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S+T+ARTS Announces Prize Winners 2025
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Press Information June 4, 2025.
S+T+ARTS Prize 2025 Winners Announcement
S+T+ARTS is announcing the 2025 prize winners. Sarah Ciston is awarded with the Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration for the work ‘AI War Cloud Database’, 2025. ‘Sensing Quantum’ by Light Art Space Foundation wins the S+T+ARTS Prize 2025 – Grand Prize of the European Commission, honoring Innovation in Technology, Industry and Society stimulated by the Arts 2025.
The projects were selected amongst 1 657 submissions from 90 countries, received from the open call launched in January 2025. The jury for the prize consisted of Francesca Bria (IT); Veronica D’Souza (DK); Thomas Gegenhuber (AT); Irini Papadimitriou (UK); Asako Tomura (JP). For more information about the Jury and the S+T+ARTS Prize Advisors, please visit: https://ars.electronica.art/starts-prize/en/jury/jury2025/
The Prize competition is part of S+T+ARTS (Science, Technology and the Arts), an initiative funded by the European Commission since 2016. STARTS focuses on projects that strive to master the social, ecological and economic challenges that Europe is facing or will be facing in the near future. STARTS is driven by the conviction that, combined with an artistic viewpoint, science and technology open valuable perspectives for research and business in the field of ICT innovation, through a holistic and human-centred approach. From 2016 to 2024, this remarkable initiative has funded 381 residency projects with more than 19 Mio Euro, and honoured 274 projects S+T+ARTS Prize projects. Organized by Ars Electronica, the prize competition received 17 243 submissions from 102 different nations between 2016 and 2024.
Press images.
Download press images and credits below. Please note that the images are free to use strictly when writing about the S+T+ARTS Prize Winners, Honorary Mentions and Nominees 2025.
Sarah Ciston. Artist bio photo. Photo credit:@PaigeZangoglia
AIWarCloud@SarahCiston: Graph detail, Big tech, Ukraine. ©SarahCiston
Light Art Space Foundation| WE FELT A STAR DYING, 2025, ©Laure Prouvost
Laure Prouvost, WE FELT A STAR DYING 2025. Installation view at Kraftwerk Berlin. Commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and co-commissioned by OGR Torino. © 2025 Laure Prouvost. Photo: Milena Wagner
© Light Art Space Foundation team
Chart of task taxonomy
AIWarCloud@SarahCiston: Graph detail, Palantir. ©SarahCiston
Laure Prouvost, WE FELT A STAR DYING 2025. Installation view at Kraftwerk Berlin. Commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and co-commissioned by OGR Torino. © 2025 Laure Prouvost. Photo: Milena Wagner
“In the midst of a political turn that looks to blow up the world order and democracy, while disinformation campaigns undermine civic trust and cause dismay when reasoning is needed the most, in this year’s submissions the jury has found critical work and voices that can make a much needed difference, bring clarity and a spark of light in the darkness. In this context, we deem it necessary to highlight extraordinary critical and collaborative approaches that challenge and reframe our relationship to technology, society, culture, and nature; projects that not only address the urgent need to continue to act and build on space for resistance, diverse voices, and critical ideas, but work and initiatives that can actually open paths to environmental and community-driven innovation, social justice narratives, and care-based infrastructures.”
From the Jury Statement: A Spark of Light in the Darkness
Francesca Bria, Veronica D’Souza, Thomas Gegenhuber, Irini Papadimitriou, Asako Tomura
Two prizes are awarded annually, each endowed with 20,000 euros, in two categories. The Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration honours artistic research and works that have the potential to influence or change the way technology is used, applied or perceived. The Grand Prize – Innovative Collaboration is awarded to projects that combine industry or technology and the arts, with the goal of opening new paths for innovation. In addition, 10 more projects receive an Honorary Mention and 18 a Nomination. The winning projects will be featured at Ars Electronica Festival in September 2025 and other events organised by the consortium partners Ars Electronica (AT), INOVA+ (PT), La French Tech Grande Provence (FR), Media Solution Center Baden-Württemberg (DE), the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (DE), Salzburg Festival (AT), Sónar (ES), T6 Ecosystems (IT), TUD Dresden University of Technology (DE).
From the Jury Statement:
GRAND PRIZE ARTISTIC EXPLORATION
Awarded for artistic exploration and art works where appropriation by the arts has a strong potential to influence or alter the use, deployment, or perception of technology.
By tracing the links between commercial AI and military infrastructure, Ciston exposes a hidden feedback loop—where tools of convenience become tools of control. At a time of growing geopolitical tensions, AI arms races, and rearmament efforts across Europe and globally, this work underscores the need for democratic oversight, ethical governance, and civic awareness in shaping our technological future. // In the spirit of the STARTS Prize, this work exemplifies the power of art and research to illuminate complex systems—and to invite us all to take part in shaping them.
