January 23–March 8, 2026
Berlin 10243
Germany
LAS Art Foundation presents a new commission by artist Pierre Huyghe at Halle am Berghain, which delves into uncertainty using quantum experiments. This new body of work marks Huyghe’s first solo presentation with a Berlin institution. It is commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and Hartwig Art Foundation.
The large-scale environment encompasses film, sound, vibration, dust, and light. Presented as a myth, the film at its core follows a faceless and hollow human form. Pierre Huyghe describes the form as “a hybrid creature, an infinite membrane carved by void.” adding that “An observer witnessing the ambiguous nature of the entity, its monstrosity, follows states of indeterminacy — of the uncertainty of being, living or existing. The film portrays an inexistent being, a soulscape, a radical outside, striving to combine empathy with the impossible.” The artist describes this fictional world as a “vehicle for accessing what could be or could not be — to relate with chaos; and turns states of uncertainty into a cosmos.”
For Huyghe, unstable perception reveals a liminal space where states are superimposed. It is analogous to how a quantum system can exist in multiple states before it is measured, when infinite possibilities collapse into a single version of reality. To explore these ideas, LAS and Hartwig Art Foundation have brought together Huyghe and scientist Tommaso Calarco. Their conversations have resulted in Huyghe’s use of the logic and outputs of quantum systems as raw material. This raw material informs the final work through experiments with sound as well as moving and still images. These innovative approaches to production embody states of uncertainty, transforming quantum properties into sensitive experiences.
The commission extends Huyghe’s inquiry into the search for meaning outside of human comprehension, as could be informed by the logic of quantum computation and AI. At a moment when quantum and AI technologies are beginning to converge, this project not only stages their philosophical and perceptual implications, but also asks what worlds might be conceived of — impossible, unstable, or yet to come.
Pierre Huyghe’s new work is commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and Hartwig Art Foundation. It marks the second large-scale installation presented as part of LAS Art Foundation’s Sensing Quantum programme, which won the S+T+ARTS Prize from the European Commission following the launch of Laure Prouvost: WE FELT A STAR DYING in Spring 2025.
Bettina Kames, CEO and Co-Founder of LAS Art Foundation, says, “We are honoured to work with a leading artist of our time, Pierre Huyghe, on a new commission for LAS, which deepens our inquiry into quantum technologies. Quantum physics’ foundational principles resonate with Huyghe’s interest in states of flux and unstable meaning. His work has long explored indeterminacy — particularly the emergence of unpredictable events within living and simulated systems — which he is able to explore in yet more profundity. The way he crafts scenarios that evolve beyond human control or authorship opens up myriad questions about what lies beyond human perception itself.”
Tommaso Calarco, Director of the Institute for Quantum Control at Forschungszentrum Jülich, says, “I find quantum technology broadly profound because it directly arises from phenomena that defy our intuition, even from a philosophical point of view, and precisely for this reason offer possibilities otherwise unattainable. This foundational connection is what makes it meaningful to embed quantum technology in the context of art — it grounds us in what is really fundamental as humans, since almost all people until today have lived without any form of quantum technologies, but no human being could ever live without some form of art.”
Beatrix Ruf, Director of Hartwig Art Foundation, says, “We are thrilled and grateful to be involved in this new chapter in Pierre Huyghe’s work with LAS Art Foundation. LAS’s pioneering work in bringing together artists and new technologies is exemplary, and it is equally fundamental to the work of Hartwig Art Foundation. In the run-up to the opening of a new museum of contemporary art in Amsterdam, we have been working for years with local and international institutions to establish networks and toolboxes for artists to enable collaboration with other fields of knowledge, with the aim of fostering new models of working for artistic production. This inspiring collaboration is now opening up exciting avenues into the forward-looking world of quantum.”
For press enquiries, please contact:
Selin Sahin, Senior Communications Manager, selin.sahin@las-art.foundation
Sophie Furse, Head of External Relations and Communications, sophie.furse@las-art.foundation
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