This year at Tusitala, we focused on initiatives at the intersection of art and technology, which led to organsing SYNERGY in March and September, as well as participating in this year’s Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria.
The Tusitala team comprising Christine and myself joined the delegation supporting the Singaporean exhibition “Temporal Shifts: Along the Red Dot“ at the Ars Electronica Features, showcasing works by artists Debbie Ding, Kian Peng Ong, Urich Lau, and Avventura Immersive (with Maya Dance Theatre). The project was curated by Clara Che Wei Peh and led by Kamya Ramachandran from BeFantastic.in, with support from the National Arts Council, Singapore.
Tusitala team (Vaibhav – 2nd from left, Christine – 4th from left) at the Singaporean exhibition “Temporal Shifts: Along the Red Dot“
With 112,000 visitors, 1,260 participants, and 498 events, this year’s Ars Electronica was the most successful yet. Over the next five days, I had the chance to survey interactive installations, immersive artworks, and audiovisual performances, which was an exciting opportunity to explore emerging trends, fresh ideas, and expand my creative horizons.
Christine and I share some of the standout works we enjoyed at Ars Electronica 2024, highlighting diverse and inspiring projects that caught our attention, offering a glimpse into the creative potential at the intersection of art and technology.
Cold Call: Time Theft as Avoided Emissions
Cold Call is an installation by artists Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne that takes the form of a call center. Audiences are connected by telephone to executives in the fossil fuel industry and instructed to keep them on the line as long as possible, using strategies of worker sabotage and time theft to deliberately slow productivity and reduce carbon emissions.
Vaibhav: I liked how this installation turns time-wasting into a bold and creative form of gamified climate activism against fossil fuel giants. As an audience member, I found the experience incredibly fun—listening to previous cold calls sparked my curiosity and made me eager to explore the interface further.
Christine: The installation brilliantly parodied the sterile call center environment, with its bare desks, cold lighting, and corporate jargon. I enjoyed its critique of worker exploitation and helplessness, flipping the narrative by enabling audience members to challenge powerful executives using corporate tools and systems.
COCON by Cello Octet Amsterdam and Nick Verstand
An immersive, boundary-pushing audiovisual live performance, COCON features eight cellists performing alongside eight mechanical robotic arms, creating a “robotic cocoon” around the musicians. The robotic arms “embrace” the performers, moving in harmony with the music to form a striking visual and kinetic spectacle that explores themes of synergy between humans and machines.
Photo by Tom Mesic from 2024 – Best of Ars Electronica Festival album on Flickr
Vaibhav: I loved how COCON seamlessly blends human artistry with robotics, creating a visually stunning and deeply immersive experience that reimagines the relationship between tradition and innovation.
Christine: For me, this performance was hypnotic. Dark lighting and smoke gave the robotic movements an organic feel, and complemented the music well: gentle during quiet cello passages, bold and dramatic with flashing lights at its peak. Unlike the Philip Glass that was presented alongside AI-generated images – which I felt were too literal and often ugly – the visual effect of the robotic arms in this show was elegant, nuanced, and atmospheric.
What if we already know you?
“What if we already know you” is an immersive mock job interview where applicants’ “thoughts” are analysed by Nexus, an advanced AI system. Created by Emilia Vivian Gentis, Felix Henke, and Chantal Pisarzowski, the installation explores how AI interprets human thoughts and emotions in real time. Through interactive prompts and feedback loops, it stimulates critical discussions on identity, privacy, and the ethical limits of AI, while highlighting the evolving relationship and potential risks between humans and AI.
Vaibhav: I really enjoyed how the context of “What if we already know you” remained deliberately vague, creating an intriguing challenge for participants.
Based on the imaginary company’s traits and objectives, you had to decode the interview and navigate Nexus’s analysis to crack the selection process, making it an engaging and thought-provoking experience.
At the end, you’re given a QR code to learn more about your personality traits after completing the experience—although, for me, it led to a rejection!
Here’s my analysis
Acrobotics – Daniel Simu
A groundbreaking circus performance that introduces a custom-built robotic acrobat flyer, developed using skills in 3D printing and robotics, redefining our understanding of human and machine collaboration.
Photo by vog.photo from 2024 – Best of Ars Electronica Festival album on Flickr
Vaibhav: I liked how the performance pushes the boundaries of human-machine collaboration, featuring a custom-built robot. Through a mix of juggling, acrobatics, and storytelling, it explores trust, timing, and the nuances of human-led performance, while questioning if a machine can truly understand the intricacies of live artistry.
Christine: The circus act started with the performer and robot mirroring each other, gradually evolving into a dynamic duo performing impressive acrobatic stunts. What stood out was the deliberate personification of the robot – which one usually assumes should be perfect – with clever, humorous touches like “warming up” by doing sit-ups and flailing its arms as if losing balance, making it both endearing and believable.
Bookwander – by Nikola Kunzová
A prototype exploring different approaches to reading fiction through VR. It was part of Expanded Play, a series of student works of Hagenberg Campus – FH Upper Austria and Masaryk University Brno, exploring playful media focused on extended realities and spatial interaction.
Vaibhav: Bookwander VR reading corner offers a captivating exploration of literature through four unique approaches: the power of text, selective imagery, scenic reading, and interactive reading. Each mode redefines how we engage with books, blending technology and storytelling to create a deeply immersive and thought-provoking experience.
The experience felt fully immersive without compromising the act of reading, as the various visual representations enriched the storytelling.
Christine: A rigorous, systematic study of the ways reading within VR could be presented. Impressively polished for a prototype, it offers intuitive usability and meaningfully explores the relationship between words, visuals, and interactives within VR.
This project explores four distinct methods: the power of the text, selective imagery, scenic reading, and interactive reading. I hope it can either integrate with other VR reading projects or evolve into a more fully developed narrative experience.
Reflecting on the works we encountered, we considered what makes a project truly thrive. Is it the seamless integration of art and technology? The clarity and impact of its message? Or its ability to inspire meaningful change?
For me, a successful art-tech project captivates its audience, sparks critical thought, initiates conversations, and nurtures interdisciplinary collaboration.
We experienced countless remarkable works at the festival—far too many to list here. Yet, we left Ars Electronica brimming with inspiration and fresh ideas for future art and technology collaborations that I’m eager to explore.