GRAND PRIZE INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION
Awarded for the innovative collaboration between industry or technology and the arts (and the cultural and creative sectors in general) that opens new pathways for innovation.
In a time of mega-infrastructures—from data centres to quantum sensing networks—Europe must ensure that these systems serve the public good, are ethically grounded, and open to democratic participation. ‘Sensing Quantum’ makes this vision tangible. It invites artists, scientists, and citizens to explore new ways of thinking about our technological future, not as passive users, but as active co-creators. The jury celebrates ‘Sensing Quantum’ as a bold model of cultural-scientific collaboration. It reflects a Europe that leads in innovation, while staying rooted in democratic values and planetary care. This programme ensures that public understanding and aesthetic experimentation evolve in tandem. It is not enough to sense the quantum, we must also sense the political, emotional, and planetary implications of what we are building. This work allows us to do both.
Excerpts from the Jury Statements available in full on the STARTS website.
Laure Prouvost, WE FELT A STAR DYING 2025. Installation view at Kraftwerk Berlin.
Commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and co-commissioned by OGR Torino. © 2025 Laure Prouvost. Photo: Milena Wagner
S+T+ARTS Prize Winners 2025
The Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration is awarded to:
‘AI War Cloud Database’, 2025, by Sarah Ciston (US)
What responsibilities do we have in choosing AI tools, when their development also leads to deadly outcomes at massive scales? The ‘AI War Cloud Database’ catalogues and maps connections across AI systems used to make deadly decisions in warfare and how those same systems are used in commercially popular devices.
We use AI every day – on our phones, in online searches, and on social media – yet we rarely consider how the same technologies are used in other, more troubling ways. The ‘AI War Cloud Database’ exposes these overlaps, cataloguing AI systems used to automate decisions in warfare and mapping where similar technologies appear in everyday tools. By making these hidden connections visible, the project shows how the same machine learning systems drive both commercial applications and military operations.
The project builds a continuously updated online platform that presents a taxonomy of AI decision-making systems, tracing their development across sectors and borders. By clicking on a product or company users explore connections between corporations, governments, and technologies and trace direct lines between them. For example, generative AI trained by low-wage workers in the global south, is powering both Google searches and military decision making that decides where drones are deployed, and who lives and dies.
‘AI War Cloud Database’ makes visible the infrastructures and actors behind AI development. By doing so, it challenges the power of private companies and the lack of transparency in how AI is developed and used. For Europe, this is urgent: building digital sovereignty is important, but how we build and manage these systems matters. If we invest in technology without clear values, we risk creating the same problems and dependencies we are trying to avoid. The project forces us to think where we want to go next and what choices we make as users, developers, and investors of AI systems.
‘AI War Cloud Database’s connections, showing a taxonomy of the types of systems, who makes them, and how they are used in both military and commercial contexts. Graph detail, Big tech, Ukraine. AI War Cloud Database @SarahCiston.
AI War Cloud Database. Video @SarahCiston 2025
BIOGRAPHY
Sarah Ciston (US)
The Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration is awarded to AI War Cloud Database, 2025, by Sarah Ciston (US)
Sarah Ciston (USA, born 1983) makes artistic research on queer intersectional approaches to large datasets and machine learning models. They have a PhD in Media Arts + Practice from University of Southern California and are currently a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies. Ciston is the author of “A Critical Field Guide for Working with Machine Learning Datasets” and was the research associate for Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler’s “Calculating Empires,” an inspiration for Ciston’s current work on AI decision-making systems used in warfare.
Ciston has been named AI Newcomer in Art by the German Society for Computing and Google Season of Docs Fellow for p5.js/Processing Foundation.
Their art and research has been featured at Akademie der Künste Berlin, Ars Electronica Founding Lab, Chaos Communication Camp, the European Commission, Mozilla Festival, MU Eindhoven, MUTEK, re:publica, Science Gallery London, Scottish AI Alliance, and elsewhere, with writing forthcoming from Leonardo Journal and AI and Society, and a book forthcoming from MIT Press. They are the founder of Code Collective: an approachable, interdisciplinary community for co-learning programming.
Social Media: instagram @sarahciston / bsky @sarahciston.com / twitter @sarahciston / mastodon @sarahciston@assemblag.es
Sarah Ciston. Photo credit:@PaigeZangoglia
The Grand Prize – Innovative Collaboration is awarded to:
Sensing Quantum, 2025, by Light Art Space Art Foundation (DE)
Laure Prouvost, WE FELT A STAR DYING 2025. Installation view at Kraftwerk Berlin. Commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and co-commissioned by OGR Torino.
