As part of the Correlations Forum, we were pleased to present a talk by Varvara Guljajeva (she/her). She is an artist and researcher, currently a substitute professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. As part of the artist duo Varvara & Mar, she has been exploring the creative potential of AI through practice-based research, focusing on the intersection of art, technology, and society. Their collaborative work, showcased at renowned venues like Ars Electronica, ZKM, and the Barbican, pushes the boundaries of art and technology. Varvara has presented her research at major conferences such as SIGGRAPH, CVPR, and ISEA. She has held positions at HKUST (GZ), the Estonian Academy of Arts, and Elisava Design School in Barcelona. 

In her opening lecture Artistic Strategies to Guide Neural Networks, Guljajeva discussed how neural networks were being shaped by artists as tools for expression and experimentation. Drawing on her own collaborative work—exhibited internationally at institutions such as Ars Electronica, ZKM, and the Barbican—she explored the creative use of deep learning to generate images, text, and 3D forms. Her talk reflected on how AI could serve artistic innovation while still requiring critical expertise in dataset design and algorithmic adaptation. 

The talk was held in English on December 11, 2024, at 4:30 PM in the University of Arts and Design Offenbach. 

Correlations 2024: Prof. Dr. Varvara Guljajeva (Varvara & Mar)

As part of the Correlations Forum, we welcomed Tereza Ruller (The Rodina) for a talk on The Synthesized Self – Crafting Personal Narratives through AI and Sound. Tereza Ruller (she/her) is a mother, communication designer, and educator. Through her practice – The Rodina – she explores a performative and critical approach to communication design. Her transdisciplinary work emphasizes the power of situation, playfulness, active spectatorship, and the relationships between human and nonhuman actors. 

Ruller’s work thrives in the cultural context, weaving together participatory events, spatial installations, virtual environments, and visual identities. Addressing critical ecological and social issues of our time, she seeks to foster collective shifts in perspective, embracing the interdependence that defines our shared world. Tereza Ruller is a professor of Communication Design and Digital Practices at HfG Karlsruhe. She also lectures and leads workshops internationally at institutions like ZHdK, CalArts, RCA, and Design Academy Eindhoven, and collaborates with cultural institutions such as CARA New York, Harvard GSD, and ZKM Karlsruhe. In her presentation, Ruller explored how artificial intelligence and generative sound technologies can be used to tell deeply personal stories. Drawing from Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto, she examined how dissolving the boundaries between human and machine opens up new possibilities for self-expression, identity, and authorship. The talk offered insights into Ruller’s transdisciplinary design practice, which blends communication design, critical theory, and performative strategies to challenge normative narratives and foster playful, collective engagement. 

The talk took place on Friday, 13 December 2024, at 10:00 AM in the Aula at the University of Arts and Design Offenbach. 

Correlations 2024: Tereza Ruller (The Rodina)

As part of the Correlations Forum, we welcomed Sarah Ciston, who builds tools to bring intersectional approaches to machine learning. They are the author of A Critical Field Guide for Working with Machine Learning Datasets and hold a PhD in Media Arts + Practice from the University of Southern California. Ciston was recently named an AI Newcomer by the Gesellschaft für Informatik and an AI Anarchies Fellow at the Akademie der Künste. 

In their talk Techniques for Creative-Critical Machine Learning: Using ML to Investigate ML, Ciston proposed treating machine learning as a malleable artistic material—crafting custom tools to explore models beyond the limits of standard interfaces. Drawing from their artistic research and experimental outputs, they combined critical and creative approaches to trace the reductive, categorizing origins of text datasets. By analyzing gaps in representation, the talk highlighted how these datasets often fail to serve specific communities. Ciston offered practical techniques for artists to question their tools and engage with machine learning in transformative ways, encouraging a reimagining of how we understand and use ML systems. 

The lecture was held in English on Thursday, 12 December 2024, at 4 PM in the Aula at the University of Arts and Design Offenbach. 

AIC

Correlations 2024: Sarah Ciston

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Correlations 2024: Prof. Dr. Varvara Guljajeva (Varvara & Mar)

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Correlations 2024: Tereza Ruller (The Rodina)