Refik Anadol Studio Presents DATALAND THE MUSEUM OF AI ARTS,
Where human imagination meets the creative potential of machines
On June 20th, DATALAND, THE MUSEUM OF AI ARTS will open in Los Angeles, USA – the first museum in the world entirely dedicated to AI art, created by Refik Anadol Studio. I had the privilege of being invited to the press preview, and I’m following the opening remotely.
The numbers are impressive – five galleries, 1.5 billion pixels, an LED Infinity Room – but the first thing I chose to look at is something else: energy.
When we talk about AI, our minds go straight to consumption. That’s why one detail struck me: the Large Nature Model that generates the artworks runs on infrastructure powered 87% by renewable energy, and uses roughly one smartphone charge to re-iterate the work for each visitor. An attention to sustainability that, on a project of this scale, is far from obvious.
The real challenge of AI art this ambitious, I believe, will be holding together spectacle and substance, technology and meaning. And that’s exactly what I want to explore.
I’ll explore this more deeply in a future article, once I’ve visited the museum in person, or when I manage to interview Refik Anadol.
For now, I’m sharing the official materials from the opening.
DATALAND, THE MUSEUM OF AI ARTS
Anticipation is high, and the collaborations that have made this museum possible are top-notch: NVIDIA, Google Cloud, founding olfactory partner L’Oréal Luxe, Epson, L-Acoustics, Empatica, LG Electronics, Gensler, Arup, Scalable, Valerie Confections, and Constellation Immersive, an affiliate of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), DATALAND establishes itself as the world’s first omnisensory museum.
Designed as a living museum that connects art, architecture, and the public in a building that dreams and remembers.
(Los Angeles, CA, May 12, 2026) Co-founders Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkılıç reveal further details of DATALAND, the Museum of AI Arts, opening to the public on June 20, 2026. Representing a paradigm shift in the museum-going experience, Anadol and Erkılıç unveil Data.Link, an intelligent system connecting art, architecture, and audience through advanced AI systems, real-time data assimilation, integrated technologies, and wearable devices.“For 5000 years humans have been emotionally moved by artworks, but the relationship has always flowed in one direction,” stated Anadol. “While developing DATALAND we asked ourselves, ‘Is it possible for artworks to feel us back?’ We dreamed of a place where audience and artwork could merge, creating a feedback loop of collective emotion. Through collaborations with extraordinary innovators, and technologies woven directly into the architecture itself, that dream has now become reality.”
“Collaborating across disciplines has always shaped how we think and create; it is inseparable from our way of being,” said Erkılıç. “Our own practice emerges from the convergence of art, science, and technology – a collaboration of complex intelligences to develop a collective memory based on shared knowledge. At DATALAND, we honor that complexity by highlighting the many minds, processes, and intelligences that have been animating our vision.
The Building as Medium Designed in collaboration with award-winning architecture and design firm Gensler and engineered by global built environment consultancy Arup, with strategic support from Constellation Immersive, DATALAND was conceived as a new model for cultural institutions in the twenty-first century. Aspiring to set the standard for how AI Arts is presented, curated, and experienced, the museum integrates advanced technologies seamlessly into the building’s walls, ceilings, and floors, allowing infrastructure to disappear into the architecture, while transforming the building itself into an active participant in the experience.
Made possible by NVIDIA, DATALAND developed Connectome, a centralized high-performance computing system that serves as the neural center of the museum, giving every installation the capacity to process and respond in real time. Connectome orchestrates immense streams of information across every gallery, allowing each artwork to dream in direct dialogue with its environment. For DATALAND’s inaugural exhibition Machine Dreams: Rainforest, the system seamlessly integrates live ecological data from rainforests around the world, the Large Nature Model AI system, and biosensing input from visitors’ wearable devices, forming the computational foundation behind the experiences.
Created by Refik Anadol Studio, the Large Nature Model (LNM) is the world’s first open-access AI multi-modal based solely on nature data. To sustain the future of AI Arts, the LNM is hosted entirely on Google Cloud infrastructure in a low-CO2 compute zone in Oregon, operating on 87 percent carbon-free renewable energy. The LNM uses roughly one smartphone charge to re-iterate the artwork for every visitor, reflecting DATALAND’s commitment to building intelligent systems that expand the possibilities of art while minimizing their environmental footprint.
Touch that Responds
DATALAND’s partnership with Empatica – a global leader in digital health and wearable technology – allows visitors to connect directly to the building and the artwork. Empatica’s EmbracePlus, an FDA-cleared wearable biosensing device, incorporates the collective visitors’ emotional reactions through real-time measurements of heart rates, skin temperatures, and skin conductivity. To achieve this, Empatica created a custom version of its medical technology for consumer use, exclusively for DATALAND with software and algorithms that have been adapted to enable data streaming in real time. Data.Link translates these anonymized physiological signals captured by EmbracePlus, together with live environmental data, into a language the Large Nature Model can interpret as emotion. The LNM responds in kind by reshaping what visitors experience; a machine dream that is not pre-programmed, but a living dialogue between art and audience.
