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Der Thread von Piksel beleuchtet die DIY-Aspekte der elektronischen Kunst und greift dabei auf das 23-jährige Archiv von Piksel, seine Künstler:innen und ihre Werke zurück.

Die vorgestellten Projekte sind in verschiedene DIY-Themenbereiche unterteilt: von DIY-Radio bis DIY-Bioart, von performativem Coding bis Code-Art, von selbstzerstörerischer Hardware bis zu radikalen Netzwerken und schließlich von generativer elektronischer Literatur bis zu kritischen KI-Installationen. Kritische Kunst, Leidenschaft und Wissenschaft verschmelzen in dieser Projektliste. Es könnten noch viele weitere Künstler aufgenommen werden – beim Durchstöbern des Piksel-Archivs ist eine unglaubliche Anzahl originärer Schöpfer und relevanter Projekte zutage getreten. Es war schwierig, nur einige wenige auszuwählen. Wer mehr über die Piksel-Künstler und -Projekte erfahren möchten, kann in das Archiv unter piksel.no eintauchen.

1. Performative code.
2. DIY Radio
3. (Self)destroy(ing) machines
4. Networks politics
5. DIY Electronics.
6. Code art and electronic literature
7. DIY Bioart
8. Critical AI

First filter and transition plugins and software for real-time video processing. The emergence of programming languages for live performances, live coding, and life coding. The creation of new terms like Algorave.

2003: MøB, modular software for installations and realtime, processing of digital media in GNU/Linux-based networks. Carlo Prelz (DE), Gisle Frøysland (NO). Photo: Artist archive

2003: Effect TV, Kentaro Fukuchi (JP). Photo: Piksel archive

2008: Live coding workshop, Alex McLean (UK). Photo: Artist archive

2007: xxxxx, Speculative 12 hour life coding event curated by Martin Howse and Jonathan Kemp. Guest artists Shu Lea Cheang, Otto Roessler, Jessica Rylan, Ludic Society, Yunchul Kim, Roman Kirchner, Olaf Val, Tatiana Bazzichelli, Paolo Cirio, Stewart Home, TAZ (Hakim Bey), Nancy Mauro-Flude, Alejandra Perez Nunez, Eva Verhoeven, remote: Bjørn Magnhildøen. Photo: Artist archive

2022: HPB, Miller Puckette (US), Kerry Hagan and John Bowers (UK). Photo: Martin E. Koch

Radio-frequency (RF) transmissions become tools of resistance through Micro-FM practices—enabling small-scale, modular systems for local broadcasting. By hacking and hijacking electronics and FM/TV transmitters, this approach circulates noise, image, and signal on intimate scales, building networks of resistance through sound.

2006: The Chaos Micromedias project, APO33.org. Photo: APO33

2019: Embodied RF Ecologies, Afroditi Psarra (GR). Part of the Signal To Noise exhibition, curated by Tincuta Heinzel, Piksel Fest Spill. Photo: Martin E. Koch

2019: Do your own radio! ∏-box, ∏-Node (FR) Streaming and local FM radio broadcasting with a raspberry pi . SIGNAL TO NOISE, Curator: Tincuta Heinzel, Piksel Fest Spill. Photo: Martin E. Koch

Artists exploring the idea of giving users the power to destroy technology. They create projects and devices that intentionally disrupt, break down, or malfunction. These works can include server destruction, obfuscation tools, and hardware that turns dysfunction into aesthetic outputs, such as distorted audio or visuals.

1996: Environment / Sónar, Maite Cajaraville (SP). Photo: Artist archive

2006: HardDisko by Valentina Vuksic (DE). Photo: Piksel archive
2006: SHOCKBOT by 5voltcore (AU). Photo: Piksel archive

2009: REBUNTU, Linux that kills itself and can kill You, Danja Vasiliev (RU/DE). Photo: Artist archive

2011: Headcleaner, Gisle Frøysland (NO). Photo: Piksel archive

2013: User Generated Server Destruction, Stefan Tiefengraber (DE). Photo: Sergey Dushkin

Through local routers, obfuscation engines, and custom network protocols, these projects reimagine digital infrastructures as tools for protest, privacy, and public awareness. They transform connectivity into a political act—amplifying demonstrations with electronic noise devices, enabling private communications through dedicated routers, exposing personal data by displaying recent Wi-Fi connections, and revealing environmental issues with machines that measure and broadcast city pollution.

2013 - Occupy.here router, Dan Phiffer (US). Photo: Artist archive

2013 – CrisisRus, initiated by LaptopsRus (since 2009), with Maite Cajaraville (SP), Shu Lea (US) Cheang and Lucía Egaña Rojas (CH/DE/SP). Photo: Sergey Dushkin

2015 Cocíclo | Alexandre Castonguay (CA). Photo: Robertina Šebjanič

2017: 60+leap sec screening, Bjørn Magnhildøen (NO), Radovan Misovic, Zsolt Mesterhazy (NL) , Ada Ortega Camara (DK), Ana Buigues (SP). Photo: Noemata

2019, FANGo, a Facebook Amazon Netflix Google Obfuscator, Martin Nadal (SP). Photo: Martin E. Koch

2021: Unintended Emissions (2019) Wireless (802.11) Citizen Surveillance Investigation, Bengt Sjölén (SW). Part of the Critical Engineers Working Group exhibition “Decoding Black Magic. Interventions in Infrastructure”, Critical Engineering Working Group, Julian Oliver, Gordan Savičić and Danja Vasiliev, Sarah Grant, Bengt Sjölén and Joana Moll. Photo: Martin E. Koch

Electronics become experimental playgrounds for hacking, subverting, and creating new forms of expression. Mastering circuit bending, artists produce new tools for modulating audio and video signals. This hands-on approach pushes the boundaries of what technology can do, expanding creative possibilities and enabling the invention of entirely new machines.

