research associate larspinkwart.bsky.social lars.pinkwart@zhdk.ch

Lars Pinkwart

Lars Pinkwart is a research associate at the Bridge Professorship. He is pursuing a PhD at the University of Zurich and is part of the 2026 cohort of the DSI Excellence Program. He holds an interdisciplinary MA in Design and Computation from TU Berlin and the Berlin University of the Arts. Previously, he studied media studies and visual culture in Potsdam and London.

His research project examines the aesthetics and epistemology of generative AI, with a particular focus on so-called «world models» and the increasing convergence of generative AI, 3D simulation, and technical images. His broader research interests include contemporary digital cultures, the political economy of AI, and the history of computation.

Papers and Essays

Resilient Models. Training on Volatility, Umbau, Vol. 3, October 2024.Link

Talks and Presentations

Content Maxxing. Generative AI and the Optimization of Culture – From Hype to Reality: AI in the Study of Art and Culture, University of Zurich, 26. November 2025.
What Even is Design(ed) in Generative World Models? Extending The Interactive Paradigm of Computation – New Experimental Research in Design #7, TU Berlin, 7. November 2025.
The Adaptive Totalities of Generative AI Models, Ethics and Aesthetics of Artificial Images (EA-AI), Conference, Iuav University of Venice, May 2025.
Open-ended Encounters: Synthetischen Umwelten, Intelligente Agenten?, Künstliche Intelligenzen und ihre Umwelten, Workshop, Bauhaus Universität Weimar, January 2025.
From The Postwar Period To The World Picture of AI?, Artificial Intelligence, Social Machines, and the Future of Democratic Societies, Summer School, University of Bonn, September 2024.

Other Activities

React & Respond. Image Cultures under Platform Capitalism – Co-Organisation together with Roland Meyer, Zurich University of the Arts & University of Zurich in cooperation with Kino Xenix and Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2–4. October 2025.
Podcast Episode: Wissenschaft, Technologie und Design – wie passt das zusammen?, Form & Funktion, Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, Summer 2024.
Event Series: Loops — Co-Curation (2023-24) with guests Matteo Pasquinelli, Orit Halpern, Milagros Miceli, John-Dylan Haynes, Vladan Joler, AA Cavia and others, prize winner of the Projekt Zukunft Berlin.