Amir Bastan

Amir Bastan is an artist and researcher with a background in fine arts, philosophy, and interaction design. His work explores human consciousness, artificial intelligence, and robotics within media arts and interactivity frameworks.
Currently a doctoral researcher at Creative Robotics and lecturer at Kunstuni Linz, Amir’s research focuses on “The Human Robot Transference,” which examines connections between psychoanalysis theories and human-robot interaction.
Through his academic and artistic practice, Amir has developed expertise in real-time robotic control and simulation as part of The Bunraku Project, a software which enables real-time control, visualization, and simulation of industrial robots.

His interests are analysing human-robot interactions and understanding how contextual properties affect human behaviour. Amir’s research focuses on creating a dynamic framework that can observe and categorize actions within an interactivity framework, interpreting the factors driving behavioural changes in advanced interactive systems.

Talks

2025
Parallel Interaction Series | Analysis of context in Interaction Design | VCUarts Qatar - Innovative Media Studios | Online
2024
Kinematic Dreams Series | Artist Talk - Parallel Interaction and Human Robot Interaction | Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology | Linz, AT
2024
Kinematic Dreams Series | Artist Talk - Robotics in Art | Waag Futurelab | Amsterdam, NL
2024
Kinematic Dreams Series | Guest Lecture - Human Robot Interaction | Interface Cultures Master Program | Linz, At | www.kunstuni-linz.at
2024
Kinematic Dreams Series | Guest Lecture - Interactivity and AI within the New Media Arts | Art & Science - dieAngewandte | Vienna, AT
2023
An Astrolabe for Computational Arts | FestivalX Workhops | Alserkal | Dubai, UAE | festivalx.ae
2023
GAZE: About Looking and Being Looked At | Founding Lab - IDSA X Ars Electronica | Linz University of Arts | Linz, AT
2023
The Bunraku Project | Real time robot control with vvvv | vvvv worldwide meetup | Online | youtu.be
2023
The University Portal - Fast Forward to the Future and Back | Panellist at FestivalX | Alserkal | Dubai, UAE | festivalx.ae
2022
Cloud Gazing and Offensive Sceneries | The Unknown Series | Theatre Rotterdam | Rotterdam, NL
2022
Creative Robotics and Artistic Research | H22 City Expo | Helsingborg, SE
2022
Designing Real-Time interaction for Boston Dynamics' Robot; "Spot" | Robopsychology Department | Johannes Kepler University | Linz, AT
2022
Fantastic Robots and Where to Find Them | Festival University Program | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2022
Human, Robot and AI in artistic practice | Festival X - Talks | Alserkal Avenue | Dubai, AE
2022
Making of Split Subject | Hope Conference | Online, DE
2022
Robot Small (a) | HFF Munich | Munich, DE
2021
Thing Your Paretns Did Not Tell You About Robots | Festival University Program | ARS Electronica Festival - JKU | Linz, AT

Publications

2025
Envisioning Individualized Fashion Remanufacturing: Empowering Non-Experts through Visualization-Enhanced Human-Multi-Robot Interaction | dl.acm.org
2025
disarming II | dl.acm.org
2023
Intra-Acting Body and Textile Expressions Becoming with Digital Movement Translation: Exploring relational expressions of the body and textiles using a human-robot-textile installation | dl.acm.org
2022
Towards AR for Large-Scale Robotics | ieeexplore.ieee.org
2021
Microbiospheric engineering | dl.acm.org

