Events

Poster presented at VSAC 2026

Authors: Rebecca Chamberlain, George Evangelou, Francesca Mamino, Daniel Berio & Frederic Fol Leymarie

Abstract: The use of AI as a tool for contemporary art has burgeoned in recent years. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the use of robotics as companions in the art making process. We know that there is a relationship between intentionality, anthropomorphism and the evaluation of AI art (Chamberlain et al. 2018; Moruzzi, 2024). We also know that the language describing AI can impact the degree to which it is anthropomorphised (Epstein et al., 2020). The current studies systematically investigated the influence of movement and intentionality on aesthetic evaluation in drawings made using robotics. In our first study (n=108) we systematically manipulated the human-like features of robotic systems to investigate whether human resemblance plays a role in aesthetic responses to robotic drawings. We manipulated two core aspects of human resemblance through movement (the degree of humanness of the movement), and anthropomorphism (the degree of human resemblance of the machine to a human arm). Participants were asked to rate a series of drawings made by the robotic systems. We found that anthropomorphism predicted aesthetic responses to the drawings, but there was no difference in response to the varying degrees of movement or human resemblance. In a follow up study (n=77) we manipulated intentionality in the robotic systems with contextual cues, framing them as an agent or a tool, and movement. Framing the robotic system as an agent increased perceived intentionality and more human movement increased aesthetic appreciation. These findings suggest that mediating AI generated art through robotic systems can shape aesthetic responses to their artistic outcomes.

References:

• Chamberlain, R., Mullin, C., Scheerlinck, B. & Wagemans, J. (2018) Putting the Art in Artificial: Aesthetic responses to computer-generated art. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. 12 (2), 177-192.
• Epstein, Z., Levine, S., Rand, D. G., & Rahwan, I. (2020). Who gets credit for AI-generated art?. Iscience, 23(9).
• Moruzzi, C. (2022, June). The (Artificial) Physicality of Creativity: How Embodiment Influences Perceptions of Creativity. In ICCC (pp. 78-86).

As part of the open day celebrating the 60th anniversary of the University of Konstanz, the e-David team (Atelier Konstanz) offered guided tours of the robotic painting lab, and e-David painted live for the visitors.

60 Jahre Universität Konstanz

Yvonne Förster presented her residency project Embodied Agents and the Quest for a Sustainable Future (IAS TU Munich, in cooperation with the TUM School of Engineering and Design), followed by a panel discussion on art, AI and technology.

Panel with:
Liat Grayver and Michael Stroh – Robotic Painting (EACVA, University of Konstanz & Goldsmiths, University of London)
Johanna Prinker (TUM) – Virtual Realities and Gaming
Karolina Vocke – Media Art, Munich

https://www.yvonnefoerster.com/2026/05/art-ai-code/

The Robotic Atelier Symposium+Exhibition

Thursday 16th – Exhibition: private view (18h-21h)
Friday 17th – Symposium + Exhibition guided tour (10h-18h)
Weekend: 18th + 19th – Live robotics & machine-based art Exhibition continues (10h-18h)

the Embodied Agents in Contemporary Visual Art popup Exhibition and Symposium marks the concluding event of the research project (2023–2026). This interdisciplinary initiative brings together artists, researchers, and scholars to explore how human creativity can be expanded through collaboration with robotics and artificial intelligence. Throughout the days of the event, the project’s artists-in-residence will present the outcomes of their year-long residency within our robotic labs. These include final artworks and experimental practices ranging from robotic drawing and hybrid painterly processes to new methods of integrating machines into artistic practice. The works of the artists in residence will be complemented by contemporary and pioneering works of art made using computational technologies and drawing machines.

On Friday the 17th of April, we will hold a day-long symposium that will feature short presentations by the core team and artists in residence of the EACVA project, alongside presentations by Sean Clark, Paul Cohen and a panel on the curation of digital and machine generated art. The symposium will be followed by an interactive discussion with the artists in the exhibition space.

Artworks by: Anna Mirkin, Damien Borowik, Daniel Berio, Daisy Latham, Gretchen Andrews, Gretta Louw, Jack Tait, Liat Grayver, Licia He, Michael Stroh, Patrick Tresset, Sofie Mart, William Latham and others

Talks by: Anna Mirkin, Daniel Berio, Liat Grayver, Nabi Nara, Michael Stroh, Patrick Tresset, Peggy Schoenegge, Sean Clark, Paul Cohen, Gareth J. Edwards.

Details and video recordings: https://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/eacva/wp/index.php/london-2026/

Group exhibition at DAM Projects, Berlin, with works by Liat Grayver, Gretta Louw and Lauren Moffatt – three artists who integrate robotic or computer-based systems into the processes of painting and image-making. Opening: Friday, March 6, 2026, 6–9 pm.

On view are robotics-assisted ink drawings by Liat Grayver and oil paintings by Gretta Louw from her series Artificial Organisms and Animate Machines, created during her EACVA artist residency: an algorithmically generated orchid is painted alternately by the artist and the e-David painting robot of the University of Konstanz, in collaboration with Michael Stroh (EACVA, Atelier Konstanz).

https://www.damprojects.org/en/exhibitions/code-paint

Gretta Louw at Art Karlsruhe (Feb. 5, 2026)

SWR Culture trade fair talk: Presenter, reporter and editor Helen Roth in conversation with the artists Gretta Louw and Tamiko Thiel. Digital art as a tool of perception: In the talk at art Karlsruhe, Tamiko Thiel and Gretta Louw talk about beauty, technology and responsibility.

https://www.swr.de/kultur/kunst/digitale-kunst-art-karlsruhe-tamiko-thiel-gretta-louw-100.html