Open call for Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art 2026 Berlin
In the Fog of the Digital: AI and Neural-Digital Entanglement in Cognitive Capitalism
For its sixteenth iteration (and fifth in Berlin), Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art 2026, “In the Fog of the Digital: AI and the Neural-Digital Entanglement in Cognitive Capitalism,” will focus on the effects of the acceleration of digital technologies (especially AI) on the process of individuation of the contemporary subject and its repercussions for thought and understanding, as well as artistic and aesthetic countermoves.
The phrase “fog of the digital” is reminiscent of the earlier concept of the “fog of war” (generally attributed to the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz), used to describe the complexities and ambiguities inherent in the theater of war. The term highlights the difficulty of gathering accurate and timely information in dynamic, unpredictable, and unstable immersive environments, and points to the visually obscuring effects of billowing clouds of smoke and the associated cacophony of discordant sounds emanating from surrounding bombardment, all of which affect the individual soldier’s corporal senses and clarity of thought.
Applications
Applications for SFSIA 2026 Berlin are open to students, practitioners and scholars from the fields of art (including video, photography, installation and multimedia), art history, science and technology studies, philosophy, design, architecture, critical theory, cultural studies, film and media studies, and beyond. Please see our application for more information.
Faculty
Nora Al-Badri, Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond, Kader Attia, David W. Bates, Grégory Chatonsky, Sergio Edelsztein, Claire Fontaine, Agnieszka Kurant, Liz Magic Laser, Yuk Hui, Anna Longo, David Joselit, Warren Neidich (founder/director), Matteo Pasquinelli, Martha Schwendener, and Antonio Somaini.
About SFSIA
Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art (SFSIA) is a nomadic, intensive summer academy with shifting programs in contemporary critical theory that stresses an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the relationship between art and politics. SFSIA originated in Saas-Fee, Switzerland in 2015 and then migrated to Berlin, Germany where it was hosted by Import Projects (2016) and Spike (2017-2019). Additional programs have been hosted by Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; Performance Space New York, The Brooklyn Rail, Residency Unlimited, Creative Time HQ and Montez Press Radio in New York City; sonsbeek20→24 in Arnhem, The Netherlands; and Maison Suger, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’homme, Centre des Récollets, and Master in Arts & Vision (MAVI) of Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris. SFSIA was founded and is directed by Warren Neidich. Sarrita Hunn is the assistant director.
Please see our website or contact info@sfsia.art for more information.
