Bio & CV
Egor Kraft
Born 1986 in St. Petersburg, Russia, lives and works in Vienna & Tokyo
Web: kraft.studio | studio.work | wwww.work
Email: mail@kraft.studio
Platforms: @egorkraft
Instagram / Twitter / Vimeo
BIOGRAPHY
ON PRACTICE & RESEARCH INTERESTS
Egór (George) Kraft is an investigative, interdisciplinary artist & researcher. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia he lived most of his life nomadically having studied in Swedish Gerlesborkskolan, Moscow Rodchenko School, Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, London’s Central St. Martins College, Strelka Institute in Moscow & Tokyo Geidai University. He currently lives and works in Tokyo and Vienna. His research-driven practice is informed by media studies, computer science, critical design, film, philosophy & art. Kraft is a laureate of Lumen Prize 2023 [UK], S+T+ARTS prize honorary mention 2023 [EU], New Technological Art Award 2022 [BE], Austrian Blockchain Award 2022 [AT] and a nominee for Kandinsky, Innovation & other prizes and participant of international residencies & fellowships. He participated in exhibitions in private & public institutions, biennials & festivals internationally, including Ars Electronica [AT] & Impakt Festival, [NL], ZKM [DE], MAXXI [IT], Onassis Foundation [GR], Hermitage Museum [RU], WRO Biennial [PL], Espacio Fundación Telefónica [ES], iMAL [BE] & others. He is a lecturer at Kunstuniversität Linz [AT], author of essays & speaker at international conferences. He is a founder of research studio wwww.work
Aesthetics of industrialisation, shock-&-awe campaigns, tactical trickery between facts & fiction, fully automated ruralisms, speculative narratives, thought-objects prototypes, deep timescales, proto-continental geographies, self-declared enclaves & self-sovereign networks, ultra-wideband connectivites, exponentially increasing capacities, monopolised data echo chambers, media geologies, logistics & information superhighways, techno-organic bodies, politics of planetarity, synthetic cognitions & sensations, quantitative machine-rendered regimes, non-human agencies, ultrasonic interventions, big-time proposals, ambient security protocols, new memory architectures, unfettered data collection regimes & wholesale surveillance, digital autocracy circumventions, unstable climates, feedback loops, genetic machine developments & more.
All these and many other cognitive perspectives reconstitute the aspect of what we define as human in a new geological epoch. In how far is this aspect subject to technology?
Is it recognised as autonomous, unpredictable, divergent or diverse? How does it coexist along with the ever-growing order of machine rendered regimes? A further investigation of these industrial conditions suggests new political, ethical, philosophical & aesthetic challenges. How are these challenges manifested within the artistic production, as in primordially ‘human’ project? And does the notion of a ‘human’ project necessarily suggest its human-centric nature? In my work, I'm concerned with the ontologies of human and non-human agencies, epistemics of technologies often expressed in a form of speculative models or thought–object experiments and dynamic community operated networks. It involves artificial information systems, computational technologies, films, interventions, texts & various material productions. Via speculative narratives, I tend to highlight frictions between the human reasoning and quantitative orders rendered by machines, industrialisation & anthropogenic interventions at large.
