Sep 24, 2025
Performing Transformation & Unpacking Generativity – Conference and Symposium on Art, Science, and Technology in Dialogue

Mario Pfeifer, Approximation in the digital age to a humanity condemned to disappear, 2014-2015, 4K Cinema 3-channel-installation, color, surround sound, 26 min, video still, courtesy the artist and KOW, Berlin.
Data is not neutral—it creates realities, shapes decisions, and changes our socio-technical and cultural landscapes. In September and October, exploring the conflicting themes of “Data Worlds,” the Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden will focus in September and October on social transformation processes that are equally effective in the arts, science, and technology.
The Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden is a project of TU Dresden and THE SCHAUFLER FOUNDATION and a lively forum for forward-looking dialogue between science, art, and society. In this project, young researchers and artists come together across disciplinary boundaries to question current technologies, their origins, and their impacts on our modern world.
With two events in the coming weeks, the Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden is opening up formats and spaces for interdisciplinary exchange and, at the interface between university and society, is providing impetus for exploring dynamics, shifting boundaries, and new alliances between art, science, and technology.
Conference “Performing Transformation: Shifting Landscapes in Art, Science, and Technology”
September 29 – 30, 2025, TU Dresden
Over 30 international contributions from science, art, and practice examine how knowledge emerges performatively, simultaneously shifting disciplinary, institutional, and social boundaries. The focus is on talks, workshops, and artistic presentations by Susanne Kriemann, Mario Pfeifer, and others, as well as a keynote by Antonia Majaca, offering current perspectives on transformations in art, science, and technology. The conference is organized by interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary institutions at TU Dresden, including SchauflerLab@TU Dresden, TUDiSC, the Interactive Science Lab, the Emerging Field of Social Change, and the Artist in Residence program S+T+ARTS Ec(h)o, which is based at the Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections. The conference is supported by the Walter De Gruyter Foundation, among others.
Conference “Performing Transformation: Shifting Landscapes in Art, Science, and Technology“ (September 29 - 30, 2025); Register by September 25, 2025.
Symposium “Unpacking Generativity”
October 7, 2025 · TU Dresden
The one-day symposium, organized by Schaufler Kolleg@TU Dresden, will focus on the tension between generativity, AI, and artistic-scientific research. The focus will be on ideas relating to questions of authorship, materiality, and methodological innovation. This format not only enhances the research profiles of the Schaufler Kolleg doctoral candidates, but also actively fosters networking and internationalization through exchange with researchers connected worldwide.
Symposium “Unpacking Generativity. Epistemology, Politics, and Aesthetics of Generative AI Systems“ (October 7, 2025); Register by October 2, 2025!
Further links:
Conference “Performing Transformation“ program: https://tud.link/nscdqc
Symposium “Unpacking Generativity“: https://tud.link/6es4nv
Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden: www.tu-dresden.de/gsw/schauflerlab
Information on the guiding topic of the 2nd phase of the Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden: https://tud.link/35nahm
TU Dresden: www.tu-dresden.de
THE SCHAUFLER FOUNDATION: www.the-schaufler-foundation.de
In addition to the interested professional audience, members of the media are also warmly invited! For questions or feedback, please contact us at gerichtet werden.
Media inquiries
Press Office and Public Relations Schaufler Lab@TU Dresden
Gwendolin Kremer and Pauline Hohn
TUD Dresden University of Technology
Tel.: +49 351 463 36405
Email: und