© 2025 Laure Prouvost. Photo: Milena Wagner
Light Art Space Foundationʼs ‘Sensing Quantum’ programme explores the implications and possibilities of quantum technologies through new commissions with artists and musicians, a symposium, a publication and an ongoing learning programme. Together, these efforts bring together artists, scientists, thinkers and the public to engage with this evolving field.
2025 is named the International Year of Quantum, marking the growing impact of quantum technologies on society. It highlights the transformative potential of quantum science and its role in shaping a more inclusive and connected world. These systems are beginning to radically transform computing, communication, and our very understanding of reality, yet for most people, they remain difficult to grasp. Without better education, public discussion, and cultural interpretation, this knowledge will stay in the hands of a few experts. This risks creating even bigger gaps in who understands and benefits from these powerful tools. To bridge the gaps between the invisible, the speculative, and the evolving role of quantum technologies in our lives, ‘Sensing Quantum’, a long-term artistic research initiative by LAS Art Foundation, brings together artists, scientists, and thinkers to create critical and artistic languages around these emerging technologies.
To bridge the gaps between the invisible, the speculative, and the evolving role of quantum technologies in our lives, ‘Sensing Quantum’, a long-term artistic research initiative by LAS Art Foundation, brings together artists, scientists, and thinkers to create critical and artistic languages around these emerging technologies. The initiative includes new commissions, a symposium, a publication, and an ongoing educational program. One example is Laure Prouvost’s multi-sensory installation ‘WE FELT A STAR DYING’. It weaves direct experimentation with a quantum computer into a wider reflection on what it means to open oneself to the quantum realm. The artist asks: “What might it feel like to sense reality from a quantum perspective?”
As quantum technologies become part of everyday life, it is important that more people, not just scientists, can understand and shape how they are used. LAS Art Foundation shows how early engagement through art and culture can make these complex topics more relatable, while also helping society think about their ethical and social impact.
BIOGRAPHY
Light Art Space Art Foundation (DE)
The Grand Prize – Innovative Collaboration is awarded to Sensing Quantum, 2025, by Light Art Space Art Foundation (DE)
LAS Art Foundationʼs ‘Sensing Quantum’ is a long-term artistic research initiative that explores the intersections of quantum science, technology, philosophy and contemporary art. The programme fosters interdisciplinary collaborations between artists and scientists, aiming to translate complex quantum principles into immersive and thought-provoking experiences. Through new commissions with artists and musicians, a symposium, a publication and an ongoing learning programme, ‘Sensing Quantum’ examines how art can bridge the gaps between the invisible, the speculative, and the evolving role of quantum technologies in our world.
Light Art Space Art Foundation is a new type of arts organisation — one that interrogates our present and gives form to future imaginaries. The foundation works with visionary artists, thinkers and institutions around the globe to develop innovative, interdisciplinary projects and experiences. LAS Art Foundation explores topics ranging from artificial intelligence, quantum computing and gaming to ecology and biotechnology — illuminating the intersections between art, science and the latest technologies.
LAS Art Foundation’s programme comprises installations and performances, as well as educational programming, publications and research projects. Curiosity drives the foundation to continually reimagine the role of an arts institution as one that shapes and evolves with our collective futures.
© Light Art Space Foundation team
HONORARY MENTIONS
Synthetic Memories, 2023, Domestic Data Streamers (ES)
Kataula, 2025, Ana Mikadze (GE)
Seeing Echoes in the Mind of a Whale, 2024, Marshmallow Laser Feast (GB)
Data Against Feminicide: AI tools, transnational community, and data activism to eliminate violence against women, 2023, Isadora Cruxen, Catherine D'Ignazio, Helena Suárez Val, Silvana Fumega (GB, US, UY, AR)
Breathing Architecture, 2024, Filippo Nassetti (IT/GB)
Coral Sonic Resilience, 2025, Marco Barotti (IT)
Computational Compost, 2024, Marina Otero Verzier (ES)
Coexist, 2025, Emergence Delft (NL)
The Nebelivka Hypothesis, 2023, Forensic Architecture (UK), David Wengrow (UK)
Brain Processing Unit - The Future Where Biology and Computer Integrate: Special Exhibition, 2025, SoftBank, Daito Manabe, The University of Tokyo (JP)
More on: https://starts-prize.aec.at/en/winners/winners2025/
NOMINATIONS
Museo Ocasional de un Paisaje Increíble, 2023,
Ana Vogelfang (AR), Julieta García Vázquez (AR)
Lucid Life | Marama Ora, 2024, Christopher Bellamy (GB)
ASTRES: Mapping the firmament, 2024, Playmodes Studio (ES)
The Call, 2024, Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst (US)
AI in the Sky, 2024, Laura Cinti (IT)
Zifzafa, 2024, Lawrence Abu Hamdan (LB)
Large Language Writer, Lucy Li (AT), Leo Mühlfeld (AT), Alan Schiegl (AT)
The Solar Share, 2024, DISNOVATION.ORG art collective (INT)
Emerald Black Latency, 2024, Mario Santamaría (ES)
Neutone Morpho — Real-time AI audio plugin and platform, 2024, Neutone (INT)
Echorroes: Reflections on Tchaikovsky, 2025, Echorroes (GR)
Surpassing Limits of Virtuosity of Pianists by Exoskeleton, 2025, Shinichi Furuya (JP)
The Year of Weather, 2024, Open-weather (INT)
Light, Touch, Root (Hybrid), 2024, Vanessa Amoah Opoku (DE)
SUN[Flower] Plasma, 2024,
Victoria Vesna, Walter Gekelman, Haley Marks, Kevin Ramsey (US)
The Permanent and Insatiable, 2025, Xin Liu (CN)
HYBRIS, 2024, Yana Zschiedrich (DE)
Performative Ethnographies, 2023, Špela Petrič (SI)
More on: https://starts-prize.aec.at/en/winners/winners2025/
Synthetic Memories, 2023. Photo credit: Domestic Data Streamers.
