Sigg Art Prize 2024
UNVEILING THE FUTURE OF ART WITH ARTIFICIAL IMAGINATION
The Sigg Art Foundation is proud to announce the launch of the Sigg Art Prize, a groundbreaking initiative set to redefine the boundaries of artistic creation through the lens of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As we stand on the brink of a new era in art, the Sigg Art Prize 2024 invited visionaries to explore and shape the future of creativity.
How to Apply?
Submit your application through the following dedicated form on our website. Your submission should include:
1. A portfolio document:
- Biography
- Curriculum vitae
- Past works with visuals
- Past exhibition with visuals
In a unique PDF document titled SiggArtPrize24_Lastname_Name_portfolio.pdf
2. Your project proposal:
- Intention letter
- Visuals for the project
- Production budget
- Detailed timeline
In a unique PDF document titled SiggArtPrize24_Lastname_Name_project.pdf
REDEFINING REALITY: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF AI
Sigg Art Foundation posits that AI is not merely another technological innovation destined to be swiftly superseded, but rather a transformation as profound and significant as the emergence of photography during the industrial revolution. AI is reshaping our approach of reality representation, memory construction, traditional practice and language innovation with a reconfiguration of the global scale cultural landscape. AI is not a disembodied, autonomous machine; AI acts as a transformative force, reshaping our legacy and knowledge process. Fed from billions of media artifacts loaded over two decades on the web, AI learns to create shapes that are sufficiently resemblant for recognition yet different enough to evoke alternative versions of reality, allowing to rediscover the essence of possibility. In an era where attention is singularly focused on the creation of software solutions and expansive models aiming at challenging the economic and ideological hegemony implemented since decades, Sigg Art Foundation endeavors to cast a fresh perspective on the visionaries who are presently embracing this new form of creation to predict the forthcoming world: Artificial Imagination.
Bridging New Ideas and Cultures
Since its creation, Sigg Art Foundation empowers emerging creatives, with a special focus on artists challenging history and its artistic heritage through the lens of digital and technological innovation. With the constant vision of supporting the development of new ideas, encouraging knowledge, and creating bridges between cultures, Sigg Art Foundation wishes to amplify the realm of possibilities with the creation of Sigg Art Prize, allowing a talent to conceive an original project in collaboration with organizations and individuals spearheading AI development. This year 2024, the launching theme -“Future Desert”- offers a canvas open to individual interpretation, inviting participants to explore its countless dimensions. Our panel of experts – gathering both globally recognized human entities and an artificial counterpart – will undertake the discerning evaluation of each artist’s trajectory and the innovative essence encapsulated within the project synopsis to ensures equitable representation and deliberation, fostering an environment of intellectual rigor and diversity of perspective in the adjudication process.
Unveiling New Narratives
Through the Sigg Art Prize, the Foundation seeks to foster a visionary outlook on AI by harnessing Artificial Imagination to craft new narratives from archived knowledge, we aspire to unveil an alternative historical continuum, seamlessly connecting the past and traditions to the future and innovation.
DANA-FIONA ARMOUR WINS THE SIGG ART PRIZE
The Sigg Art Foundation is proud to announce Dana-Fiona Armour as the winner of the 2024 Sigg Art Prize.
The Sigg Art Prize is designed not only to celebrate the pioneering spirit of artists delving into the realms of Artificial Imagination but also to materially support their journey. To this end, we were delighted to offer an award of 10,000€ to the Dana-Fiona Armour, laureat of the 2024 Sigg Art Prize.
This award signifies our belief in the transformative power of art and technology and our commitment to fostering innovation within the artistic community. It is a testament to our ongoing effort to amplify creative voices and to sustain the pursuit of groundbreaking work that challenges, inspires, and transcends traditional boundaries.
Selection Committee
This year, our esteemed jury, composed of leading figures from diverse fields such as art, technology, philosophy, and cultural management, have conducted a meticulous review of each submission.
DOMINIQUE MOULON
Digital Curator & Art Critic – President of the Jury
Dominique Moulon is an art critic and digital curator. Holding a PhD in Arts and Art Sciences, he is a member of the French Association of Exhibition Curators (CEA) and the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
To ensure impartiality in assessing all projects, Dominique, in his role as Jury President, will refrain from evaluating the candidates. His role will involve presenting the 6 projects pre-selected by the Foundation, guiding the final selection process.
