Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau: Pioneers of Interactive Art

Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau are a duo whose practice initially developed at the intersection of art, science, and technology: from biology and botany (Christa's first degree was in this field) to video and visual art (Laurent), followed by advanced studies in media studies at the Staedelschule under Peter Weibel, and then at academic institutions in Japan and the United States, including ATR Labs in Kyoto and NCSA in Illinois. The artists are interested in exploring life as a continuous process, and their artistic practice is aimed at constantly observing this movement. Their optics focus on observing the world from a non-human perspective, where nature and algorithms take on a hybrid form and become equal bearers of experience. This also includes their turn to mythology, not as a return to the past, but as a way of understanding a reality where biological and technical processes, science, and illusion create entirely new forms. Since the mid-1990s, they have been creating works in which the work becomes a dynamic system: it grows, reacts, and develops in real time, never existing in a fixed form. Interestingly, the viewer also plays a significant role in these works: not an external observer, but an active participant, involved in the processes that shape the behavior and development of each artist's work. Their long-standing research and teaching activities (from IAMAS in Gifu to the founding and development of the Interface Cultures program in Linz) have cemented their status as key figures in the history of media art. The interactive environments they create, which they exhibit worldwide, allow us to view art as a form of "living" behavior, where the boundaries between the natural and the artificial are constantly being redefined. 📍 “Flaneur” (1 May 2026 – February 2027), Group Exhibition, Shenzhen International Art Museum, Shenzhen, curated by Naiji Wang 📍 “Automatic Gallerie” (2 April – 17 May 2026), Group Exhibition, Sofia, curated by Venelin Shurelov, featuring *Scavengers* (2020), *The Value of Art (Unquiet Sea)* (2010), and *ANTopolis* (video, 2021)