Computational Compost. Photo credit: Mikel Blasco.
The Nebelivka Hypothesis, 2023, Photo credit: Forensic Architecture (GB)
Hyb.Instal.2024.01, 2024, Yana Zschiedrich (DE). Photography: Julius C. Schreine
Surpassing Limits of Virtuosity of Pianists by Exoskeleton, 2025, Shinichi Furuya(JP). Photo credit: Sony CSL / NeuroPiano
Assessment of noise pollution caused by 256 meter high wind turbines for Zifzafa. Image courtesy of Earshot Investigations Ltd.
Zifzafa, 2024. Image from video-game simulation, 2025. Image courtesy of Lawrence Abu Hamdan
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About S+T+ARTS
S+T+ARTS is about thinking out of the box and building bridges between Science, Technology and Arts.
S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission to foster alliances of science, technology, and the arts, that effectively implement a European approach to technological innovation centred on human needs and values.
Science, Technology and Arts form a nexus with an extraordinarily high potential for creative and reflective innovation. And such innovation is considered to be precisely what is called for to master the social, ecological and economic challenges that Europe is facing.
With disruptive methods of exploration and an accurate critical eye on the use of technology, artists decisively raise awareness of the societal challenges and global concerns we are tackling. The artistic practices are seen as innovative processes and have a wide-reaching potential to contribute to the development of new economic, social and business models. https://starts.eu
ABOUT S+T+ARTS PRIZE
Grand prize of the European Commission honoring Innovation in Technology, Industry and Society stimulated by the Arts.
Grand Prize for INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION is bestowed on innovative joint ventures involving industry/technology and the arts, alliances that blaze new trails for innovation.
Grand Prize for ARTISTIC EXPLORATION honors artistic experiments and works of art that employ technology in ways that exhibit great potential to influence and change technology and how it is deployed, developed and perceived.
A yearly competition is held to single out for recognition innovative projects at the nexus of science, technology and the arts that have what it takes to make a significant impact on economic and social innovation.
The two STARTS Prize winners each receive €20,000 and are prominently featured at Ars Electronica and other events of the consortium partners INOVA+, French Tech Grand Provence, Media Solutions Center Baden-Württemberg, the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart, Salzburg Festival, Sonar, T6Ecosystems and Kustodie at TUD Dresden University of Technology.
Since 2016, the S+T+ARTS Prize has organised a yearly competition to single out innovative projects at the nexus of science, technology and the arts that have what it takes to make a significant impact on economic and social innovation. In addition, approximately twenty more projects receive a Nomination or an Honorary Mention every year. Since 2016 more than 250 projects have been selected and more than 350,000€ in prize money has been distributed.
Media Opportunities S+T+ARTS
—13-14 June 2025 AI & Music Powered by S+T+ARTS at SONAR Barcelona
— September 3 – 7, 2025 S+T+ARTS Day; Exhibition and talks at Ars Electronica Festival
Press Contact S+T+ARTS:
Sofia Bertilsson
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Institutions, partners and sponsors S+T+ARTS:
Current consortium: Ars Electronica (Coordinator, AT), INOVA+ (PT), La French Tech Grande Provence (FR), Media Solution Center Baden-Württemberg (DE), Salzburg Festival (AT), Sonar (ES), T6 Ecosystems (IT), TUD Dresden University of Technology (DE) HLRS High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (DE)
The project is funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement No 101135691. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.
