ArtScience alum Laura A Dima wins Manifestations Young Talent Award

Manifestations is an exhibition during Dutch Design Week with projects operating at the intersection of art and technology. Manifestations asks you how far technology defines your world, thinking and acting.

The jury about the project of Laura

"An interactive installation in which two people experience each other's heartbeat, breathing, and temperature through responsive, wearable sculptures. Intimacy arises precisely through separation. An intermediary for human emotions. Yet another machine between people? The jury was a little apprehensive but was overwhelmed by Dima's work. Her sculpture feels surprisingly human: like a warm baby in your arms, something you want to cherish and care for. Meanwhile, you sense 'the other,' whether that's pleasant or unpleasant. Do we need an intermediary sculpture to still feel and experience each other? In times of far-reaching individualisation and polarisation, this is a pressing question, one that could not have been tangibly depicted in a better and more creative way. For Dima, metaforms are not metaphors but a channel for a serious story and issue. Moreover, the jury gives extra praise for the technical and visual execution."

Arts Thread global creative graduate show 2025

This month, Arts Thread also published their winners. Laura has won the Installation/sculpture category in the global creative graduate show 2025. Last year, Arts Thread had over 5000 students upload their end of year projects, making it the biggest online showcase of graduating creatives worldwide.

About the work 'The Alien Between Us'

Interactive installation in which two people experience each other's heartbeat, breathing and temperature through responsive, wearable sculptures. Intimacy here arises precisely through separation. Without words or looks, direct contact becomes palpable through the rhythms of the body.

The installation removes external features such as age, gender or ethnicity. What happens when you don't meet a 'person' but purely a presence? The work invites you to experience empathy beyond appearances and social scripts.

When boundaries are crossed, the sculptures respond with a defensive gesture. Thus, the work explores the ethics of consent, responsibility and care - both for each other and for the technology that mediates between us. Technology is like porous skin that enables new intimacy without judgement.