SELECTED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Institute for Postnatural Studies | Madrid, ESP PgD Postnatural Independent Program
2022-2023 Geidai University of the Arts | Tokyo, JPN Research visitor in the Intermedia Arts department under the supervision of prof. Kiyoshi Furokawa
2017 Strelka Institute: The New Normal | Moscow, RUS Programme director Benjamin H. Bratton
2014-2015 Central Saint Martins College | UAL London, GBR Fine Arts, track 4D
2011-2016 Academy of Fine Arts | Vienna, AUT Diploma studies Postgraduate multidisciplinary research programme
2009-2011 The Rodchenko Art School | Moscow, RUS Class prof. Alexei Shulgin | BFA, Media Art
2007-2008 Gerlesborg School of Fine Art | Bohuslän, SWE Foundation year
WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Ripley’s, Orlando, FL, USA
Cyland Video Archive, USA | RUS
Colección Solo, Madrid, ESP
ZKM, Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, DEU
MAMM Multimedia Art Museum Moscow, RUS
Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Modern Art, RUS
SOLO SHOWS
2022 Lies, Half-Truths & Propaganda [The Bad, the Worse, and the Worst] | alexander levy, Berlin, DEU
2019 Human (un)limited | Ars Electronica Export, Moscow, RUS
2019 Content Aware Studies | Alexander Levy, Berlin, DEU
2018 Ákkta | Anna Nova Gallery, St. Petersburg, RUS
2014 Wanderings 2.0 | Rundum, Tallinn, EST
2012 Now is Just Right Now | Taiga Space, St. Petersburg, RUS
2008 State of Mine | Gerlesborgskolan, SWE
ARTISTIC DERECTION
2017–2022 Artistic & design direction at Ethereum Swarm | A software protocol for decentralised peer-to-peer storage architecture
RESIDENCES
2024 Postnatural Independent Program | Institute for Postnatural Studies, Madrid, ESP
2023 ArtEchó | Etopia, Zaragoza, ESP
2023 Escape Fake | Budapest, HUN
2022 Geidai Tokyo University of the Arts | Tokyo, JP
2019 STARTS Residency | University of Southhampton, GBR
2017 Wakefield Art House Nominee; Wakefield, GBR
2017 Quartariata Residency, St. Petersburg, RUS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2023
Neural Magazine #72 “Machine Transparency” | Interview, ITA
VORmagazine | AT
2022
OKV Magazine | Feature article on NTAA by Benedict Vandaele | BEL
Recycling Beauty | Fondazione Prada, ITA
The artist in a science lab | Maya Jaggi | Le Monde Diplomatique, FRA
E-Relevance. The role of Arts and Culture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence | Vuk Ćosić, Vladan Joler, Régine Debatty | Council of Europe, EU
What does art bring to science and technology? EU's "S+T+ARTS (Science, Technology & the ARTS)" | Miki Kanai | Bijutsu Techo Magazine, JP
2021
Nero Magazine | Article AI As experience of the Limit by Daniela Cotimbo | ITA
The Practice of Art & AI, Gerfried Stocker, Markus Jandl, Andreas J. Hirsch | Book
CLARA: Perceiving Matter; article by Dr. Hallie G. Meredith & Sarah Barnett | Washington State University, USA
Art Press | Feature article by Dr. Dominique Moulon | FRA
2020
The Art Newspaper | Top 50 most promising Russian artists | RUS
2019
Calvert Journal | Russia Z Curated by Olesya Turkina | GBR
Strelka Magazine | Do Machines Dream Of The Pergamon Altar? Interview by Yulia Gromova | RUS
Nero Magazine | Article AI As experience of the Limit by Daniela Cotimbo | ITA
2018
TK-21 | Ars Electronica article by Dominique Moulon | FRA
2016
Metal Magazine | Interview by Mercedes Rosés | ESP
Aesthetica Magazine | Exhibition feature article by Jack Castle | GB
SELECTED HONOURS AND AWARDS
2023 Lumen Prize | Award Winner | UK
2023 Austrian Blockchain Award in ‘Best smart technology’ | Vienna, AT
2023 S+T+ARTS Prize Honorary Mention | EU
2022 NTAA: New Technological Art Award | Jury Award Winner, BEL
