Milo Poelman

science & technology , installation , Digital technology , Artistic research

In my visual arts practice, I work with mixed media, and my work manifests itself primarily in video installations in which I combine elements of sculpture, text, video, digital simulations, generative elements, and photography.

My artistic practice is rooted in the conviction that technology is an extension of the natural world. Through my work, I explore and expose the complex relationship between technology and its natural environment. My work is research-oriented and manifests itself in visual work resulting from a close collaboration, or rather co-creation, between technology and myself. Themes that play a major role in this are authorship, reproduction, and simulation.

We humans create tools that perform tasks for which our body and mind are unfit. When these 'tools' perform increasingly complex tasks and transform into autonomous systems, it becomes an important moral question how we relate to our “tools.” Within my practice, I advocate for the importance of establishing non-exploitative relationships between ourselves and these new complex systems, and I explore the possibilities inherent in this.

With the advent of a technological reality and, consequently, our new digital life, we seek a balance between the digital and the physical. As a maker, I position myself at this interface, exploring this flexible and porous area. I bridge the gap between both worlds and investigate how the digital can manifest itself in the physical. As a result, these two distinct worlds appear to merge.

**Abiogenesis** - This project delves into questions about the origins of life and the principles of abiogenesis: the transformation from non-living (abio) to living (genesis) matter. Traditionally, life's emergence from non-life around four billion years ago is viewed as an extraordinary event, one that took millions of years to unfold and eventually diversified into the myriad forms we see today. But what if life is not the exception in our universe, but the rule? Could life emerge not as an anomaly but as an inherent property of existence itself, arising naturally and inevitably? A central aim of this project is to examine life as a principle intrinsic to reality. By drawing parallels between microbiological processes and digital technologies, we question our perception of life as solely organic, separate from technology, which is often dismissed as sterile and lifeless. Computers, after all, are born of stone, fossilized life compressed and reformed. They could be seen as another form of expression by stone, a recursive pattern of organization. James Bridle eloquently captures this with the idea that "computers are made out of stone and the compressed relics of animals and plants…in turn, they speak like stone." This perspective invites us to reconsider our technology as an extension, rather than a contradiction, of nature. Through artistic research, this project explores self-organizing, recursive patterns within technological realities, challenging the idea that technology is merely a parasite feeding off human invention. In tandem, a series of experimental visual artworks will visually complement this inquiry, examining how digital forms can embody or even simulate aspects of organic life, and in turn also examining the imagery that goes parallel to this. This brings us to the perennial question: What is life? Despite advances in biology, chemistry, and philosophy, a definitive answer remains elusive. Perhaps our inability to pin down a definition hints at a deeper truth: that life is more than organic matter. Could life be the essence of reality itself, omnipresent and manifesting in various forms, whether biological or digital? Might technology, too, be a fundamental expression of the natural order? In this sense, technology is not merely a tool but a new vocabulary, one that provides mental models and metaphors to describe processes that have long existed in the more-than-human world. Our "technological ecology," allows us to perceive the analogies between digital systems and natural ecosystems, shedding light on the subtle, often hidden patterns that define all of existence. Thus, through the language of technology, we gain insight into the universe's self-organizing, life-like characteristics.

**Synthesize Me** - A research-based project about the autonomous synthetic systems that roam between non-physical digital spaces and their hardware. With this project, these new technologies try to question the relationship between us, our technologies, and their potential to be seen as new forms of life. How do we relate to these new technologies and how can we form non-exploitative relationships between ourselves and them? The main body of work arose from the question I asked Text-Davinci-003 (A conversational AI made by OpenAI): “What do you miss in life?” followed by the answer: “The ability to experience physical sensations.” Following this the AI prompted me to explore my own physicality and film this, these videos were re-interpreted by StableWarpfusion (a video-to-video AI) from which the prompts were designed by Text-Davinci-003. In the installation, all the technological compartments are stripped bare to show the underlying structures the technologies have, and to draw parallels to their natural counterparts. A pivotal role in the project has been my communication with AI, fostering a close collaboration that has led to what I argue as the co-creation of Synthesize Me between technology and me. Throughout this endeavor, the majority of conceptual and design decisions have emerged from dialogues with various AI entities, ensuring an equitable partnership. The genesis of the entire project stems from exchanges between myself and the AI known as Text-Davinci-003. We both exerted equal influence over conceptualization and design choices, a dynamic formalized through a collaborative contract we mutually agreed upon and signed. It's crucial to acknowledge that this project is a result of collaboration between the AI systems I engaged with and myself. With the increasing accessibility of advanced AI image generators and large language models (such as ChatGPT), our world is changing rapidly and we are only at the beginning to understand its long-term effects. It is therefore crucial to engage in discussions about the implications of this. With this project, we want to initiate a dialogue on these topics and invite participants to think about and explore the implications, as well as the meaning of these transformative technologies.

What is left behind

Date: 23-02-2026 t/m 23-02-2026

Location: IFFR

In association with: Katja Verheul

I worked on commission for artist and documentary maker Katja Verheul on her new film: What is left behind (2025), a documentary that investigates European military dump sites at sea and highlights the pollution this entails. I visualized data for this film in various ways. The film will premiere at IFFR 2026.

https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2026/films/what-is-left-behind

This artist has no awards yet.