ANNE STENNE
Co-founder and Artistic Director at Le Féral
Independant curator, she has been establishing a long – standing relationship with international artists, such as Pierre Huyghe. She recently curated his exhibition Liminal at the Pinault Collection. In 2023, she co-founds with the artists Fabien Giraud and Raphael Siboni The Feral , a 1000-year collective artwork at the scale of a landscape, fully shot and edited by an artificial intelligence.
ANNA LONGO
Philosopher, Writer, and Program Director at the Collège International de Philosophie (Paris)
Anna Longo is a philosopher particularly recognized for her book “Le Jeu de l’Induction” where she examines how knowledge, when treated as information, is automatically generated in today’s innovation-driven economy. This exploration is pivotal for understanding the shifts in knowledge production influenced by the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
ANTONIO SOMAINI
Professor at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris Senior & Curator
Antonio Somaini is Professor of Film, Media, and Visual Culture Theory at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. He is the chief curator of an exhibition on AI and contemporary art which will be presented in 2025 at the Jeu de Paume museum in Paris.
GEDIMINAS URBONAS
Professor in Art, Culture and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gediminas Urbonas is artist, researcher, educator, and former director of MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology. Urbonas is co-curator of Zooetics (2014-18), co-founder of MIT Climate Visions (2021) co-curator of the Swamp School (2018-ongoing).
JOSEPH FOWLER
Head of Art and Culture at the World Economic Forum
Joseph Fowler stands out as a cultural leader in the art world, with over two decades of experience, currently serving as Head of Arts & Culture at the World Economic Forum, celebrated for his innovative vision in programming international festivals and commissioning work with leading artists.
NICOLAS BOURRIAUD
Curator and art critic
Currently the Artistic Director of the 15th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea
Nicolas Bourriaud, a French curator and theorist, is recognized for his concept of relational aesthetics and for significant contributions to contemporary art through roles like the directorship at Montpellier Contemporain (MoCo), foundational work at Palais de Tokyo, founder of Pinchuk Art Center in Kyiv, curator at Tate, and Director of Beaux-Arts de Paris. Among past shows : Taipei Biennale (2014), Istanbul biennale (2019) and Planet B in Venice (2022).
SEEDPHRASE
NFT & Digital Art Collector
Seedphrase, known as Daniel Maegaard, is a prominent digital art collector, famous for owning the “Mona Lisa of NFTs,” a highly rare CryptoPunk, and for exploring the digital identity through his expansive NFT collection.
AI COMMITTEE MEMBER
One of the members of the jury is an AI who analyze the artistic projects from a textual and visual point of view, using LLM and machine vision. The AI evaluate them qualitatively and quantitatively, making her criteria as explicit as possible, and in particular the originality of the proposals in their treatment of the problematic, the technologies and the history of art. The result have been presented to the other members of the jury by the cloned voice of the AI’s author.
Grégory Chatonsky, who was asked to take part in the jury, preferred to give the AI a voice. As the AI is a statistical accumulation of texts, images and opinions, it can mimic the judgment of a jury and express the average.
Grégory Chatonsky has not read any project proposals before the dialogue he had with the AI.
7 SHORTLISTED ARTISTS
DANA-FIONA ARMOUR (Laureate)
b. 1988, in Willich, Germany
Lives and works in Paris
Defining herself as an artist-researcher, Dana-Fiona Armour is dedicated to bridging the gap between species. Collaborating with scientists, her installations and sculptures provoke reflection on our fluid reality and explore new forms of symbiosis. By encouraging a deeper understanding, her work challenges to reconsider our relationship with nature. Dana-Fiona is represented by Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery in Paris and Stockholm and is a resident of the Poush Collective.
↘︎ Alvinella Ophis
‘Alvinella Ophis’ is an interdisciplinary 3D animated video installation that explores the interplay between biotechnology, artificial intelligence and contemporary art. Set in a dystopian future desert devastated by ecological disaster, it introduces a hybrid species – Alvinella Ophis, a combination of the Pompeii worm and a snake – that symbolises evolutionary resilience.
Interactive elements, including infrared sensors that detect its thermal
presence, mimic the heat sensing capabilities of a python’s pit organ. AI processes this data to create dynamic visual responses, accompanied by a quadrophonic soundscape, transforming the space into a surreal environment and a re-evaluation of humanity’s role in a non-anthropocentric world, urging us to reconsider our ecological significance.
‘The Sigg Art Prize provides an opportunity to explore the critical interplay between art, technology and nature, encouraging interdisciplinary approaches that address pressing ecological issues. Winning this prize would facilitate the development of a project that aims to create a dialogue about the connection between humanity and the natural world, ultimately promoting a deeper understanding of our shared ecological challenges.’
