DARC has been active part of the research environment at Aarhus University since the early 2000s and played a pioneering role locally and internationally in areas such as software art and e-literature among many other fields that encompass digital aesthetics. While always been a very horizontally organized centre, after Christian Ulrik Andersen’s several years of directorship Jussi Parikka is taking up the role as the point person for the research and practice collective. Jussi started at Aarhus University just the previous year in 2022 as Professor in Digital Aesthetics and Culture.

“We will continue supporting and developing our long-term key areas in research on art and design of software, platforms, and broadly speaking digital culture. I feel that DARC is also in a great position to bring together many other emerging new research directions that also function as independent centres from artistic practice to sound studies, AI and images, as well as a new centre that is emerging on Critical Data Practices.”

New directions are developing too, including the interdisciplinary cross-faculty centre SHAPE, and also environmental aesthetics and digital culture.

“I am interested in developing more work on the intersections of digital aesthetics and environmental media. We are now running under this centre the project on Design and Aesthetics of Environmental Data as well as developing ties with for example our colleagues in the Centre for Environmental Humanities. Part of this work also ties to curatorial activities and research, such as our collaboration with the forthcoming Helsinki Biennial 2023 and the Motores del Clima exhibition in Spain in Autumn 2023 that I am curating with Daphne Dragona.”

DARC will continue developing new research projects as well as engagement with non-academic partners in the cultural and other sectors, not least the transmediale art and digital culture festival in Berlin.

Digital Aesthetics Research Center: https://darc.au.dk