Exhibitions

2024
Vanishing Mediator | AI+Exhibition | S-Place, Kuntsuni Linz | Linz, AT
2024
ZOE (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | Radical Matter | AIL - Applied Interdisciplinary Lab | Vienna, AT | ail.angewandte.at
2023
Fashion and Robotics (with Johannes Braumann, Christiane Luible-Bär, Emanuel Golob) | KUKA Innovation Award | Munich Messe | Munich, DE
2023
Vanishing Mediator | Festival X | Alserkal Venue | Dubai, UEA | festivalx.ae
2023
ZOE (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | Who Owns The Truth | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT | ars.electronica.art
2022
Rewasted | Welcome To Planet B | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2022
The Candle | Show Me Three, Give Me Five | Atelierhaus Salzamt | Linz, AT
2022
ZIEN (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | Ministry of Finance | The Hague, NL
2022
ZOE (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | The Unknown Series | Theater Rottedam | Rotterdam, NL
2021
Fascination Robotics | A New Digital Deal | RS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2020
RoboDrum, (with Johannes Braumann, ABELTON) | In Kepler's Gardens | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2019
As promised | Best before: 17.01.19 | SPlace | Linz, AT
2019
As promised | Transcode | Interface Culture Exhibition | Linz, AT
2019
Pinocchio, (with Johannes Braumann, Katharina Halus, FutureLab) | Understanding AI | Ars Electronica Center | Linz, AT
2019
The Shell | Out of the Box | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2019
Underbody, (with Johannes Braumann, silke grabinger and Futurelab) | Ars Electronica Concert Night | ARS Electronica Festival | Linz, AT
2016
Bridged Particles | TADAEX Festival | Mohsen Gallery | Tehran, IR
2015
Circular Piece (Setup) | "Informed Body", NODE Forum for Digital Arts | Mousonturm | Frankfurt, DE
2015
Circular Piece (Squar) | "Informed Body", NODE Forum for Digital Arts | Mousonturm | Frankfurt, DE
2015
Little Hermann’s phobic dreaming | TADAEX Festival | Mohsen Gallery | Tegran, IR
2014
It's Normal | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | Berlin, DE
2014
I’m so Glad to Tell You | NODE-TADAEX Exchange Program | Mohsen Gallery | Tehran, IR
2014
PARISHANI | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | Art Cinema Offoff | Gent, BE
2014
Part of Me | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | Paris, FR
2014
Second Part of me | LIMITED ACCESS FOUR | Aaran Gallery | Tehran, IR
2014
THE INVISIBLE PRESENT | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | San Francisco, USA
2014
THE INVISIBLE PRESENT: video section of IRANIAN PULSE | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | Berlin, DE
2014
VIDEO THERAPY: SESSION AND RECOVERY | Curated by Amirali Ghasemi | New York, USA
2014
WORN OUT MIRRORS | Solo Exhibition | ParkingGallery | Tehran, IR
2014
he wandering Islands | LIMITED ACCESS FOUR | Aaran Gallery | Tehran, IR
2013
Live video operator for the theatre Play "Le retour De Fils Prodigue" | By Ali Razi | Tehran, IR
2013
Live video operator for the theatre Play "Pink Footprints" | By Arvand Dashtaray | Tehran, IR
2013
Live video operator for the theatre Play "The Gardener of Death" | By Arvand Dashtaray | Tehran, IR
2013
Videographer for theatre “Sweat of sun, Tears Of The Moon” | By Attila Pessyani | Tehran, IR

Awards

2025
(Best Video Award) ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction | As part of the Team Fashion & Robotics - University of Arts Linz | Melbourne, AUS | dl.acm.org
2024
(Honorary Mention) Prix Ars Electronica | ZOE (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | Linz, AT | calls.ars.electronica.art
2024
(Second Place) The European Rising Innovative City | Represented Creative Robotics as one of six key contributors in the city of Linz, in collaboration with Innovation Hauptplatz | Lisbon, ES | eic.ec.europa.eu
2024
(Silver) Sustainability Award | As part of the Team Fashion & Robotics - University of Arts Linz | Vienna, AT | www.umweltbildung.at
2023
(Finalist) KUKA Innovation Award | As part of the Team Fashion & Robotics - University of Arts Linz | Munich, DE | www.kuka.com
2023
Media Architecture Bienale Award | ZOE (with Noor Stenfert Kroese) | Toronto, CA | awards.mediaarchitecture.org