Nick Tandavanitj is a UK-based artist and member of Blast Theory, the pioneering collective known for placing the public at the centre of immersive, participatory experiences that are at once intimate and unsettling. Their work invites audiences to step into unfamiliar situations, opening up new perspectives on technology, trust and social connection.

Blast Theory make interactive art to explore social and political questions. The group’s work places the public at the centre of unusual and sometimes unsettling experiences, to create new perspectives and open up the possibility of change. Led by Matt Adams and Nick Tandavanitj, the group draws on popular culture and new technologies to make performances, games, films, apps and installations. As a group, Blast Theory have been nominated for four BAFTAs and won the Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica and the Nam June Paik Art Center Award.

Alongside his artistic practice, Tandavanitj was an AHRC Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring how AI might facilitate local forms of social participation and deeper connections to place.

During Transformation Digital Art 2026, he will revisit Blast Theory’s landmark project Rider Spoke, now reimagined as Rider Spoke: Here. This exclusive edition, available to symposium participants through LI-MA, draws on an archive of over 22,000 recordings from the original project, inviting audiences to encounter intimate personal stories from cities worldwide. Rather than opting for a global app store release, the artists have deliberately chosen a local, situated launch, exploring how the work operates when it unfolds within a specific community and context.

Guided by gentle prompts, the app transforms the familiar streets of your neighbourhood into a space for reflection, layering distant voices onto everyday surroundings. How might AI foster intimacy between strangers? Can it help us see our own neighbourhoods through the stories of others?

What’s sparking your curiosity in media art right now, and what journey might your talk take us on?

At the moment, I feel a tension between the life I live online and through media, and how I am present in the everyday world outside. AI is transforming how media are produced and what these media represent. This transformation offers new possibilities for media art, but for me it feels like the pull is increasingly towards the digital. I am curious about how AI systems might provide infrastructure that helps renew our relationship with the physical world and the people around us. My talk will explore my experiences of trying to use AI in this way.

Why are trust-based infrastructures essential right now, particularly in a field shaped by technological precarity and platform dependency?

Our projects often invite the public to put something of themselves into the work. In Rider Spoke, the trust the public shows by volunteering personal stories is what makes the work special. Since the project began in 2007, we’ve had to digest transformative changes in the technology that supports the audience experience. Meanwhile, audiences’ expectations of digital spaces and participation have evolved. What’s helped us navigate this changing landscape has been a focus on creating a space that facilitates vulnerability and openness. For us, it is this quality which is essential to the recordings and at the heart of the work.

From your perspective, what role does LI-MA play in the long-term preservation of digital art in the Netherlands and internationally – and why do you think this kind of infrastructure matters at this moment?

In maintaining and reproducing Rider Spoke – and as custodians of a digital archive of over 22,000 recordings – we are faced with lots of challenges: from learning new technical skills, to questions about best practice and ethics. LI-MA and the symposium contribute to our ongoing activity of making and preservation, and are a valuable opportunity to share concerns and knowledge.

Without giving too much away, what’s one question or idea you hope continues to resonate after your talk?

I think there’s a lot that’s hidden in the everyday world outside, and there’s potential for media art to help reveal these.

Header: Nick Tandavanitj.