human sub:version – Curated Selection by Martin Honzik
CIFRA presents human sub:version, a new online curatorial selection by Martin Honzik, former Chief Curatorial Officer of Ars Electronica. Presented as part of CIFRA’s season Power ON/OFF, the project examines how algorithmic systems increasingly shape perception, decision-making, and everyday life, while asking what forms of human agency remain possible within system-generated realities.
Rather than offering definitive answers, human sub:version explores how artists reveal, question, interrupt, and reconfigure the technological infrastructures that organize contemporary experience. Bringing together works across media art, data visualization, speculative design, and artistic research, the selection considers art as a space for critical reflection on the social consequences of technological transformation.
The featured artists are Tega Brain, Quadrature, Vladan Joler, Dorotea Dolinšek, Špela Petrič, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Simon Weckert, and VTOL. Although their practices differ significantly, they share an interest in examining the relationships between technology, society, ecology, and systems of knowledge. Their works investigate algorithmic infrastructures, digital autonomy, artificial intelligence, surveillance, biological systems, and alternative futures.
“Subversion is not mere provocation. It is a specifically human capacity — the ability to question existing systems, imagine alternatives, and make change possible in the first place,” says Martin Honzik. “Art develops new images, narratives, and forms of understanding that do not simply comment on societal transformation, but create the conditions for it to become imaginable, discussable, and ultimately shapeable.”
For Honzik, the selected artists exemplify a form of artistic practice whose impact extends beyond the art world. Their work creates knowledge, encourages public discourse, and contributes to cultural resilience by making complex technological developments accessible without reducing their complexity. Rather than producing fixed solutions, these artistic practices open spaces for experimentation, reflection, and responsible agency.
human sub:version continues CIFRA’s commitment to presenting contemporary media art through curated thematic selections developed in collaboration with internationally recognised curators, artists, and researchers. By combining editorial context with digital accessibility, CIFRA creates conditions for the continuous presence of media art beyond the exhibition cycle and supports dialogue between artists, institutions, and audiences.
The complete curatorial essay by Martin Honzik accompanies the selection on CIFRA, expanding on the ideas behind human sub:version and the role of artistic practice in times of technological transformation.
About Martin Honzik
Martin Honzik is a curator, cultural strategist, and former Chief Curatorial Officer of Ars Electronica. Throughout his career he has worked at the intersection of art, science, technology, and society, developing international exhibitions, research initiatives, and cultural programmes that explore the social impact of emerging technologies.
About CIFRA
CIFRA is a curatorial platform for media art that creates conditions for the continuous and contextualised presence of media art beyond the exhibition cycle. Connecting artists, curators, galleries, institutions, and audiences, the platform provides curated exhibitions, artist profiles, editorial content, and educational formats that expand access to contemporary media art while preserving its curatorial context.