The S+T+ARTS Prize, presented by the European Commission, honors projects that successfully integrate science, technology, and the arts to drive social and economic innovation. Each year, two Grand Prize winners and up to ten honorary mentions are selected by an international jury. The prize is delivered in collaboration with Ars Electronica, BOZAR, and the Waag Society.
S+T+ARTS Prize ’22 Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration
Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration: UNLESS
Accounting for 10% of Earth’s landmass, 70% of its freshwater, and 90% of its ice, Antarctica is the planet’s largest repository of climate history data. It is also one of the most vulnerable regions to anthropogenic global warming. The continent’s ice sheet is melting at a pace equivalent to 200 Olympic swimming pools per minute, and its total collapse would raise global sea levels by 60 meters — triggering unprecedented human migration. UNLESS conceived Antarctic Resolution to catalyze global attention on this fragile Global Commons and build a constituency for the only continent without an indigenous population. The project aims to protect Antarctica and, in turn, our own species, combining data-driven environmental insight with urgent cultural advocacy.
Grand Prize – Artistic Exploration: Holly+, Holly Herndon, Mathew Dryhurst
Artists can anticipate and critique the societal impacts of emerging technologies like cryptography and artificial intelligence. With Holly+, Holly Herndon and Mathew Dryhurst — collaborating with a network of technologists and creatives — developed a hybrid platform merging a custom AI voice instrument with a decentralized, cooperative economic model. The project rethinks copyright, digital sovereignty, and creative authorship in the music industry while addressing the interdependencies of digital economies and identity. It stands as both a technical experiment and a cultural provocation.
Honorary Mentions – S+T+ARTS Prize 2022
A Sun Architecture – The Party is in Full Swing, Stéphane Bonnard, KompleX KapharnaüM
Ambient Weaving, Hosoo, Yasuaki Kakehi Lab, ZOZO NEXT, Inc.
DAWN Avatar Robot Cafe DAWN ver.β, OryLab Inc.
Cleaning Emotional Data, Elisa Giardina Papa
Digital Violence: How the NSO Group Enables State Terror, Forensic Architecture
Inanimate Species, Joana Moll
Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001, Valery Vermeulen
The Exploded View Beyond Building, Biobased Creations
The Plant Intelligence Plan, Tianyi Zhang
UITSLOOT, Gijs Schalkx
About the S+T+ARTS Prize
The S+T+ARTS Prize spotlights the potential of interdisciplinary collaborations to address pressing global issues. From climate crisis projects to AI-driven cultural experiments, the award celebrates works that expand the boundaries of both art and technology. By connecting creative research with societal challenges, the S+T+ARTS initiative fosters a culture where innovation is measured not only by technical advancement but by its human and environmental impact.
