Aargauer Kunsthaus to Examine AI’s Creative Potential in ‘Künstliche Kreativität’

The Aargauer Kunsthaus in Aarau, Switzerland, will present ‘Künstliche Kreativität’ from 26 September 2026 to 10 January 2027, an exhibition examining the creative potential of artificial intelligence in contemporary art. Organised in cooperation with HEK (Haus der Elektronischen Künste), the exhibition will consider how artistic processes involving AI move between control and loss of control, creating what the museum describes as a productive tension between humans and machines.

The exhibition invites visitors to explore both the possibilities and limits of AI, including the ways in which technically unpredictable systems can generate new artistic impulses. The participating artists and projects include Alfatih, Niculin Barandun, Botto, Terence Broad, Onome Ekeh, Emanuel Gollob, Tobias Gutmann, Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, Hochschuh and Donovan, Esther Hunziker, Simone C Niquille, Theresa Reiwer, Monica Studer and Christoph van den Berg, and Robi Voigt.

Several works listed by the museum use distinct forms of computational image-making, virtual reality, animation and real-time video. Botto, identified as an AI system active since 2021, will be represented by ‘Utility Stream’ (2022), a one-of-one NFT created with VQGAN and CLIP. Monica Studer and Christoph van den Berg’s ‘HALLUC’ (2024) is presented as a still from a VR animation, while Terence Broad’s ‘(un)stable equilibrium 1:1’ (2019) is a video made with software developed by the artist.

Other works extend AI-related practice into installation and embodied interaction. Theresa Reiwer’s ‘Lasting Generation’ (2024) is a multichannel video installation created in collaboration with David Egger, HAU Hebbel am Ufer and the Hauptstadtkulturfonds. Niculin Barandun’s ‘Neural Fiction’ (2024) takes the form of a real-time video triptych with three screens and 2.1-channel sound. Simone C Niquille’s ‘the image stack: to fall for’ (2026) is a 3D animation using machine learning and sound.

The exhibition also includes Tobias Gutmann’s ‘Face-o-mat’, an ongoing project dating from 2013, featuring a finished portrait, cardboard and wood, two iPads containing the Sai Bot AI system, and sound. Hochschuh and Donovan’s ‘Interconnected’ (2025) comprises 50 custom differential-drive robots with sensors, speakers, LEDs and specially developed software. Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst and sub, led by Niklas Bildstein Zaar, are represented by ‘The Oratory’ (2024), an object made from powder-coated steel and 3D-printed panels.

A public opening at the Aargauer Kunsthaus is scheduled for 25 September from 6 to 10 p.m., with speeches, a reception and a food truck. A children’s opening for five- to 13-year-olds will run from 6 to 8 p.m. The programme accompanying ‘Künstliche Kreativität’ includes a German-language discussion on AI and nature on 1 October, a lecture on whether an algorithm can be creative on 22 October, and further talks on AI after the current hype, speculation and future-making, and creativity between humans and machines. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Thursdays until 8 p.m.