Refik Anadol

Internationally renowned media artist Refik Anadol brings a feature exhibition to the inaugural Notre Dame Arts Biennial. Recently named to TIME’s inaugural TIME100 Art List as the “Artist of the AI Age,” Anadol is widely considered a pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence.

Anadol’s work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. Taking the data that surrounds us as primary material and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol creates radical visualizations of digitized memories and expands the possibilities of interdisciplinary arts. Anadol’s AI data paintings and sculptures, live audiovisual performances, and immersive installations take many forms while encouraging audiences to rethink their engagement with the physical world, public art, decentralized networks, and the creative potential of machines.

From January 29 to February 12, 2027, the Forum in Jenkins and Nanovic Halls will welcome visitors to Machine Hallucinations: LNM Variations, a large-scale, multisensory installation. The installation is a unique addition to an expanding collection of works crafted using the Large Nature Model (LNM), the world's first open-access, generative AI system dedicated to nature, pioneered by Refik Anadol Studio. The LNM operates simultaneously as an aesthetic medium and a research infrastructure, designed through sustainable computational practices and trained on ethically sourced datasets from prominent organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Society, and London’s Natural History Museum. This collaborative effort has enabled the collection of a vast archive of images showcasing the diversity of fauna, flora, fungi, corals, and landscapes.

Unlike conventional image datasets that treat photographs as isolated visual information, the LNM is designed to recognize relationships between species and habitats, climate and behavior, sound and environment, structure and growth. By engaging people on multiple sensory levels, the outputs of the model make the abstract concept of environmental conservation tangible, encouraging a collective responsibility to act.

Refik Anadol will also visit Notre Dame for a public artist talk followed by an opening reception. Exhibition and event admission are free and open to the public. Additional information and a detailed schedule of viewing hours will be available soon.

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Credits

Refik Anadol

Refik Anadol is an internationally renowned media artist, director, and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. He is the director and cofounder of Refik Anadol Studio in Los Angeles and teaches at UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts from which he obtained a master of fine arts degree. Refik Anadol Studio brings together a globally diverse team of designers, architects, data scientists, and researchers—originating from 12 countries and fluent in 17 languages—who share a deep commitment to inclusion, equity, and cross-cultural collaboration at every stage of artistic production. Anadol is also the cofounder of Dataland, the world’s first Museum of AI Arts.

Anadol’s work has been exhibited at venues including MoMA, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Guggenheim Bilbao, Serpentine Galleries, National Gallery of Victoria, Venice Architecture Biennale, Hammer Museum, Arken Museum, Casa Batlló, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Daejeon Museum of Art, and Istanbul Modern. A pioneer in his field, and the first to use artificial intelligence in a public artwork, Anadol has partnered with teams at Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, Apple, Intel, IBM, NASA/JPL, Siemens, Epson, MIT, UCLA, Harvard University, Imperial College, Stanford University, and UCSF to apply the latest, cutting-edge technology, science, and research to his work.

Refik Anadol

 

Notre Dame Arts Initiative

Launched in 2024 as a priority of Notre Dame's strategic framework, the Arts Initiative brings together the people and programs of the University’s extended arts community to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and define the arts as central to campus and community life. By transcending conventional boundaries — between art forms and across disciplines — the Initiative mobilizes the transformative power of the arts to advance knowledge, invigorate learning, and foster human solidarity.

Discover the Arts Initiative

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Funding & Support

This is a signature exhibition of the 2027 Notre Dame Arts Biennial, funded by the Notre Dame Arts Initiative.

Venue and staffing support provided by the Keough School of Global Affairs. Additional support provided by Notre Dame's Facilities Design and Operations and Environmental Health & Safety.