Generative Dimensions: Curating Systems for Sustainable Futures through Data and Art
Viola Lukács
This 40‑minute performative lecture explores how curatorial practice and artistic collaboration can address environmental challenges through the lens of data. Drawing from Viola's work with BINÁLÉ and Generative Dimensions—a European DataArt hackathon launched in 2021— she presents case studies where artists and data scientists co-created generative works in response to ecological datasets from partners like Greenpeace. Projects visualize issues such as bird migration, deforestation, and water scarcity, using computational aesthetics to provoke emotional engagement. Works by BarabásiLab, Kalen Iwamoto, and Judit Navratil merge data, performance, and code. Collaborations with Vladan Joler, Refik Anadol, and UBERMORGEN further examine data ethics, memory, and socio-political systems.
Grounded in systems theory, she proposes a curatorial model that is adaptive and responsive—where curation itself becomes a system, informed by real-time inputs like climate data. This model frames curating as a generative, sustainable methodology.
Inspired by thinkers such as Bruno Latour and Beatrice von Bismarck, Viola advocates for “curating as system-building,” where art, data, and activism intersect to create new frameworks for ecological awareness and cultural transformation.
About Viola Lukács
Viola Lukács is a Berlin-based curator and writer, currently leading the Program at 0xCollection. Her work explores art, technology, and ecological thinking, focusing on the entanglements between human and nonhuman systems. In 2015, she curated MetaMetria, a landmark exhibition showcasing the work of sculptor and conceptual artist Bernar Venet. As digital and optical virtual technologies have evolved, Viola has sought to expand the role of curating—connecting artists, academia, museums, collectors, and corporations in novel ways. She has collaborated with renowned institutions including Sotheby’s, the Venet Foundation and Postmasters Gallery in New York.
In 2021, she co-founded NFT DEB, Europe’s first generative art hackathon and conference. The initiative invites public participation in creating art from ecological data, promoting climate awareness and collective action.
Viola is the founding director of BINÁLÉ, a new media art biennale dedicated to exploring emerging forms of artistic expression at the intersection of technology, culture, and critical discourse.
She continues to lead innovation in the art world, building bridges across disciplines and championing experimental, socially engaged practices.
