Arts at CERN

Heemskerk explores the norms and challenges of the languages of the internet and computer programmes.

Joan Heemskerk is a Dutch contemporary artist, who in recent years has cultivated an independent artistic practice centred around the internet, with a current focus on exploring the potentials of web4, spanning from cryptography systems to the realm of quantum non-binary computing. Her diverse body of work includes photography, video, software, games, websites, and installations.

Heemskerk is also part of the renowned artist duo JODI, which pioneered within web-based art in the mid-1990s. Leading the way in exploring the possibilities of digital art, Heemskerk and JODI challenge and subvert conventional norms of the internet by examining the visual aesthetics, interface elements, codes, errors and viruses of these systems. They provoke new perspectives on the relationship between technology and users and subvert expectations and conventions.

Both Heemskerk and JODI’s pioneering contributions to digital and media art have been widely recognized. Their work has been exhibited at institutions such as MoMA, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, ZKM Karlsruhe, ICC, Guggenheim, Centre Pompidou, Eyebeam, Rhizome and many more.

In 2023, Heemskerk was awarded the inaugural edition of Collide Copenhagen, Arts at CERN’s international residency award in collaboration with Copenhagen Contemporary (2023-2025).