Digital Cosmos

Hartwig Art Foundation presents Digital Cosmos, a two-day forum at De Thomas, Amsterdam on 21–22 November 2025. The event will critically examine the role of art amid the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and its planetary transformation. Keynote speakers include Holly Herndon, Yuk Hui, john gerrard, Marina Otero and Benjamin Bratton With contributions from Xin Liu, Cory Arcangel, Thandi Loewenson, Michael Connor, Victoria Ivanova, Nolan Oswald Dennis, LAS, Lukas Likavčan, Metahaven, Bahar Noorizadeh, and Nestor Siré. See full programme below. 

Digital Cosmos explores the current, unprecedented moment in time, in which artificial intelligence has diversified into a myriad of forms and applications, both inside our devices and in the world around us. It is evolving so rapidly that we might already be living in an ‘extended reality’, a cosmos of hybrid spaces and life forms. This extended reality is only possible because of a planetary network of supercomputers and countless data centers that store the digital remnants of human memory on which AI is trained, consuming vast amounts of energy and water. 

This two-day event brings together visionary artists, thinkers, and technologists to collectively navigate the convergences of artificial intelligence, life and art and explore key questions: What happens when life, intelligence, and technology become indistinguishable? How do artistic practices engage with the ethical, social, and environmental implications of artificial intelligence? And how can cultural institutions collaborate with technologists to build a sustainable digital art infrastructure as a shared resource?

Friday 21 November 2025: 

At Thomaskerk:

• 8:10 PM – 8:30 PM: Welcome by Beatrix Ruf and introduction by Memory Gems

• 8:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Holly Herndon talk, listening session, Q&A

Saturday 22 November 2025: 

At Thomaskerk:

• 10:00 AM – 10:20 AM: Welcome & introduction

• 10:20 AM – 11:10 AM: Keynote by Yuk Hui

• 11:10 AM – 12:05 PM: Keynotes by Marina Otero & lecture performance by Thandi Loewenson, followed by conversation moderated Arthur Steiner

• 12:05 PM – 12:45 PM: Cory Arcangel in conversation with Margarita Osipian

• Lunch break

• 1:30 PM – 2:20 PM: Panel talks Nolan Oswald Dennis, Lukas Likavčan and Xin Liu moderated by Leonardo Dellanoce

• 2:20 PM – 2:55 PM: Keynote by john gerrard

• 3:15 PM – 4:05 PM: Panel talks Nestor Siré and Bahar Noorizadeh, moderated by Emily Pethick

• 4:05 PM – 4:55 PM: Keynote by Benjamin Bratton

• 5:20 PM – 6:00 PM: Metahaven in conversation with Amira Gad

• 6:00 PM – 6:50 PM: Panel talks LAS, Victoria Ivanova and Michael Connor, moderated by Jose Luis de Vicente

• 6:50 PM – 7:00 PM: Outro & goodbye

At Hartwig Proxy (Parnassusweg 213):

• 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Becoming Brainrot workshop (open to people with a ticket for Digital Cosmos, please rsvp)

• 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM: Screening programme. Also on Sunday 22 November 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM (free of charge)

More information about the workshops

Workshop Becoming Brainrot by Lilian Stolk (The Hmm) — Public, with a ticket
The Becoming Brainrot workshop offers a hopeful look at meme culture's future, reframing the rapid spread of absurd, AIgenerated content not as mere 'slop,' but as a powerful, internet-native folklore. Inspired by its pushback against algorithmic efficiency, this session will explore how collective, AI-enabled world-building creates community through shared, emotional weirdness. Participants will move from critical reflection to hands-on practice, generating and physically assembling their own brainrot figures to collectively expand an emerging digital universe.

Workshop Building the Civic Art Stack by Arthur Steiner, Leonardo Dellanoce (Memory Gems) and Ben Cerveny (Foundation for Public Code) — Invitation Only
This invitation-only workshop convenes key players—artists, public code stewards, and infrastructure builders—to collaboratively prototype the civic art stack: a new model for open digital cultural infrastructure as a shared public resource. The discussion focuses on challenging the proprietary layers that dominate digital public space, particularly those controlled by major corporate players. Instead, the group will explore an alternative conceptualization where cultural institutions define and emit open information platforms, focusing on new governance, funding, and collaboration models essential for a future-proof, civic-minded digital ecosystem.

Screening programme at Hartwig Proxy

A selection of video works from the participating artists will be on show at Hartwig Proxy (Parnassusweg 213) on Saturday 22 November (until 10:30 PM) in the evening and Sunday 23 November (11:00 AM – 5:00 PM). Entry to the screening programme is free of charge.

Five-year research journey

In 2023, Hartwig Art Foundation embarked on a five-year research journey exploring how virtual technologies—like AI, VR, AR, game engines, blockchain, metaverse tech and more—are reshaping the cultural landscape and how artists and cultural institutions can critically engage with these developments. 

The aim of this journey was to bring together a community of practice—artists, technologists, and cultural institutions—through research, workshops, and events. In 2023, the first international conference, Art in the Age of the Metaverse, took place at de Balie in collaboration with Rijksakademie. During the event, we charted unexplored frontiers in art and digital technology together with experts like Ian Cheng, Micaela Mantegna, Trevor McFedries, Marina Otero, Kévin Bray, Morehshin Allahyari, Katja Novitskova and others.  

Now in 2025, we’re calling our local and global community and our partners back to meet and exchange in Amsterdam at De Thomas, a Brutalist church located just steps away from Hartwig Proxy and the future site of the Hartwig Museum.