) and Ramona Mosse (DDK).

The discussion is part of an international workshop that aims to lay the foundation for a European research cooperation in the field of “Small Generative AI in the Performing Arts”. The aim is to establish a pan-European network of scientists, technologists, artists and cultural institutions that deals with the use of “small”, data-saving AI models in theater and dance. These locally executable systems offer new possibilities for the interactive, embodied practice of the performing arts.

If you want to join on site, please register via Eventfrog
If you want to join online, the link will be published here soon before the event.

*Photo credit: Regula Bearth, ZHdK 2020

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MESH – Festival of Art and Technology

Zangezi-Experiments and doppelgaenger:apparatus at HEK Basel

We are delighted to be part of the first edition of MESH Festival! The new festival for digital art and technology, a cooperation between HEK (House of Electronic Arts), iarts and HGK Basel. You can expect exhibitions, screenings, talks, performances and a two-day conference.

Doppelgänger, screenshot by Chris Elvis Leisi

Two projects – Zangezi-Experiments and doppelgaenger:apparatus – by the IAS will be part of this year`s MESH Festival at HEK Basel. The festival is taking place for the very first time and aims to showcase art works, installations and performances that use and interact with AI, Mixed Reality and robots and asks questions about the possibilities of interaction and co-creation between artist and technology.

Zangezi will be performed on 17th October 2024.
doppelgaenger:apparatus is part of the exhibition and will be on display from 16th to 20th October 2024.

Further information about Mesh Festival and ticket sales [here]

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Mugen

Mugen is an multidisciplinary immersive opera, that is based on Japanese writer Natsume Soseki’s (1867-1916) first dream from his short story “10 Nights of Dreams” (1908). The piece is divided into 7 x 7 minute parts following the character’s symbolic journey, that forms the emotional core of “Mugen”, while its themes of death, love, longing and the ambiguous syntheses of time and space create a rich character.

“The dreamer realises that he is sitting with his arms folded next to a woman lying on a bed, and she quietly confesses to the figure that she will soon die. This surreal encounter with the woman doesn’t faze the dreamer, and he asks her when she will die and whether she has to die. She confesses that she cannot change her fate and that she would like to ask the figure to bury her after her certain death. He is instructed to dig her grave with a large shell, bury her in it and erect a gravestone with a fragment of a fallen star. Finally, he is to wait in a hundred-year vigil for her self-proclaimed return. The dreamer follows her instructions and begins to count the days that pass as the sun moves from east to west. After some time, he wonders whether the woman has betrayed him. Unexpectedly, a white lily begins to grow from the fresh grave. At the end of its blooming period, he finally knows that 100 years have passed and the mysterious return of the woman is imminent.”

It will be a seated show, with audio-visual interaction on projection, with lights programmed to the music, dance, live music. 

The shows will take place on 31st October, 1st November (two shows) and 2nd November 2024. Tickets can be reserved [here]

Credits:
MUSIC & CONCEPT:   PAUL TARO SCHMIDT
DRAMATURGY: LEONARD LAMPERT
CHOREOGRAPHY:     IVANA BALABNOVA
DANCERS: COKO DE WINDT
COSTUME DESIGN/MAKE-UP: CAROLINA MISTZELLA
VISUAL ART: WEIDI ZHANG
ART DESIGN/POSTER: OLGA ANTONOVA
LIGHT DESIGN: CHI HIM CHIK
SOUND DESIGN: JONAS FULLEMANN
PHOTOGRAPHY: ARDENNES ORNATI, PAUL TARO SCHMIDT
VIDEOGRAPHY: BENJAMAT HESS, JUAN PABLO SALAZAR,  OLIVER KIMBER
FILM EDITOR: BENJAMAT HESS
PROJECT_MANAGER: OLENA IEGOROVA

MUSICIANS
NARRATION ERI OSHIKAWA
SHO NAOMI SATO
VOCALS SALOME CAVEGN, ALEKSANDRA SUCUR
DOUBLE BASS AZUNA OISHI
PERCUSSION BARBARA RIBEIRO
PIANO PAUL TARO SCHMIDT
VOICES ARDENNES ORNATI, DMITRY SMIRNOV, ALEKSANDRA SUCUR, CHI HIM CHIK, SAIKO SASAKI, STEPHAN TEUWISSEN, OLGA ANTONOVA
STRINGS MAX BAILLIE, ALESSANDRO RUISI, GRETTA MUTLU, OLI LANFORD, HÉLÈNE CLEMENT, ANNE BEILBY, KIRSTEN JENSON, COLIN ALEXANDER
MUSIC CONTRACTOR ELEONORE, SUSIE GILLIS
RECORDED BY JOHN BARRETT AT ABBEY ROADS STUDIO 2