2005: Cavity Resonator, Time's Up (AT). Photo: Piksel archive

2007: Circuitbended Works, Casperelectronics (US), Audun Eriksen (NO), Gijs Gieskes (NL). Photo: Piksel archive

2008: Loud Objects, Tristan Perich, Kunal Gupta and Katie Shima. (US). Photo: Malte Steinar

2013: 20 Oscillators in 20 Minutes, Darsha Hannah Hewitt (CA). Photo: Sergey Dushkin

2016: All that i want is another baby, Camilla Vatne Barratt-Due (NO) and Alexandra Cárdenas (MX). Photo: Laimonas

Artworks where coding is an essential part of both the concept and the visual outcome. Here, code is not just a tool but an integral medium—embedded directly into the piece, shaping its behavior, aesthetics, and meaning.

2008: Exist.pl, Pall Thayer (IS). Photo: Carlo Prelz

2010: Slub, Alex McLean Dave Griffiths (UK). Photo: Piksel archive

2011: Naked on Pluto, Aymeric Mansoux (FR), Dave Griffiths (UK), Marloes de Valk Aymeric Mansou (NL). Photo: Artist archive

2020: The Endless Doomscroller, Ben Grosser (US). Photo: Maite Cajaraville

2022: Process Pages, Nick Montfort (US). Photo: Gisle Frøysland

“Biotechnological research is no longer limited to specialist laboratories: a growing community of biologists, artists and technophiles is experimenting in kitchens, workshops and DIY laboratories. Some people view the democratisation of biotechnology as a threat, others as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of complex scientific interrelationships within society.” (Biotechnology for all, SATW INFO 2/15, August 2015). Through DIY bioart methods, international DIY bio networks and communities encourage the collaboration of scientists, hackers and artists to combine their expertise.

2014: Piksteria lab, Marc Dusseiller (CH), Paula Pin (SP), Adegreden Donora , Budi Prakosa (ID). Photo: Piksel archive

2015: Pikselo_deep - Robertina Šebjanič (SI), Kat Austen (UK/DE), Slavko Glamočanin (SI), Gjino Šutić (CRO). Photo: Piksel archive

2015: BSM_NHC – bionic sound machina | no human composer, Oscar Martin, Oskoff (SP). Photo: Maite Cajaraville / Piksel archive

2016, Open Source Estrogen, Mary Tsang (US), Byron Rich (CA), Paula Pin (SP), Gaia Leandra (IT). Photo: Gisle Frøysland

2018: From DNA to NSA, NSA Collective: Gisle Frøysland (NO), Maite Cajaraville (SP). Photo: Maite Cajaraville

2024: Silent Vegetal Thoughts, María Castellanos, Alberto Valverde (SP). Photo: Gisle Frøysland

While artistic engagement with AI often focuses on generative tools, there are many other ways to confront and question its development. Critical AI practices call for deeper examination of the ethical implications, from military applications to bias, transparency, and accountability. Artists are beginning to challenge the datasets behind AI models, working alongside researchers and civil society to expose flaws, reveal hidden assumptions, and push for greater scrutiny of this powerful technology.

2022: What do you want me to say?, Lauren McCarthy (US). Part of the Coping Strategies program curated by Sarah Grant (US), Critical Engineering Working Group. Photo: John Rohrer

2022: Boogaloo Bias, Jennifer Gradecki, Derek Curry (US). Photo: Gisle Frøysland

2022: Meta Music Machines [Fluorescent Markov Beat], Oskoff. Photo: Martin E. Koch

2024: Droning, Marta Revuelta (CH). Photo: Filip Glesgo

2024: AI assisted coding, Scott Rettberg (US/NO). Photo: artist archive

Visit Piksel archive for more information about the projects (https://piksel.no/) and the Piksel archive Image gallery: https://piwigo.piksel.no/

Maite Cajaraville & Gisle Frøysland, 2025

Piksel ist ein internationales Netzwerk und eine jährliche Veranstaltung, die sich der elektronischen Kunst und technologischer Freiheit widmet. Teils Workshop, teils Festival, findet es in Bergen, Norwegen, statt und bringt Teilnehmer aus über einem Dutzend Ländern zusammen, um Ideen und Codes auszutauschen, Kunstwerke und Softwareprojekte zu präsentieren und an Workshops, Performances und Diskussionen über die Ästhetik und Politik freier Technologien teilzunehmen.

Gisle Frøysland ist der Gründer des Piksel Festivals. 2014 kam Maite Cajaraville als Co-Kuratorin hinzu. Beide sind praktizierende Künstler, die ihr eigenes Werk entwickeln. 2015 gründeten sie das Kollektiv NSA.

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