New TU Delft Dream Team Emergence combines art and technology
Emergence Delft is a new TU Delft student team that aims to use interactive art installations to provide more interpretation and explanation of the impact of new, modern, emerging technology. This team comprises 24 Delft students and 12 from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.
Emergence is located in the TU Delft Dream Hall, a multidisciplinary incubator where student teams work on innovative and social projects. The new 36-member team joins the TU Delft Dream Teams group, working on an exoskeleton, hyperloop, hydrogen car and hydrogen boat, AI, and life on the moon.
Food for thought
Getting people to think about everything that is becoming increasingly digital around us is what Emergence wants to stand for. Increasingly, complex technologies are playing a role in our daily lives, the team writes in an introduction. “Think of Spotify’s algorithms that put your favourite songs in a playlist or the increasing use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence. Emergence Delft wants to offer people insight and clarity on the impact of these technologies through interactive art installations.”
Exactly one year ago, students Angela Hanna (23) and Lars Geluk (23) noticed little attention was being paid to this digitalisation around us. Together, Hanna, who previously made art installations and is a TU Delft student, and Geluk, studying at the Art School in The Hague and TU Delft, saw an opportunity to combine this reflection with art. Geluk: “Art is the mirror of society, it is the same for technological developments.” Together with Suus Bout (24) and Nora Overhuijs (23), they decided to set up a Dream Team: Emergence Delft.
The Emergence team combines the knowledge and skills of engineers, designers and artists. Together, they develop new artistic instruments which they use to create art installations. The goal is to create awareness of the impact of technological innovations for the greater audience.
The first two art installations
This year, Emergence Delft is developing two art installations, which they will exhibit at the ArtTech Festival Highlight Delft in February 2024. One of the installations focuses on making the locked-in syndrome experiential, a syndrome in which someone is completely conscious, but not able to move their body. The other installation will focus on creating awareness of the presence of artificially intelligent bots online that shape public debate. The team strives to win the world’s biggest new media art competition ‘Prix Ars Electronica’ in Linz, Austria.
About Emergence Delft
Emergence Delft is, since September 2023, a Dream Team of the TU Delft. The student team combines the qualities of TU Delft students with those of nearby art academies. Together they develop new technologies which they use to build art installations, encouraging people to reflect on our evermore digital society.
