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 extraction, 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 Russia's imperialist interventions.
engelhardt [at] riseup.net | portfolio | CV
engelhardt [at] riseup.net | portfolio | CV
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. I performed at Venice Biennale of Architecture, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Studio Voltaire, Foto Colectania. My texts have been published by e-flux, 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 co-editor of "Chimeras: Inventory of Synthetic Cognition" (2022, Onassis Foundation).
Selected projects
Terror Element (2025) Set in a modern-day crime lab, this hybrid documentary explores how images of science are weaponised to project state power. Nina, a reclusive forensic expert, uncovers a videotape about a notorious series of explosions across Russia in 1999.
Full Project Details (PDF)
25’00 video installation.
Combining digital reconstructions and archival material, the film examines the contradictory statements presented by authorities to justify the second invasion of Chechnya. Drawn into the grainy television footage, Nina tries to understand how crime labs became tools in this cryptic powerplay. Slowly, her laboratory begins to resemble the televised one. Doubt seeps in: could her own methods be part of this haunting legacy?
Onset (2023) 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 ⊹ Full Project Details (PDF)
25’00 video installation.
Trailer ⊹ Full Project Details (PDF)
Death Under Computation (2022) holograms, textile, CGI, website.
An investigation into colonial logic of Russian warfare through the largely unknown history of Soviet military cybernetics.
Looking into the hardware and software behind Russian invasions, Death Under Computation imagines how we can resist weapons developed in the age of algorithmic control.
Adversarial Infrastructure (2020)
10’00 video, CGI, deepfake.
Initial research into the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine yielded a key insight: logistical infrastructure is a form of hybrid warfare. The film delves into the history of the contemporary Crimean Bridge, a propaganda megaproject built to connect Crimea to Russia.
Awards
Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) fellowship 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at Medialab Matadero Madrid, 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at transmediale festival in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, 08-10/22 〥 Resident at Berlin platform ‘Trust’ and 0x Salon, 03-05/22 〥Artist-in-residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude, 09-11/21〥Artist-in-residence Garage Digital 02-12/20.
Affiliations
Core faculty of the MA Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven 〥 MA graduate Center for Research Architecture (Forensic Architecture studio) 〥 External faculty of the ‘Digital Democracies Institute’ led by Wendy Chun and Svitlana Matviyenko 〥 Faculty of ‘Future Studies Program’.
Awards
Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) fellowship 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at Medialab Matadero Madrid, 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at transmediale festival in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, 08-10/22 〥 Resident at Berlin platform ‘Trust’ and 0x Salon, 03-05/22 〥Artist-in-residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude, 09-11/21〥Artist-in-residence Garage Digital 02-12/20.
Affiliations
Core faculty of the MA Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven 〥 MA graduate Center for Research Architecture (Forensic Architecture studio) 〥 External faculty of the ‘Digital Democracies Institute’ led by Wendy Chun and Svitlana Matviyenko 〥 Faculty of ‘Future Studies Program’.
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 extraction, 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 Russia's imperialist interventions.
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. I performed at Venice Biennale of Architecture, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Studio Voltaire, Foto Colectania. My texts have been published by e-flux, 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 co-editor of "Chimeras: Inventory of Synthetic Cognition" (2022, Onassis Foundation).
Selected Projects
Terror Element
2025, 25’00 video installation, CGI, archival footage.
Set in a modern-day crime lab, this hybrid documentary explores how images of science are weaponised to project state power. Nina, a reclusive forensic expert, uncovers a videotape about a notorious series of explosions across Russia in 1999.Combining digital reconstructions and archival material, the film examines the contradictory statements presented by authorities to justify the second invasion of Chechnya. Drawn into the grainy television footage, Nina tries to understand how crime labs became tools in this cryptic powerplay. Slowly, her laboratory begins to resemble the televised one. Doubt seeps in: could her own methods be part of this haunting legacy?
Onset
2023, 25’00 video installation, CGI, found footage.
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 ⊹ Full Project Details (PDF)
Death Under Computation
2022, textile diagrams, holograms, CGI, website.An investigation into colonial logic of Russian warfare through the largely unknown history of Soviet military cybernetics. Looking into the hardware and software behind Russian invasions, Death Under Computation imagines how we can resist weapons developed in the age of algorithmic control.
Adversarial Infrastructure
2020, 10’00 video, CGI, deepfake.Initial research into the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine yielded a key insight: logistical infrastructure is a form of hybrid warfare. The film delves into the history of the contemporary Crimean Bridge, a propaganda megaproject built to connect Crimea to Russia.
Awards
Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) fellowship 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at Medialab Matadero Madrid, 23-24 〥 Artist-in-residence at transmediale festival in collaboration with Pro Helvetia, 08-10/22 〥 Resident at Berlin platform ‘Trust’ and 0x Salon, 03-05/22 〥 Artist-in-residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude, 09-11/21〥Artist-in-residence Garage Digital 02-12/20.
Affiliations
Core faculty of the MA Information Design, Design Academy Eindhoven 〥 MA graduate Center for Research Architecture (Forensic Architecture studio) 〥 External faculty of the ‘Digital Democracies Institute’ led by Wendy Chun and Svitlana Matviyenko 〥 Faculty of ‘Future Studies Program’.
