PLUG & PLAY!

Humans, replicants, and all sentient (or semi-sentient) beings, gather round! Arse Elektronika, the longest-running event at the intersection of sex and technology, is back! For our 2025 edition in Vienna, we invite you to bring your sharpest thoughts, wildest performances, most provocative art pieces, and--of course--your sleaziest machines.

Technology and sexuality have always been intimately linked--just ask the folks who doodled genitalia on cave walls thousands of years ago, dreaming of the future of teledildonics. While it’s impossible to predict what’s next, one thing is certain: sex will continue to drive technological innovation, and technology will continue to reshape what we think of as human sexuality. After all, we’re not just sexual beings--we're also tool-using beings, and who says those two categories can’t overlap in some really fun, weird, and revolutionary ways?

Despite the ongoing techno-panic that technology isolates us and ruins our ability to really connect, Arse Elektronika is here to remind you that tech can be a force for liberation. Technology can (and should!) challenge the oppressive, male-dominated power structures baked into mainstream pornography and beyond, giving new opportunities for self-expression and the fulfillment of underrepresented desires. So, this is your chance to explore how technology can reshape sexuality, challenge social norms, and maybe even enhance some ahem evolutionary shortcomings.

From a critical perspective, we encourage proposals that dig deep into how technology, artificial intelligence, and artificial intimacy might help us rethink the old models of sexual connection. How might sextech be a tool of resistance? How can it become a playground for underrepresented desires? What are the consequences when tech and sex collide, creating something more than the sum of their parts?

We’re looking for contributions that provoke, challenge, and entertain. Whether you’re unpacking the politics of algorithmic pleasure, building the latest in erotic robots, or crafting a performance piece that leaves us questioning the very nature of desire, we want you. And while evolutionary biology might say that sexuality is irrational or impractical (have you seen peacocks?), Arse Elektronika is here to explore the full range of possibilities that sextech offers, from the intellectual to the downright sensual.

In keeping with tradition, we are accepting proposals for talks, workshops, performances, artworks, installations, films and tech demos. Want to tell us how sexbots will dismantle the patriarchy? Great! Have a performance that involves cybernetic pleasure loops? Fantastic! Got a new machine that rethinks what “self-expression” really means? Even better! Submissions should reflect a critical engagement with how sexuality and technology intersect, and how both can potentially free us from the limiting social barriers imposed on human intimacy. Or, at the very least, create some really interesting awkwardness at family dinners.

Please submit a 200-word abstract outlining your proposed talk, workshop, art, performance, installation, or machine demo. If you’re submitting a performance, artwork or installation, include pictures and your technical needs and a short bio (we need to know what makes you tick). Tech demos should be accompanied by descriptions, photos, or videos (we love a good demo).

Submissions are due by December 15, 2024, and selected participants will be notified by January 10, 2025. Send your brilliant ideas to arse2025@monochrom.at.

Join us March 6-9, 2025 at Semperdepot (EG Nord, Prospekthof & Mehrzwecksaal), Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, as we collectively rewire the future of sexuality and technology. We promise, it’ll be a stimulating experience.