Obaid Alsafi
b. 1991, in Wadi ad-Dawasir, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Lives and works in Riyadh
Obaid Alsafi, born in 1991 in Wadi ad-Dawasir and currently based in Riyadh, is a contemporary artist specializing in new media installations, video, and data-driven projects. With a background in computer science, Alsafi brings a systematic approach to his creative work, exploring the hidden or invisible aspects of life. He examines how data shapes our physical environment, collective memory, and reality, often blending his research with elements of photography, poetry, and Arabic literature.
↘︎ ELEGIE
The desert, often perceived as a barren void, has long been a muse in my artistic journey, embodying the essence of existential inquiry. This enigmatic vastness, my birthplace, holds a spiritual richness beneath its arid surface, serving as the cradle of creation where life first emerged. My work seeks to challenge conventional notions of emptiness by exploring the desert through modern digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. Can algorithms and neural networks decode the hidden language of the sands?
Through this fusion of code and creativity, I aim to reveal the desert’s latent depths, questioning whether emptiness is merely an illusion masking the profound mysteries within.
‘I am motivated to apply for the Sigg Art Prize because it offers a unique opportunity to elevate Saudi contemporary art on the global stage,
showcasing the depth of our cultural heritage while engaging with universal themes. As an artist, I am committed to exploring the intersections of
tradition and modernity, and this platform will allow me to contribute to the dialogue between Saudi Arabia’s rich artistic history and contemporary
global movements.’
LEA COLLET
b. 1989, in Lyon, France
Lives and works between Aulnay-sous-Bois and London
Lea Collet’s practice oscillates between moving images, digital tools, installations and research. Her work shifts and speculates on the interconnections between botany, emotions, territory, transmission and technology. Particular attention is paid to the coexistence of natural and artificial intelligences. Her works have been presented in Paris, Fondation EDF- Côté Court; in French institutes; La Villa Saint-Louis, IF Mauritania, in London Camden Arts Centre, Arebyte Gallery & Gossmer Fog.
↘︎ HERBARIUM-HYBRID
Set against a science-fiction backdrop, the project presents a video installation that weaves together multiple narratives. , the first follows four botanical students as collaborate with an AI in order to metamorphose into desert flowers. Concurrently, the work portrays the journey of an AI-created plant seed traveling from the King Abdullah International Gardens in Saudi Arabia to the Desert of Retz in France, encountering new plant species along the Bedouin Trail. At the heart of this exploration lies artificial imagination, bridging the realms of artificial intelligence and the realm of the imagined, to give rise to both new desert plant species and transformative metamorphoses.
The final installation features brass sculptures, 3D-printed flowers, sounds and video of mutations.
‘I applied for the Sigg Art Prize to explore AI’s transformative power in reshaping reality, memory, and the history of botanical exchanges. My project uses AI to create new botanical species and human-flower hybrids. By collaborating with ethnobotanists and an AI, I aim to challenge conventional narratives and envision alternative futures. The Prize’s mission to bridge cultures and foster innovation aligns with the project’s interdisciplinary vision and commitment to technological collaboration.’
AGNIESZKA KURANT & JOHN MENICK
Kurant, b. 1978, in Łódź, Poland
Menick, b. 1976, White Plains, New York
Both living and working in New York City
Agnieszka Kurant is the recipient of the 2020 LACMA A+T Award and the 2019 Frontier Art Prize. Her solo shows include Mudam Luxemburg, Castello di Rivoli, Hannover Kunstverein, Sculpture Center, and commissions for the Guggenheim Museum and MIT. Group shows include the MoMA, Centre Pompidou, Istanbul Biennial; Gwangju Biennale, the Biennale of Sydney, SFMOMA, Louisiana Museum.
John Menick’s work was exhibited at Documenta (13); MoMA PS1; Palais de Tokyo; the Wattis Institute, and Witte de With.
↘︎ SINGULAR PLURAL
The project consists in an experimental short film, which will use artificial intelligence and live actors to explore the impact of digital technologies on the automation of labor, the future of cinema and the ownership of images.
HARRISON PEARCE
b. 1986, in London, United Kingdom
Lives and works in London
Harrison Pearce is an artist engaged with the intersections of biology, technology and theatre. His practice, spanning painting, sculpture, installation and sound, draws from his personal medical experiences and a background in philosophy, to explore the transformative interdependence between the organic and the engineered. Pearce’s work integrates minimalist aesthetics with industrial materials and sensual forms to challenge perceptions of the body, intimacy, control, and empathy.
