. The conference will take place from 7–9 November 2025 at Heriot-Watt University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.ArtsIT is a hybrid conference that brings together a multidisciplinary community of researchers, artists, designers, and technologists. Since its inception in 2009, the conference has served as a platform for the dissemination and discussion of innovative work at the intersection of arts, interactive technologies, digital media, and societal transformation. It aims to explore the impact of digital technologies on contemporary culture and human experience, and to foster critical reflection through artistic practice.
In addition to his role as Panels Chair, Michel will contribute to ArtsIT 2025 in two further capacities: he will organise a thematic panel and deliver one of the keynote lectures. More information about his roles is available on the conference website via the keynotes, panel discussion, and organising committee pages.
The panel initiated by Michel van Dartel addresses the concept of situatedness, a notion that originated in feminist theory and has since been broadly adopted within information technology research. From Lucy Suchman’s situated action in interface design to William Clancey’s work on situated cognition, the idea that human knowledge and action are fundamentally context-dependent is widely recognised in computing. Yet, apart from notable exceptions in media art, such as the work of Simon Penny, the implications of situatedness for artistic production and presentation—particularly in the context of interactive technologies—remain relatively underexplored.
This panel invites participants to reflect on the tradition of situated approaches in information technology and to discuss their relevance for the ArtsIT community. It also aims to question the continued dominance of studio-based practices and white cube exhibitions, proposing instead more embedded, context-aware forms of artistic engagement.
Michel invites those who plan to attend ArtsIT 2025—or are considering doing so—and who see a possible contribution for themselves within the panel to get in touch. You can reach out to him by email at mf.vandartel@avans.nl
‘People are the product of their relationships with their environment. It’s important to understand how technological developments influence these relationships.’
Michel van Dartel is Research Professor Situated Art, Design and Technology at the Avans Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology (CARADT) and was affiliated with V2_Lab for the Unstable Media between 2005-2024. He holds an MSc in cognitive psychology and a PhD in artificial intelligence.
Living in cities developed around data and acting within the inscrutable structure of our techno-society demands art and design that can help understand how we relate to these rapidly changing surroundings and to reflect on that relationship. The research group Situated Art, Design and Technology responds to this exigency by fostering a situated turn in art and design through a diverse portfolio of interdisciplinary research projects in partnership with academic and cultural partners, as well as with government and industry.
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