how LAS art foundation transforms quantum computing and clubs into art

LAS Art Foundation in Berlin and beyond

LAS Art Foundation, formerly Light Art Space, is the Berlin-based organization that looks to create works of art that are born from the bleeding edge. Some of its most famous shows, born from a synergy between art and technology, have occupied Berlin’s Halle am Berghain and Kraftwerk. These club and event venues are fitting environments for the typical LAS show, where monumental use of sound, lights, and moving digital images transforms the spaces into a pulsating, immersive experience that couldn’t be contained in the traditional white cube. In conversation with designboom, LAS CEO and co-founder Bettina Kames talks about their first exhibition with artist Refik Anadol, their mission for new media, and their approach to AI and quantum computing.

a technology forward approach to art

Although LAS is often associated with the German scene, it’s fundamentally a nomadic organization. It has been able to fill infamous Berlin clubs with sprawling works by artists like Ian Cheng, Laure Prouvost, and Jakob Kudsk Steensen. Now, they’ve gone on to occupy spaces in Venice, the home of the contemporary art biennale, with exhibitions like Josèfa Ntjam’s swell of spæc(i)es and Natasha Tontey: The Phantom Combatants, alongside hosting an online residency that is supporting the works of Xin Liu & Eunjo Lee. But no matter the URL or IRL, a LAS show is easy to recognize for its forward-thinking approach to applied technologies. Reflecting on this identity, Kames looks back to its founding days in 2016, when she and co-founder Jan Fischer were asking themselves, ‘why another art foundation?’