Drone Performances. Aesthetics, Mediation, Politics

Drones are reshaping visual culture, human-machine interaction, and aesthetic expression. From cinematic landscapes to military surveillance, from art installations to everyday leisure, drones are increasingly mediating how we sense, see, and relate to the world.

This international and interdisciplinary conference aims to bring together scholars and artists to explore how drones perform, intervene, and matter in cultural and social contexts. Hosted by the Department of Media & Communications and the Digital Age Research Center (D!ARC) at the University of Klagenfurt, the conference is part of the arts-based research project “Performing Drones.”

We welcome contributions that address drones from perspectives such as media studies, STS, anthropology, cultural studies, and sociology, particularly focusing on everyday and artistic uses of drones. We are especially interested in work that examines the entanglements of aesthetics, mediation, agency, and politics—as drone imaginaries travel across contexts.