September 9–13, 2026 | University of Arts Linz, Hauptplatz 8 (West Building)
From September 9 to 13, students and lecturers from the Media Environments and Acoustic Ecologies Chairs at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will once again participate in the Campus exhibition programme of the Ars Electronica Festival. Under this year’s festival theme, “Future Begins – Negotiating Humanity,” the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar contribution, “Relational Interactions,” brings together artistic projects that explore the entanglements of biological, technological and perceptual processes.
The exhibition takes place at the University of Arts Linz, Hauptplatz 8 (West Building) and presents five projects developed through artistic research and experimentation: 38.5346°N, 23.4932°E 38.5346°N,23.4932°E, Fried or Fossil?, Listening to Life and Change, Pipes in Progress and Post Compost – Forest Reset.
Rather than approaching technology as an isolated computational system, Relational Interactions considers technological processes as part of wider ecological and material relations. The works investigate situations in which humans, nonhuman organisms, materials and technological systems interact continuously, producing changing forms of agency, perception and organisation.
The contemporary condition is increasingly shaped by the consequences of human activity on ecosystems, from environmental degradation to transformations of social and cognitive environments. In response, the participating artists and researchers explore life not as a discrete or fully computable entity, but as a dynamic constellation of relationships. Their approaches combine artistic experimentation, ecological engagement and theoretical reflection to examine how biological and technological processes mutually influence and transform one another.
A particular focus of the exhibition is Post Compost – Forest Reset, an artistic research project examining the changing relationship between forests, monocultures, drought and bark beetles. Monocultures and increasingly dry conditions weaken European forests, enabling bark beetles to reshape entire landscapes. The project explores these processes of decay and emergence through a continuously evolving series of large-format posters installed on a public billboard. Rather than presenting the forest as a stable ecosystem, the work foregrounds its transformation and the emergence of new habitats.
The exhibition brings together contributions by Sabah Abouelhadid, Tim Auzinger, Christian Doeller, Kerstin Ergenzinger, Klaus Fritze, Johann Joesten, Diana Karle, Nina Kegel, Zakhar Komarov-Zelinskii, Krittaporn Mahaweerarat, Jan Munske, Radu Paul Simon Reinhardt, Adam Schmidt and Ayca Tugran.
The exhibition is curated by Ursula Damm, Kerstin Ergenzinger and Mindaugas Gapševičius, with exhibition architecture by Jan Munske and Viviane Morais Dantas and design by Said Berkin Yesil.
The production of the artworks was supported by the STIL Foundation within the Strategies for Non-Machines project.
Ars Electronica Festival 2026
Future Begins – Negotiating Humanity
September 9–13, 2026
Relational Interactions
University of Arts Linz, Hauptplatz 8 (West Building), Linz
Further information: Ars Electronica – Future Begins: Negotiating Humanity