ECHOES OF TOMORROW, online colloquium 2026
Ten artists have developed innovative projects at the intersection of art, science, and technology as part of the S+T+ARTS EC(H)O Residencies since January 2024. Starting in January 2026, the online colloquium Echoes of Tomorrow will provide insights into their results, thought processes, and collaborative approaches to an engaged public. In dialogue with selected experts, central questions of the projects will be explored: Which discourses drive the artists? How do scientific collaborations and technological methods shape the artistic process? And how can these experiences be used to open up new perspectives on the pressing questions of our present? Echoes of Tomorrow invites artists, professionals, and the interested public to discover the artistic research projects of S+T+ARTS EC(H)O and to engage in discussion with artists, experts, and stakeholders.
Sign up for the online colloquium here — a Zoom invitation will be provided: STARTS Ec(h)o – Online Colloquium – registration – Fill in form || If you have any questions, please contact: startsecho@starts.eu
Upcoming sessions
Monday, 23 March 2026, 4:O0 PM (CET), online
Iz Paehr: Feeling Virtual: An Archive of Touch
Iz Paehr (Artist) in conversation with Katta Spiel (Assistant Professor for “Critical Access in Embodied Computing” at the HCI Group, Vienna University of Technology) and Dennis Wittchen (Research Associate, HTWD – University of Applied Sciences and Max Planck Institute for Informatics; Application Engineer, Hapticlabs GmbH).
Moderator: Masha Zolotova (Project Manager STARTS Prize | Festival – Prix – Exhibition, Ars Electronica)
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This session offers an opportunity to learn more about Feeling Virtual: An Archive of Touch, a project by artist and designer Iz Paehr developed in collaboration with Ars Electronica and the Salzburg Festival Archive.
Rooted in Iz Paehr’s interest in inclusive technologies and disability as a creative and epistemic position, the project explores how artistic input can challenge visually dominant virtual reality systems. Building from this perspective, the session opens a broader discussion on inclusivity in technological development and the structural biases embedded in interfaces, tools, and design standards. It asks whose bodies and senses are centred—or excluded—when new technologies are created, and how artistic practice can function as a critical method for rethinking access, participation, and agency in virtual and digital environments.
Past sessions
Monday, 26 January 2026, 4:30 PM (CET), online
Oliver Kruse: Looping
Oliver Kruse (concept and installation artist) in conversation with Thomas Obst (High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart, HLRS) and Doron Appelboim (Aerolane)
Moderator: Matvey Fridman (Media Solution Center Baden-Württemberg e.V.)
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In his project Looping, artist Oliver Kruse draws inspiration from natural
aerodynamics—specifically from the maple seed’s seemingly effortless rotational descent. The work connects artistic enquiry with high-performance computational modelling, simulation and visualization, core areas of expertise at HLRS. During the S+T+ARTS residency, the envisaged outcome is a six-metre-wide maple-seed-inspired wing sculpture, constructed in metal in collaboration with Kälin Aero, accompanied by at
least one test flight. The process leading to this result is defined by iterative artistic and scientific experiments, flight simulations, and a succession of prototypes made from diverse materials. The pronounced early interest within the aerodynamics community already indicates the potential for further application of the project’s findings in aircraft
design. For the online colloquium Echoes of Tomorrow, Oliver Kruse will present Looping and, together with Thomas Obst (HLRS) and Doron Appelboim (Doron Appelboim Engineering), discuss technological solutions inspired by nature.
Monday, 23 February, 5:30 PM (CET), online
Carolyn Kirschner: There is No Such Thing as a Fish
Carolyn Kirschner (artist and researcher) in conversation with Ivo Sbalzarini (TUD Dresden University of Technology; Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics) and Fiona Raby (Dunne & Raby)
Moderator: Matt Ward (Goldsmiths, University of London)
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With her project There is No Such Thing as a Fish Carolyn Kirschner focuses on one of the most widely used laboratory organisms, the zebrafish, and examines its socio-cultural and scientific significance within the S+T+ARTS residency. The project traces the complex entanglements between human and zebrafish worlds on both micro- and macro-levels, and speculates on the species’ possible future trajectories. In her artistic film, Kirschner investigates the fish’s various habitats—laboratory, pet shop, and natural environment—while engaging with research perspectives from the Physics of Life. As part of Echoes of Tomorrow, she will present excerpts from the film and, together with Ivo Sbalzarini (scientist) and Fiona Raby (designer), discuss the different epistemic and ethical viewpoints that shape the contemporary understanding of the zebrafish.
