im Rahmen der Leonardo LASER Talks Linz 2026
Leonardo LASER is an international program that brings together artists, scientists, academics, and the public to share their work and inspire one another through presentations, performances, and discussions.
Our recurring LASER series Lab Songs explores evolving cultures of experimentation. Scientific and artistic breakthroughs arise not only from discoveries, but from transformations in practices, methodologies, and systems of care. As a result, laboratories are increasingly reimagined as spaces where aesthetic, technological, ecological, and theoretical forms of knowledge come into proximity.
For this year's Sobremesas, we gather around the dining table as a site of encounter. Much like the laboratory, it is a place where experiences are shared, differences remain present, and knowledge is collectively digested. Join us in celebrating the conversations, relationships, and acts of care through which new understandings emerge and unexpected encounters unfold.
Panel: Rare Earths
Theresa Kofler — Attac Rohstoff - Raw Material Justice
Ivan Sukovic — Terram Intelligere: INTERSTITIUM
Victoria Vesna — [Alien] Star Dust Meditation
Theresa Kofler coordinates the Austrian Trade Justice Plattform "Anders Handeln" and is trade expert with Attac Austria. She studied Political Science, Political Economy and Development Studies and has been campaigning for a global just transition, trade and raw material justice for 7 years.
Ivan Šuković (b. 1981, Podgorica, Montenegro) is a visual artist whose interdisciplinary practice spans multimedia art, archival research, and site-specific installations. Working in collaboration with scientific institutes, he develops projects that function as interdisciplinary platforms, bridging artistic inquiry and scientific methodology. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arts in Belgrade (Department of Multimedia Art, 2019), an M.A. in Digital Art and New Media, and a B.A. in Literature from the University of Montenegro. Šuković represented Montenegro at the 59th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale (2022) and the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2025). His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Europe and the Western Balkans. He has participated in international residencies and professional programs in Spain, Germany, Norway, and Italy. His practice has been recognized with multiple awards, and his works are held in public museum collections and private collections.
Victoria Vesna, Ph.D., is an Artist and Professor at the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts and Director of the Art|Sci Center. Although she was trained early on as a painter (Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Belgrade, 1984), her curious mind took her on an exploratory path that resulted in work that can be defined as experimental creative research residing between disciplines and technologies. With her installations, she investigates how communication technologies affect collective behavior and perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation (PhD, CAiiA-STAR, University of Wales, 2000). Her work involves long-term collaborations with composers, nano-scientists, neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, and she brings this experience to students. Victoria exhibits her work in numerous international exhibitions, has been published in 20+ papers, and gave 100+ invited talks in the last decade. She is the North American editor of the AI & Society journal (Springer Verlag, UK) and in 2007 published an edited volume – Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow (Minnesota Press) and another in 2011 — Context Providers: Conditions of Meaning in Media Arts. (co-edited with Christiane Paul and Margot Lovejoy) Intellect Ltd, 2011. Currently, she is working on Vibrations Matter: the art & science of Deep Listening (Routledge, 2026).
