Tactics&Practice #17: Becoming Image | Node #2

The 17th edition of Tactics&Practice: Becoming Image, Aksioma’s discursive programme exploring contemporary investigative art, society and new technologies, that will take place from February to June 2026, in cooperation with Kino Šiška and Academy of Fine Arts and Design (UL ALUO), examines the recent transformation of digital images from representational surfaces into operational environments. All three workshops in this year’s program will take place at UL ALUO, Tobačna 5.

What does it mean to inhabit a computational world-turned-image? When photographs no longer capture but composite, when renders replace recordings, when machine vision dictates what is permitted, and when synthetic media generates realities untethered from any physical referent – how do we understand vision, identity and presence?

The programme investigates how computational photography, machine vision, CGI and generative AI have fundamentally altered the ontological status of the image – no longer a window onto the world but a world unto itself.

Participants: Alan Warburton, Felicity Hammond, Martyna Marciniak, Nina Davies, Rebecca Edwards, Sheung Yiu, Simone C Niquille, and others

Curator: Marco De Mutiis

This year’s edition comprises three program sections consisting of exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and a symposium. UL ALUO particularly recommends all three free workshops, as they will take place at the Video, Animation, and New Media (UL ALUO, Tobačna 5) and are primarily intended for students of art and design.

The entire Tactics&Practice #17 program: https://aksioma.org/becomingimage/sl/

Free entry, registration required: https://pretix.eu/aksioma/becomingimage/

NODE #2

• WORKSHOP

Felicity Hammond: Model Collapse

Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 4 PM–7 PM
UL ALUO, Video, Animation and New Media, Tobačna 5, Ljubljana

In this practical workshop, participants will experiment with expanded collage making as a way to understand the circulation of images in the age of machine learning. They will explore the phenomenon of model collapse: a degenerative learning process caused when a model is trained on AI generated content. AI images reverse the indexical logic of photography and play a role in shaping the world; through this practical workshop, we will ask what happens when the image comes first.

Please note: whilst we are exploring machine learning tools, we will not be using generative AI software in this workshop.

Takeaways:

Participants will develop an understanding of how:

1. Model collapse causes data loss, degradation, and abstraction within generative AI systems.
2. Collage and generative AI have many overlapping qualities.
3. Data labelling is a limiting and unethical practice.

Related events:

• SYMPOSIUM

Becoming Image | Marco De Mutiis, Felicity Hammond, Martyna Marciniak, Alan Warburton, Sheung Yiu

Tuesday, 31 March 2026, 5 PM–9 PM
Kino Šiška / Katedrala, Trg prekomorskih brigad 3, Ljubljana

• EXHIBITION

Martyna Marciniak: Anatomy of Non-Fact. Chapter 1: AI Hyperrealism

31 March–22 May (Opening: 31. March at 9 PM)
Kino Šiška / Kamera, Trg prekomorskih brigad 3, Ljubljana

• EXHIBITION

Felicity Hammond: Latent Space

1 April–30 April 2026 (Opening: 1. April at 8 PM)
Aksioma | Project Space, Komenskega 18, Ljubljana

Artistic director: Janez Fakin Janša
Head of production: Marcela Okretič
Production assistant: Ema Maznik Antić
Promotion and social media management: Neža Bukovec, Dominika Maša Kozar, Sara Vatovec
Web developer: Igor Kovačić
Visual identity: Federico Antonini
Bumper: Lara Reichmann (video), Gašper Torkar (music)

Coordination at Kino Šiška: Jasna Jernejšek
Technicians: Valter Udovičić, Matej Marinček, Matevž Ftičar

Organised and produced by:
Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2026

In collaboration with:
Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture
ALUO – The Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana

          

 

For the conference series:
tactics&practice

Supported by:
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
The Municipality of Ljubljana
Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana

Partners:
Moderna galerija
SCCA– Center for Contemporary Arts
V-F-X Ljubljana Festival
Slovenian Cinematheque