to hurt for a thought

Julia Vollmer's “to hurt for a thought” was honoured with a Honorary Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica 2026, category Interactive Art.

to hurt for a thought brings the materiality of artificial intelligence to our fingertips as a physical, tactile experience. In our everyday life, we interact with AI tools through cold, clean interfaces that remain detached from the underlying computational costs of AI.

About Julia Vollmer

Julia Vollmer (DE) (*1995) is a media artist working with machine learning, wearables, code and electronics. Interested in the errors and tensions in-between technology, human interaction, and our perception she focuses on the hidden labor and resources…

Programme information from Prix Ars Electronica Archive. Short excerpt quoted for reference; see the original page for full text, images and credits.

View on Prix Ars Electronica Archive ↗