At the upcoming Ars Electronica Festival 2026 (September 9–13, Linz), the P.A.I.N. (Personal And Interconnected with Nature) project will be exhibited at the JKU MED Campus. The project was developed under the lead of independent artist and researcher Mary Maggic—who completed a six-month residency at our institute through September 2026—in collaboration with our research team and the LBG Open Innovation in Science Center (LBG OIS Center).

Systemic Perspectives on Biological and Planetary Distress

P.A.I.N. investigates the relationship between human biological health and environmental degradation. Rather than framing pain solely as an isolated clinical symptom, the project models pain as a complex, interconnected reality encompassing physical, environmental, emotional, sociopolitical, and intergenerational factors.

Within this transdisciplinary framework, art is not understood as a tool for illustrating scientific knowledge. Rather, it becomes a way of generating new knowledge—revealing assumptions, raising new questions, and enabling experiences that often remain inaccessible within scientific or technological paradigms alone. By bringing together network medicine, artificial intelligence, and artistic practice, the project creates new perspectives on healthcare challenges and explores how the future of healthcare can be shaped collaboratively.

At the core of the exhibition is the Personal-Planetary-Pain (PPP) Map, an interactive 3D platform. Emerging from an Open Innovation in Science-based co-creation process, researchers from our institute contributed data harmonization and multiplex network modeling expertise to integrate heterogeneous datasets—including public health records, climate indicators, poverty indices, and social media sentiment—alongside individual health narratives contributed by platform users.

In addition to the interactive installation, Mary Maggic and Dominika Kolenda will conduct the participatory workshop “Pain: Interconnected with Nature”, examining the neurobiological and systemic impacts of environmental distress (solastalgia).

Advancing Transdisciplinary Research

Our Director, Jörg Menche, and LBG OIS Center Head Georg Russegger emphasize the mutual value of combining artistic inquiry with network medicine. Both institutions support the continued development of this initiative as a foundation for lasting transdisciplinary research methods.

Exhibition Details:

•   Event: Ars Electronica Festival 2026
•   Venue: JKU MED Campus, Laboratory Building (LAB), Level 1, Linz
•   Dates: September 9–13, 2026
•   Exhibition Hours: Wednesday – Saturday: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Sunday: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Institutional Framework:

•   Initiator & Coordinator: LBG Open Innovation in Science Center (LBG OIS Center) |Head of Initiative: Georg Russegger
•   Scientific Partner: Linz Institute for Transformative Change (LIFT_C) at Johannes Kepler University Linz
•   Artistic Partner: Ars Electronica
•   Dedicated Scientific Partner: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Network Medicine (LBI-NetMed)

Project Team:

•    Project Lead & Artistic Collaborator: Mary Maggic (Artist & Researcher, 6-Month Artist in Residence at LBI-NetMed)
  
•   Our Research Team (LBI NetMed):
  o   Ines Gerard-Ursin (PhD Researcher) – Lead on Data Harmonization
  o   Iker Núñez-Carpintero (Post-Doc Researcher) – Multiplex Systems Expert
  o   Martin Chiettini & Sebastian Pirch – Data Visualization
•    LBG Open Innovation in Science Center (LBG OIS Center): Mathieu Mahve-Beydokhti (OIS Expert) – Lead Facilitator
•    Technical Team:
  o   Michael Artner (Masters Graduate, JKU Linz) – Technical Lead & Back-End Developer
  o   Isra Viadest (Independent Artist) – Front-End Developer
  o   Christian Stelmach (Masters Candidate, University of Vienna) – AI Model Lead
•   Art & Design Team:
  o   Dora Siafla (PhD Student, University of Washington)
  o   Hollis Hui (Independent Artist; Central Saint Martins)
  o   Dominika Kolenda (MA Candidate in Philosophy, Biology, and Ethnology)

Mandatory Funding Acknowledgement

This project was jointly developed with the LBI-NetMed and is part of the “Impact Initiative: Transforming Medicine Through AI and Arts”, an initiative conceived and led by the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft – Open Innovation in Science Center, in collaboration with the Linz Institute for Transformative Change (LIFT_C) at Johannes Kepler University Linz and Ars Electronica. The Impact Initiative is funded by the Fonds Zukunft Österreich (FZÖ).

Links

•   Ars Electronica:  Ars Electronica P.A.I.N. Project
•   Project Platform:  p-a-i-n.world
•   Artist Website:  Mary Maggic