Students from Design Art Technology at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem Students create an artwork that explores semiconductor/microchip technology and innovations that offspring from this legacy, through a combination of historical, contemporary and future developments in the tech industry in the Nijmegen region. While working on their projects, the students will use this platform and the knowledge base at LI-MA to deepen their understanding of working on media art projects that relate to both contemporary development in the Dutch tech industry, as well as on learning about media art relating to their research.
Their approach can range from a technical perspective, a geo-political interest, rare earth materials, aesthetic qualities of microchip production, a socio-cultural lens to anything else relating to semiconductor and media art.
Context
Field Research is the first exploration for students into the professional world of commissioned projects during the DAT course in the third study year. Over the past six years our department has produced more than 30 projects (2024 edition RADAR) that relate to computer chip history, manufacturing and research in collaboration with the LINK Foundation and NXP Semiconductors. The LINK foundation has a large quantity of (unique) objects, audio visual material, hardware, in-house knowledge about computer chips, and broad connections in the current computerchip industries in the Nijmegen/Arnhem region.
Organisations within the LINK network do groundbreaking research, innovation and create products in within the world of semiconductor technology: from healthcare appliances, innovations in production methods to artificial intelligence (and many more) through the use, design, and application of microchip developments. This year it is great to expand this output with new companies and organisations in the Nijmegen area.
Stichting LINK: https://www.stichtinglink.nl/
2024 Field Research: RADAR https://stichtinglink.nl/nxp-artez-2024
NXP Semiconductors: https://www.nxp.com/
Radboud University – The Launch: https://thelaunch.nl/startups/
LINK Archive
Therefor, the LINK archive will function as the starting point for the research by students. We will use this first experience at the LINK collection to understand the (historical) fundamentals of computer chip design and development that goes back as early as 1953. The Philips Semiconductor department was the second company in the world, and therefor the first in Europe, to start with the production and development of semiconductor technology.
Lifeport Semicon 2026
The students have had the unique opportunity to visit the Innovation Square that is part of the Lifeport Semicon Event 2026, hosted at the Goffert football stadium in Nijmegen. On this day, art projects from previous years in field research, historical objects from the archive, imagery from the photo collection and current innovative products from companies in the region were presented. Besides this exhibition, the Nijmegen municipality brought together the cultural and semiconductor field in Nijmegen to meet each other and explore the role of culture within the geopolitical importance of semiconductor technology in the contemporary world.
https://stichtinglink.nl/lifeport-semicon26-innovation-square
LIMA & Living Media Art
During the later stage of development and research, we will visit the LIMA Institute in Amsterdam for a workshop. LIMA specialises in media art through distribution, research and conservation of media art from the 1960’s to today. During this visit we will follow a workshop about media art and get a behind the scenes experience at the LIMA office, where we can ask questions and collect material to enrich our research.
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