Started as the conference Non-Machines: Playground of Perspectives, organised at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Institutio Media, the project has since grown into an evolving framework of ideas, people and projects. Currently operating under the umbrella of the Centre for Non-Machines Research, the framework continues to investigate how human behaviour, perception and relations are shaped and transformed through encounters with machines, technologies, living systems and their environments. Rather than defining non-machines as a fixed category, the ongoing research uses the term as a starting point for exploring forms of interaction and agency that emerge beyond conventional distinctions between the human, the technological and the biological.
Presented at Ars Electronica 2026, Relational Interactions brings together artistic research from the Media Environments and Acoustic Ecologies Chairs at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The exhibition explores relationships between biological, technological and perceptual processes, approaching life as a dynamic constellation of interactions rather than a discrete or fully computable entity. Through artistic experimentation and ecological engagement, the participating works considered how humans, nonhuman organisms, materials and technologies mutually shape one another.
Strategies for Non-Machines was a research project (2024-2026) exploring ways of thinking and working beyond the conventional separation of machines, organisms and environments. Bringing together artistic research, experimentation and collaborative inquiry, the project investigated forms of agency, perception and organisation emerging from interactions between biological, technological and material systems. The project recently concluded, leaving behind a body of artistic works, research outcomes and collaborations that continue to inform the ongoing activities of the Centre for Non-Machines Research.