Crafting Data: Material Practices in Art and AI
Symposium and Workshops
The University of Applied Arts Vienna was established in
response to the First Industrial Revolution, 150 years ago. Its founder, Rudolf von Eitelberger, envisioned the Angewandte
as a place to “educate artists who can intervene in industry,” grounding industrial production in artistic practice. Today,
this vision demands renewal in the face of a new challenge: the Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by data and artificial
intelligence. How can we develop and understand data-driven technologies, such as AI, “on the foundation of art”?
This symposium explores data as something physical and tangible that can and should be manipulated. It
examines the materiality of data and how it is embedded in artistic practices. Just as the Wiener Werkstätten sought
to integrate art into everyday life by offering a functional alternative to industrial production, contemporary machine learning
can benefit from artistic intervention. Making data and its models graspable opens them up to discussion.
The
symposium asks: How can we bridge arts, humanities, and technical sciences in understanding data models? What role can artistic
practices play in addressing algorithmic bias, data representation, and machine learning ethics? How can we cultivate an artistic
education that enables critical, democratic engagement with AI? What new ideas emerge when computational methods integrate
knowledge from art and design?
These questions align with the Angewandte's commitment to shaping digital
transformation through artistic and critical knowledge, connecting to broader discussions around the cultural, social, and
epistemological dimensions of AI and machine learning. Recognising AI as a cultural phenomenon that demands interpretation,
critique, and imagination, rather than merely as a tool, speaks to the broader mission of developing transdisciplinary modes
of learning in relation to the complexities of digital transformation.
Programme
Tuesday, 27 January 2026 – Auditorium | Public Symposium
12:30
Welcome with an address by rector
Ulrike Kuch (University of Applied Arts Vienna)
13:00–14:00
Intro: Clemens
Apprich (University of Applied Arts Vienna)
Keynote: Hito Steyerl (Academy of
Fine Arts in Munich)
14:00–15:30
Panel “Arts” with Kyriaki Goni (Artist,
Athens) & Avery Slater (University of Toronto)
Moderation: Daphne Dragona
(Author/Curator, Berlin)
15:30–16:00 Break
16:00–17:30 Panel “Crafts” with
Diane Cescutti (Artist, Saint Etienne) & Robin Holt (University of Bristol)
Moderation: Francis Hunger (Academy of Fine Arts in Munich)
17:30–19:00 Panel “Data”
with Mat Dryhurst (Artist/Musician, Berlin) & Victoria Ivanova (Serpentine
Galleries London)
Moderation: Paul Feigelfeld (Mozarteum University Salzburg)
19:00–19:15 Closing Remarks
19:15–20:30
Film Screening
S()fia Braga: The Artificial
Conjuring Circle (2023) & Third Impact (2025)
Mark Cinkevich: DATAS: The Data and the Sovereign (2025)
Silvia
Dal Dosso: The Future Is Weird AF (trilogy) (2023–)
Most Dismal Swamp: Scraper (2023)
21:00–22:00
DJ-Sets
Paul Ebhart
Eliška Jahelková/Daniel Stolzlederer
Wednesday, 28 January
2026 – Auditorium, FLUX 1, SR 21 | Internal Workshops
Internal workshops to collectively identify the university’s
needs regarding AI expertise, and to develop a profile in the arts, sciences and education.
Detailed information on content
and registration will follow.
09:30 Welcome
10:00–10:30 Input: Klaus Speidel
Mapping Workshop: Digitality & AI at the Angewandte
10:30–13:00 Workshop 1
Moderation: Naoki
Matsuyama, Martina Schöggl & Elisabeth Strasser
13:00–13:30 Lunch
13:30–15:00 Workshop
2
Moderation: Naoki Matsuyama, Martina Schöggl & Elisabeth Strasser
15:00–15:15
Coffee Break
15:15–16:45 Plenary Session
Symposium
Public Symposium
27. January 2026
Universität
für angewandte Kunst Wien, Auditorium, Vordere Zollamtsstraße 7, 1030 Wien
Internal Workshops
28. January 2026
Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Auditorium,
Vordere Zollamtsstraße 7, 1030 Wien
