(Linz, May 12, 2025) The art project LIFE INKlusive brings together the Ars Electronica Center, the Ars Electronica Futurelab, artists with disabilities from the studios of Caritas Upper Austria, Lebenshilfe Linz, KuK – promente Upper Austria, the Hartheim Institute, and students from the University of Arts Linz to break down barriers. It raises the question: Can mind and body produce “ink”?

For LIFE INKlusive, the body signals of artists with disabilities and students from the University of Art and Design Linz were visualized during their creative work using technology developed at the Ars Electronica Futurelab. The results will be exhibited on the occasion of the upcoming inclusive cultural festival sicht:wechsel from May 12 to May 18 at splace, Hauptplatz 6 (University of the Arts). On display are drawings and paintings as well as the resulting data visualizations. The official opening takes place today at 5:00 PM.

The project takes its name from the Life Ink installation developed by the Ars Electronica Futurelab and Wacom and on view at the Ars Electronica Center. A portable biometric device attached to the body measures bodily signals such as brain waves, eye movements, muscle reactions and skin perspiration in order to test a new form of ink; these stimuli are converted into color patterns in real time and visualized on a screen. Depending on mental and physical activity, the result is a highly personalized visualization that expresses creative moments in an entirely new way.  

Hands-On Technology

Interested visitors will have the opportunity to try out the technology for themselves at splace on three dates: Tuesday, May 13, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 14, also from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Thursday, May 15, 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The idea and concept for LIFE INKlusive were developed by Maria Reitter-Kollmann (Creative Pool for Individual Art) and Nicole Grüneis (Ars Electronica).

The Creative Pool for Individual Art is an initiative by Maria Reitter-Kollmann in collaboration with Andrea Hinterberger/Caritas Upper Austria, Oliver Rogl & Philipp Stieglitz/Lebenshilfe Linz, Eckart Sonnleitner & Sabine Funk/promente Upper Austria, Alfred Heindl/Hartheim Institute, and Alfred Rauch/artistic and organizational director of the sicht:wechsel festival.

Statements

“When creating art, the brain and body develop feelings of happiness – regardless of whether someone has a disability. LIFE INKlusive shows that inclusion in the creative process breaks down barriers and opens up creative possibilities for everyone.”

Maria Reitter-Kollmann, Creative Pool for Individual Art

“The LIFE INKlusive project achieves a remarkable balance between research and art, all within an inclusive context. I am therefore very pleased that we have succeeded in bring-ing together artists with and without disabilities from a wide range of disciplines and in-stitutions. This is inclusion in practice at a high artistic level”, says Alfred Rauch, Director of sicht:wechsel.

Alfred Rauch, Leiter des Kulturfestivals sicht:wechsel

“Art offers people with disabilities a form of social participation that is rarely experienced as intensively in any other field. Lebenshilfe Upper Austria runs three professionally managed studios in Gmunden, Grein, and Linz — its Linz-based studio is involved in this project. With the right support, artists with disabilities demonstrate impressive creative achievements. The international inclusive cultural festival sicht:wechsel showcases these qualities through projects like ‚LIFE INKlusive‘ and creates genuine dialogue. With partners such as the Ars Electronica Center and the University of Art and Design Linz, inclusion is actively shaped.”

Gerhard Scheinast, Director Lebenshilfe Upper Austria.

“Inclusion is not an add-on — it is a prerequisite for an open, democratic society. This ap-plies especially to the arts and culture sector. Projects like LIFE INKlusive not only trans-form artistic practices, but also challenge our very notion of who qualifies as an artist. When biosignals become color, it becomes clear: creativity doesn’t require predefined norms. Art has consistently shown its power to question and transcend existing bounda-ries by opening up new perspectives.”

Gitti Vasicek, Vice Rector of the University of Arts Linz

“The Ars Electronica Center has an educational mission. One of our core tasks is to provide people with access to knowledge and experiences related to the technological, scientific, and artistic developments of our time. The collaborative project LIFE INKlusive is a successful and inspiring example of this—it shows how creative participation can be made accessible through technological means.”

Nicole Grüneis, responsible for art and cultural education at the Ars Electronica Center

About the Culture Festival sicht:wechsel

From May 19 to 24, 2025, the 7th edition of the international inclusive culture festival sicht:wechsel will take place in Linz. For one week, the Upper Austrian capital will become the center of inclusive art in Austria and present extraordinary international and local art for people with and without disabilities to a broad public. The exhibition LIFE INKlusive is part of the sicht:wechsel festival and will also be shown in September at the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 in POSTCITY. 

Ausstellung LIFE INKlusive / Öffnungszeiten:
13.5. – 18.5. von 12:00 – 18:00 Uhr
splace am Hauptplatz | Kunstuniversität Linz
Hauptplatz 6 | 4020 Linz

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