2021 Re:Humanism, 2nd Edition | Winner, ITA
2020 Top 50 Most Promising Russian Artists by The Art Newspaper
2020 Lumen Prize | Shortlisted, GBR
2020 Born Digital Award nominee, WEB
2020 Listed in 49ART
2019 Kandinsky Prize | Young Artist of the Year nominee, RUS
2019 Garage Museum Art & Technology Grant winner, RUS | DEU
2019 Innovation Prize | New Generation nominee, RUS
2019 STARTS Residencies fellow, EU
2019 Kuryokhin Prize nominee, RUS
2018 Pulsar Prize Finalist | Paris, FRA
2017 New East 100 by Calvert Journal, GBR
2017 Innovation Prize | New Generation nominee, RUS
2015 Nova Art Prize nominee, RUS
2014 Kuryokhin Prize nominee, RUS
2014 Creative Enterprise Award nominee | London, GBR
GRANTS
2023 AETeCHO, Milan, Zaragoza, ITA, ES
2023 Escape Fake 2.0 co-funded by the European Union and the European Media and Information Fund. AUT | HUN
2021 BMKÖS Perspektiven. Innovation. Kunst, AUT
2019 STARTS Residencies, EU | GBR
2019 Garage, Art & Technology Programme, RUS
SELECTED LECTURES AND TALKS
2024
Playshop 2024 | China Academy od Arts, Hangzhou, CHN
The Epoch of Transformative Technologies | Hangzhou, CN
2023
PublicSpaces Conference 2023: For a Collective Internet | Amsterdam, NDL
Weizenbaum Conference | Berlin, DEU
2022
NECS Lecture Series “Content Aware and Other Case Studies” | European Network for Cinema and Media Studies
Histories of the Avant-garde and Contemporary Disruptive Technologies | NY, USA
2021
Art Machines 2 Conference | City University of Hong Kong, HKG
Politics of the Machine Conference, Rogue Research | Berlin University of the Arts, DEU
AI Artathon 2.0 | Riyadh, SA
2020
Winchester School of Arts | Talking Heads Lecture Series, GBR
Winchester School of Art | Guest seminar on AI and speculative narratives with AMT Research group prof Jussi Parikka & Ryan Bishop, GBR
2019
Content Aware Studies in conversation with Nadim Samman | Alexander Levy, Berlin, DEU
Human (un)limited | Ars Electronica Export, Moscow, RUS
LINK | Stiftung Niedersachsen | Kunstverein Hannover, DEU
2018
MMOMA, Daemons in the Machine | Artist Talk / Moscow, RUS
Impakt Festival | Panel "Black Boxes for Fiction Makers" | Utrecht, NLD
New Media Lab | Artist Talk | St.Petersburg, RUS
ITMO University | Artist Talk | St.Petersburg, RUS
Cyfest 11 | Artist Talk | St.Petersburg, RUS
2017
Smolny College | Series of talks | St. Petersburg, RUS
ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art | Artist Talk | Moscow, RUS
NCCA, National Center for Contemporary Art | Artist Talk | Moscow, RUS
SELECTED SCREENINGS
2022
Everything will be fine | Tactical Tech, Berlin, DEU
2020
Athens Digital Arts Festival | New Aesthetic: Macht & Kontrolle - All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace | GRC
2019
Charon Cycle Screening | Tick Tack, Antwerp, BEL
Short Film Festival Cologne | DE
2018
To Touch The Sky | NCCA Kalinigrad, RUS
CYFEST11 Digital Video Art Program | New York | St. Petersburg
2017
Citizen 6 part of Art Athens | Athens, GRC
The New Normal Showcase | Strelka Institute, Moscow, RUS
Enclave Gallery | Ambient Intelligence | London, GBR
2016
Felt Book | Human Resources | Los Angeles, CA, USA
Felipe Castelblanco’s Program | Royal Academy America, NYC, USA
CYFEST Digital Media Program | Bogota, NYC, St.Petersburg, Mexico
2015
CYBERFEST at Salon Leisure and Fantasy | Bogota, St. Petersburg, Berlin, London, Vilnius, Moscow, New York
TEACHING
2023
Institut für Medien & Visuelle Kommunikation | Kunstuniversität Linz, AUT Course: Kunst- oder Bildproduktion in Zusammenhang mit Al
IMSc in Art&Science at ITMO University | St. Petersburg, RUS Ai in Art Theory & Practice Module
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS & FESTIVALS
