Future Art Ecosystems is a project for building 21st century cultural infrastructure to support art and advanced technologies for the public good.

Through briefings, R&D Labs and a growing community of artists, technologists, policy-makers, researchers and fellow organisations, FAE develops insights, tools and projects that advance our mission. Embedded in Serpentine’s Arts Technologies team, FAE facilitates the emergence of new systems for art, technology and society.

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Our research and partnerships span across four key areas where art x advanced technology (AxAT) practices can lead to meaningful infrastructural transformations in culture and beyond.

The Future Art Ecosystems annual briefing series is intended for those with an interest in the long-term strategic vision for art x advanced technologies (AxAT). Each issue provides concepts, references, language and arguments that can be integrated by ecosystem actors into operational agendas for the development of 21st- century cultural infrastructure: the systems that support the production, distribution and financialisation of art and advanced technologies as a whole, and respond to a broader societal agenda.

In 2014, Serpentine established the Arts Technologies department to lead on commissioning and production of artworks that engage with advanced technologies. What followed was an exciting series of collaborations with artists James Bridle, Ian Cheng, Jenna Sutela, Hito Steyerl and Jakob Kudsk Steensen leading to the development of new experimental artworks that deployed a variety of technologies from AI to VR and game engines. Each piece relied on the development of bespoke hybrid teams, technological systems and legal agreements – all of which offered unique insights into these technologies, and equally made evident the operational limitations of undertaking this type of cultural production in the context of a ‘legacy’ art institution.

It was the coupling of the opportunity to shine light on the R&D potential of artistic production processes, and the challenge of imagining new infrastructures to better support the evolving art and advanced technologies ecosystem, that led to the emergence of Future Art Ecosystems. In close collaboration with Rival Strategy, we (the Arts Technologies team) launched the annual FAE strategic briefings with our first publication, Future Art Ecosystems 1: Art x Advanced Technologies in 2020. Rooted in conversations with a diverse network of participants, the briefings have become widely shared resources that inform the practices and long-term strategies of artists, institutions and the wider cultural ecosystem, highlighting the role of FAE as an ecosystem-oriented project.

Today, FAE builds on the insights gained through the strategic briefings to develop partnerships and facilitate projects that are focused on what we consider to be the key priority areas for art x advanced technologies infrastructural development. Together with a wide range of collaborators – ranging from cultural institutions, artists, producers, curators, researchers and technologists to businesses, policy makers and mission-oriented organisations – we’re committed to researching, prototyping and building 21st century cultural infrastructure to support art and advanced technologies for the public good.

Current: Tamar Clarke-Brown, Tommie Introna, Victoria Ivanova, Eva Jäger, Lina Martin-Chan, Vi Trinh, Ruth Waters and Kay Watson. It is initiated by and situated within the Arts Technologies department at Serpentine, London, UK. 

Past: Ben Vickers, Sophie Netchaef, Alexander Boyes.

You can explore our Twitch archive, or tune in live for special events. To get more involved, join our Telegram community, sign up to our monthly newsletter and take part in our quarterly Zoom call. For partnerships and other inquiries, please email us.