From May 23 to 29, 2025, Seoul will host the 30th edition of the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2025), a seminal event convening artists, researchers, and technologists working at the edge of media, computation, and critical theory. Organized by ISEA International in collaboration with Seoul National University, Sogang University, and Seoul Arts Center, the event positions Seoul as a vital node in the evolving network of global electronic art discourse.
ISEA is not a trade show, nor is it a standard academic conference. It’s a hybrid—equal parts critical forum, media lab, and creative intervention—that explores the shifting boundaries between machine logic and human expression, simulation and speculation, and data and desire.
Exploring the 'Dong-Dong' Theme
The theme for ISEA2025, "Dong-Dong (憧憧): Creators' Universe," is derived from an ancient verse in the I Ching(Book of Changes): Dong-Dong-Wang-Rae, Bung-Jong-E-Sa (憧憧往來 朋從爾思), which loosely translates to “In the bright interplay of movement and return, companions are drawn to shared thought.” This framing pushes beyond binaries—East and West, material and spiritual, analog and digital—and invites participants to imagine a transdisciplinary universe shaped by distributed creativity and interdependence.
The organizers describe the “Dong-Dong” concept as a prompt to recognize and design for a pluralistic cosmology, where artists are not individual auteurs but relational agents. In this model, the act of creation is less about authorship and more about responsive systems—ecological, computational, and social. Expect projects that blend speculative design with spiritual computing, AI ethics with indigenous cosmologies, and machine learning with ancient pattern logic.
Venues Across Seoul
ISEA2025 will be distributed across multiple venues in Seoul, including the Seoul Arts Center, Seoul National University, and Sogang University. This decentralized approach mirrors the symposium’s thematic concern with distributed intelligence and collective authorship. Each venue will curate its own sub-program of exhibitions, performances, and panels aligned with the overarching theme.
The Seoul Arts Center, one of South Korea’s premier cultural institutions, will host large-scale installations and live performances that explore immersive media, audiovisual experimentation, and the intersection of AI and embodiment. Academic sessions and workshops will be held at Seoul National and Sogang Universities, offering deep dives into fields like media archaeology, bio-art, and interactive design systems. These institutions are not just hosts—they’re active co-curators shaping the intellectual and creative direction of the festival.
Program Highlights, ISEA2025’s week-long program will include:
- Exhibitions: These will feature interactive installations, data-driven environments, and speculative interfaces developed by both emerging and established artists. Anticipated highlights include AI-generated rituals, multispecies design collaborations, and responsive materials that blur the lines between object and organism.
- Performances: The live program will include algorithmic music sets, sensory theater, kinetic sculpture, and telematic choreography—practices that examine how performativity itself evolves when co-authored with systems, sensors, and networks. Expect performances where the score is real-time code, and the body becomes a feedback loop.
- Workshops: Led by artist-researchers, technologists, and curators, these sessions will provide hands-on access to tools and methods behind emerging practices. Topics may range from quantum computing for creative applications to embodied interfaces, ecological sensing, or archiving ephemeral digital works.
- Academic Presentations: The conference stream includes peer-reviewed papers on themes such as AI-generated aesthetics, posthuman design ethics, sonic data visualization, and speculative legal frameworks for digital labor. This is where theory and praxis meet, challenging the boundaries of creative research. Additionally, the 5th Summit on New Media Art Archiving will take place during the symposium. Organized in collaboration with the Archive of Digital Art (ADA), ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, and the ISEA Archive, the summit addresses urgent questions around how to preserve, document, and sustain ephemeral and tech-based works across rapidly shifting platforms and media formats. This meta-discussion is critical in an age when digital obsolescence threatens the longevity of entire artistic movements.
A Global Platform for Innovation
ISEA2025 reinforces the event’s long-standing role as a global platform for interdisciplinary exchange and innovation. Since its inception in 1990, ISEA has grown into a nomadic festival that adapts to its host city’s cultural, technological, and geopolitical context. Previous editions have taken place in cities like Montreal, Istanbul, Dubai, Durban, and Hong Kong—each iteration reshaping the conversation on what “electronic art” can mean.
Seoul, with its high-tech infrastructure, vibrant creative industries, and deep philosophical traditions, is a fitting host for ISEA’s 30th anniversary. South Korea is globally recognized for its investment in digital culture—from K-pop and virtual influencers to gaming ecosystems and AI research. Yet ISEA’s emphasis on criticality ensures this won’t be a celebration of innovation for its own sake. Instead, the symposium probes deeper: What kinds of futures are these technologies producing? Who gets to design them? And who gets left out?
For a global community increasingly disillusioned with techno-optimism and algorithmic monocultures, ISEA2025 offers a rare space where complexity is not only tolerated but staged—across gallery walls, research abstracts, live performances, and networked systems.
For more information, program updates, and registration details, visit:
https://isea2025.isea-international.org
