Anna Engelhardt · Artificial Sky

Anna Engelhardt is an alias of a research-based artist and writer. Interested in information wars, she works with the tension between evidence and fiction, looking into subjects from synthetic media to military cybernetics. Engelhardt has shown her work at transmediale, Ars Electronica, Kyiv Biennial, The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media. She is a core faculty at MA Information Design at Design Academy Eindhoven and co-editor of “Chimeras: Inventory of Synthetic Cognition” (2022, Onassis Foundation).

Proyect

Artificial Sky explores an interconnected web of artificial worlds — engineered climates, data environments, and smart cities — and how they extend beyond the materiality of their respective infrastructures. The project aligns with the recent shift in media theory towards the climate, examining 'digital environments' and 'climatic media' as rich, interwoven ecosystems shaped by human intervention and computational feedback.

This research will develop a climate simulation as a game that allows players to monitor local conditions and global phenomena across various weather systems. Through multiple screen interfaces, players navigate the world, explore different climatic zones, and witness the effects of technological intervention. For example, players can connect regional wind conditions and macro-scale global warming by visualising objects swarming on the aerial radar. As players advance through the game, the core narrative will gradually unravel, revealing hidden dimensions of the engineered climates that bridge natural and artificial systems.