2024
SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 | Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, JPN
The Next Renaissance. Le Goût de l’Invisible | Goethe-Institiute, Paris, FRA
One World Festival | Bucharest, ROU
2023
Curated By & Charim Gallery | Vienna, AT
EDITION BOX II -Body of Concept | Geidai Art Plaza. Tokyo, JPN
Ars Electronica Festival | Linz, AUT
Codes & Algorithms | iMAL, Brussels, BEL Cryptomania | Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, DEU
2022
NTAA’22, New Technological Art Award | Zebrastraat Ghent, BEL
He Aprendido Que Tienes Que Rezar Por Lo Que No Conoces | Sala Amós Salvador, Logroño, ESP
NEAR+FUTURES+QUASI+WORLDS | Palazzo Borsa, Bologna, ITA
Things | ART4 Museum, Moscow, RUS
Everything will be fine | Tactical Tech, Berlin, DEU
Codes and algorithms. Wisdom in a calculated world | Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid, ESP
Navigating the Digital Realm | DG Connect, Brussels, BEL
2021
Millennials in Contemporary Russian Art | Russian Museum, St.Petersburg RUS
Writing The History of the Future | ZKM, Karlsruhe, DEU
Re:Humanism 2 | MAXXI Museo Nazionale Delle Arti, Rome, ITA
You & AI: Through the Algorithmic Lens | Onassis Foundation, Athens, GRC
OSMOS, Fluid aesthetics | Electromuseum, Moscow, RUS
2020
Still Human | Colección Solo, Madrid, ESP
Accrochage | alexanderlevy gallery, Berlin, DEU
NEAR + FUTURES + QUASI + WORLDS | STATE Studio, Berlin, DEU
Ars Electronica Garden: Datasets vs Mindsets | Electromuseum, Moscow, RUS
2019
Kuryokhin Prize Nominees 2019 | St.Petersburg, RUS
WRO Biennale 2019 | Wrocław, POL
Non-Aligned Networks | Valletta Contemporary, Malta, MLT
Artificial Intelligence & The Intercultural Dialogue | Hermitage, St.Petersburg, RUS
Innovation Prize Show | Arsenal, Nizhny Novgorod, RUS
Writing the History of the Future | ZKM, Karlsruhe, DEU
Cosmoscow | Moscow, RUS
5th Ural Industrial Biennial: Main Project | Yekaterinburg, RUS
Kandinsky Prize Exhibition | MOMMA, Moscow, RUS
Art Düsseldorf | Alexander Levy Gallery, Düsseldorf DEU
WRONG Biennale #thescreenisnotthelimit | Online WEB
Learning Machines | Electromuseum, Moscow, RUS
2018
Cyfest 11 | Stieglitz Academy, St.Petersburg, RUS
Vienna Contemporary, Solo Booth | Vienna, AUT
Innovation as Method | Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg, RUS
Paradoxical Hybrids | Electromuseum, Moscow, RUS
Open Codes | ZKM, Karlsruhe, DEU
Ars Electronica | The Galleries, Linz, AUT
Sciencefest | Saint Petersburg, RUS
Pulsar Art Prize | Paris, FRA
Daemons in the Machine | MMOMA, Moscow, RUS
Impakt Festival | Utrecht, NLD
The New State of Living | PERMM, Perm, RUS
2017
Art Athens: Citizen 6 | Athens, GRC
Innovation Prize | MUAR, Moscow RUS
The New Normal Showcase | Strelka Institute, Moscow, RUS
Parallel Vienna: Format.STRK | Vienna, AUT
Ambient Intelligence | Enclave, London, GBR
2016
Playroom | Union Studios, London, GBR
Deep Inside, V Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, RUS
Itinéraire Bis | Salon-de-Provence, FRA
Rodchenko Art School 10 Years | MAMM, Moscow RUS
All Eyes On Me | Pechersky Gallery, Moscow, RUS
Corridor I: Onkalo | Insitu, Berlin, DEU
2015
What to say if there is nothing to say | Udarnik, Moscow, RUS
Musing the Boundaries | Kuryokhin Center, St.Petersburg, RUS
"Pop Mechanics” Trail | Kuryokhin Center, St. Petersburg, RUS
2014
Manifesta X: Printed Matter | Museum of Print, St.Petersburg, RUS
2012
Kiev Biennale: Apocalypse & Rebirth | National Museum Of Russian Art, Kyiv, UKR
Originalcopy | Fluc am Praterstern, Vienna, AUT
5th International Art Moves Festival | Toruń, POL
No Translation | Museum for Applied Arts, Moscow, RUS