↘︎ FACTORY RESET
This project combines sculpture with automation hardware, sound and
choreography. Factory Reset is a kinetic installation featuring AI software controlling a pneumatic system interacting with soft silicone sculptures. The sculptures are in a sense organic drum machines. The design of the sculptures is purposefully minimalist to focus on the display of rhythm as a form of communication in a non-human form. The AI moves the sculptures with growing complexity over time, such that we might infer thoughts, feelings, or utterances through action alone. Visitors witness this ‘conversation,’ whilst the developing language remains obscure to us; our best guide being only our
own bodily intuitions. It asks us to reflect on what we are, how we connect with each other and the extended non-human world.
‘My artistic ambitions are closely aligned with the mission statement of the Sigg Art Foundation. I am most excited by the opportunity to see how art and new technologies can be brought together to create something meaningful to transform one another. Art and technology, also, powerfully reflect the changes we see in ourselves. I would be honoured to have the support of a network that sees the value of experimental collaboration as we come to reckon with an ever faster changing world.’
AARON SCHEER
b. 1990, in Ahlen, Germany
Lives and works in Berlin
Aaron Scheer is a Berlin-based artist merging digital media with traditional painting techniques. His work explores the role of technology in shaping
human experience, using AI and digital tools to create hybrid works that redefine contemporary art. Scheer’s work has been shown, among others, at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Boros Foundation, Office Impart, Falko Alexander, König Galerie and Art Cologne. He is part of the art collective darktaxa-project.
↘︎ RELIEF PAINTING
Where innovation meets ancient traditions, industrial production meets handcraft, sculpture meets painting, my ‘Relief Paintings’ exist. Done with
the help of Stable Diffusion, the works draw inspiration from the organic structures of the desert with its shapes, forms and sensibilities, while at the same time incorporating cyber-futuristic neo-gothic digital aesthetics. The ‘Relief Paintings’ are thought of as futuristic relics from a distant, yet familiar future, drawing comparison to the prehistoric ‘Rock Art’ of Saudi Arabia that dates back as long as the early Neolithic. The future is rooted in the past and created in the present. My proposed ‘Relief Paintings’ are yet another example of that tradition, my interpretation of ‘Future Desert’.
‘The Sigg Art Foundation is known for promoting artists who are challenging artistic heritage through the lens of digital innovation. I see myself exactly embedded in that space: investigating, referencing, challenging, honoring art history through using digital media in an experimental way. The Sigg Art Prize has been a great opportunity to explore how I can use Artificial Intelligence further in my work, while creating a somewhat “theme- and site-specific” project proposal.’
SASHA STILES
b. 1980, in Pasadena, California, USA
Lives and works in Milford, NJ
Sasha Stiles is a first-generation Kalmyk-American poet, language artist, and AI researcher whose pioneering work with generative literature and blockchain poetics explore human voice in a machine age. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, co-founder of theVERSEverse, and poetry mentor to humanoid android BINA48, Stiles lives near New York City with her husband and studio partner, Kris Bones.
↘︎ PROJECT PROPOSALS
As a first-generation Kalmyk-Mongolian, many aspects of AI that I explore are deeply personal, rooted in family and cultural memory and the exploration of indigenous intelligence. My proposal is inspired by the idea of the Future Desert in relationship to the Gobi Desert, an ancestral landscape that I believe has much to reveal for my future-facing explorations. I propose to visit my motherland of Mongolia as well as in Elista, the Republic of Kalmykia. This travel as well as remote research on these regions will serve as inspiration and information for my artistic translation and multimedia adaptation of the Mongolian Epic of Jangar — a project I have envisioned and prepared for in recent years, and which the Sigg Prize will help make a reality.
“As an artist of Kalmyk-Mongolian ancestry, I believe the Sigg Art Foundation is an ideal partner for my proposal to explore and preserve cultural heritage and endangered knowledge via my approach to creative AI — to both honor and challenge tradition via technological innovation.”
AWARD CEREMONY
Chosen for its focus on exploring the intersection between digital and physical art, Asprey Studio was particularly relevant for discussing the rise of AI in our society. The event highlighted AI as a medium for fostering new ideas and expressing creativity.
Timeline
- Open Call: March 2nd
- Application Closed: May 25th
- Selection Committee Session: September 16th
- Award Ceremony: October 10th
Selection
The selection criteria focused on the AI innovative approach of the candidate in the context of visual arts and traditions, the engagement and relevance of the project with the theme « Future Desert » and the quality of the conceptual and technical proposal.
All submitted works and application documents remain strictly confidential and are for internal review only. Applicants retain full rights to their submission materials.