is an alias I use as a research-based
video artist and writer. My investigative practice follows the traces of material violence, focusing on what could be seen as the 'ghost' of information. I work with toxic information environments that stem from structures of occupation and dispossession. I see through this data haze by combining satellite data, digital reconstruction and fictional devices. Informed by decolonial approaches, my work interrogates structures and systems of violence in Russia's imperialist interventions in post-Soviet states.
engelhardt [at] riseup.net | CV
@engelhardt_x
video artist and writer. My investigative practice follows the traces of material violence, focusing on what could be seen as the 'ghost' of information. I work with toxic information environments that stem from structures of occupation and dispossession. I see through this data haze by combining satellite data, digital reconstruction and fictional devices. Informed by decolonial approaches, my work interrogates structures and systems of violence in Russia's imperialist interventions in post-Soviet states.
engelhardt [at] riseup.net | CV
@engelhardt_x
My work has been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), transmediale, Ars Electronica, Kyiv Biennial, BFI London Film Festival, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media, Steirischer Herbst, National Gallery of Art (Lithuania), Aksioma, V.O Curations, Vancouver International Film Festival, Gossamer Fog Gallery, and HMKV. I performed at Venice Biennale of Architecture, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Studio Voltaire, Foto Colectania. My texts have been published by The Funambulist, Journal of Visual Culture, Visual and New Media Review, NERO Editions, Institute of Networked Cultures, Digital War Journal, European Review. I am a core faculty at MA Information Design at Design Academy Eindhoven and co-editor of "Chimeras: Inventory of Synthetic Cognition" (2022, Onassis Foundation). Currently, I am a Film London Artists' Moving Image Network fellow and a resident at the Medialab Matadero.
Selected projects
Onset
2023, 25’00 video installation, CGI, textile.
A demon roams through an ominous synthetic environment, reconstructed from satellite images of Russian air bases in Syria, Belarus, and Ukraine. In Onset, Engelhardt and Cinkevich craft an unholy alliance of medieval demonology, investigative research, and CGI animation to uncover the hidden life of these military outposts.
Trailer ⊹ FilmFreeway ⊹ Installation
Death Under Computation
2022, textile diagrams, holograms, CGI, website.
An investigation into colonial logic at work in contemporary Russian warfare through largely unknown history of Soviet military cybernetic research.
Circuits of Truth
2021, textile diagrams, holograms, CGI, website.
Inquiry into the blue verification marks as an interface of polarised information loops, spinning between enclosed binaries of ‘true’ and ‘fake’.
Adversarial Infrastructure
2020, CGI, deepfake, website, video, text.
An investigation into the volumetric history of the Crimean annexation that employs deepfake technology to assemble the new image of Russian logistical warfare.
The Futures of Russian Decolonisation
2021, text, diagrams, CGI.
Essay analysing existing postcolonial canon of post-Soviet space and envisioning ways of future decolonisation.
Intra-structures
2021, telegram bot, text, collage.
Telegram bot that enacts a mundane chat of Russian propaganda workers, allowing a user to see the information wars from within, co-authored with Sasha Shestakova.
Affiliations
PhD at Queen Mary, UoL, under the supervision of Laleh Khalili and Elke Schwarz 〥 External faculty of the ‘Digital Democracies Institute’ led by Wendy Chun and Svitlana Matviyenko 〥 Faculty of ‘Future Studies Program’ 〥Co-founder of the ‘Distributed Cognition Cooperative’ with Sasha Shestakova 〥 MA at Center for Research Architecture (Forensic Arhitecture studio)Residencies
Resident at Berlin platform ‘Trust’ and 0x Salon, 01-03/2022
〥
Artist-in-residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude, 09-11/2021
〥
Artist-in-residence Garage Digital, 02-12/2020
Grants
QMUL Principal's Postgraduate Research Studentship (tutition fees and maintanance stipend) 09/2020 - 09/2023 〥 Garage Digital, 02-12/2020
Anna Engelhardt
is an alias I use as a research-based video artist and writer. My investigative practice follows the traces of material violence, focusing on what could be seen as the 'ghost' of information. I work with toxic information environments that stem from structures of occupation and dispossession. I see through this data haze by combining satellite data, digital reconstruction and fictional devices. Informed by decolonial approaches, my work interrogates structures and systems of violence in Russia's imperialist interventions in post-Soviet states.
My work has been shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), transmediale, Ars Electronica, Kyiv Biennial, BFI London Film Festival, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media, Steirischer Herbst, National Gallery of Art (Lithuania), Aksioma, V.O Curations, Vancouver International Film Festival, Gossamer Fog Gallery, and HMKV. I performed at Venice Biennale of Architecture, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Studio Voltaire, Foto Colectania. My texts have been published by The Funambulist, Journal of Visual Culture, Visual and New Media Review, NERO Editions, Institute of Networked Cultures, Digital War Journal, European Review. I am a core faculty at MA Information Design at Design Academy Eindhoven and co-editor of "Chimeras: Inventory of Synthetic Cognition" (2022, Onassis Foundation). Currently, I am a Film London Artists' Moving Image Network fellow and a resident at the Medialab Matadero.
Selected Projects
Onset
2023, 25’00 video installation, CGI, textile, metal elements
A demon roams through an ominous synthetic environment, reconstructed from satellite images of Russian air bases in Syria, Belarus, and Ukraine. In Onset, Engelhardt and Cinkevich craft an unholy alliance of medieval demonology, investigative research, and CGI animation to uncover the hidden life of these military outposts.
Trailer ⊹ FilmFreeway ⊹ Installation shots
Death Under Computation
2022, textile diagrams, holograms, CGI, website, text.An investigation into colonial logic at work in contemporary Russian warfare through the largely unknown history of Soviet military cybernetic research. Looking into the hardware and software behind Russian invasions, Death Under Computation imagines how decolonial movements can resist lethal weapons developed in the age of algorithmic control.
Circuits of Truth
2021, textile diagrams, holograms, CGI, website, text.Inquiry into the blue verification marks as an interface of polarised information loops, spinning between enclosed binaries of ‘true’ and ‘fake’. Its website, introducing users to the various steps the content goes through to become 'true', reveals the digital assembly line that manufactures authenticity.
Adversarial Infrastructure
2020, CGI, deepfake, website, video, text.
An investigation into the volumetric history of the Crimean annexation that employs deepfake technology to assemble the new image of Russian logistical warfare.
Intra-structures
2021, telegram bot, text, collage.
Telegram bot that enacts a mundane chat of Russian propaganda workers, allowing a user to see the information wars from within, co-authored with Sasha Shestakova.
Affiliations
Core faculty of the MA Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven 〥 External faculty of the ‘Digital Democracies Institute’ led by Wendy Chun and Svitlana Matviyenko 〥 Faculty of ‘Future Studies Program’ 〥 MA graduate Center for Research Architecture (Forensic Architecture studio).
Awards and residencies
Artist-in-residence at Medialab Matadero Madrid, 10/2023-10/2024 〥 Artist-in-residence at transmediale festival in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, 08-10/2022 〥 Resident at Berlin platform ‘Trust’ and 0x Salon, 03-05/2022 〥 Artist-in-residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude, 09-11/2021〥Artist-in-residence Garage Digital 02-12/2020.