DATALAND is committed to responsible data collection.
Visitors may opt out at any time before, during, or after their experience. Captured data remains anonymous unless voluntarily claimed through a My.Dataland account. Visitors may delete their data at any time. No data is ever shared with third parties, and all unclaimed data is automatically erased after 30 days.
Touch that Creates
Three LG Electronics transparent touch screen displays in the Latent Gallery invite visitors to create their own art in real-time by tapping into the deep knowledge of the Large Nature Model. In concert with DATALAND’s mission to demystify AI Arts, visitors can explore the vast datasets collected for the LNM – over 500 million images responsibly sourced through data partners including the Smithsonian, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Getty, iNaturalist, and London’s Natural History Museum. Visitors can also utilize the AI system to paint with what Anadol calls a “thinking brush” with results shown in real-time on a large media wall.
Seeing Beyond the Frame
Through collaborations with Epson, LG Electronics, and custom LEDs throughout, the five galleries at DATALAND feature a combined total of 1.5 billion pixels. In the largest gallery, the Data Pavilion, eighty-four 4K projectors by Epson generate over 8 million pixels and 20,000 lumens each and move seamlessly as one by employing Scalable’s advanced algorithmic technology. Utilizing cameras to capture the projected images, and software that automatically aligns, blends, and color-matches every pixel, seams disappear and curved surfaces look flawless. In the much-anticipated Infinity Room, visitors step inside a three-dimensional LED cube engineered with panels completely covering all four walls, ceiling and floor. Across five galleries, in total, DATALAND comprises 1,577 custom 10K panels totaling roughly 3,500 square feet of LEDs with 28 LG displays interspersed throughout the five galleries.
An Olfactive Journey through the Rainforest
L’Oréal Luxe, DATALAND’s Founding Olfactory Partner, has co-developed a first-of-its-kind scent journey inspired by the rainforests of the world. To achieve this, L’Oréal Luxe leveraged
its unique fragrance model, empowering the L’Oréal Fragrance Métiers to co-create 12 avant-garde olfactive imprints. Drawing from the Large Nature Model as a creative reference, combined with unparalleled expertise and innovation at L’Oréal Luxe, these masterpieces are not traditional perfumes designed to be worn, but projective olfactory experiences. Among them, Scent of Data blends clean musks and aldehydes to replicate the algorithmic pulsation of code, scenting the “mind” of the machine. Scent of Rain delivers a hyper-realistic atmosphere of humid earth after rain, featuring the characteristic petrichor accord, headspace-captured and earthy patchouli facets. These captivating fragrances will be revealed throughout the exhibition via DATALAND’s own innovative wearable scent devices. This dedicated hardware allows each visitor to embark on an individualized journey that evolves as they move through the galleries. Emitting scents exclusively for the wearer, the device’s advanced diffusion technology ensures that the scent molecules dissipate instantly, leaving no residue on either the visitor or the environment.
The Architecture of Sound Sound is elemental, immediate, and inseparable from how we experience the world around us. DATALAND’s 250-speaker audio ecosystem is driven by L-ISA immersive sound from L-Acoustics, a leader in professional audio technology. L-ISA technology delivers a living soundtrack that evolves in real time, woven from original music by composer and sound designer Kerim Karaoğlu, the acoustic ecology of the rainforest, and the sacred healing songs of the Yawanawá. L-Acoustics L-SMART technology continuously monitors and optimizes power consumption to average 30% greater efficiency, with zero compromise to the sound. Suspending audio dynamically across a three-dimensional canvas — in front of, above, and entirely surrounding the visitor — DATALAND achieves a spatial resolution with no precedent in any permanent museum anywhere in the world.
The Taste of Data
Inside the Latent Gallery DATALAND introduces a groundbreaking new medium of data sculpture: Data.Chocolate: an exclusive, limited-edition edible experience. Collaborating with Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections, Data.Chocolate represents a first-of-its-kind dialogue between algorithmic data processing and human culinary intuition. The artwork translates machine-generated concepts—derived from immense datasets of cacao genetics and the Amazon rainforest—into an avant-garde four-piece tasting collection.
A Building that Learns and Remembers
Anadol’s art practice has long since held the question, “If a building can learn, can it dream?” DATALAND’s inaugural exhibition Machine Dreams: Rainforest offers an affirmative answer. An epic journey across five galleries, Machine Dreams: Rainforest is an ambitious redefinition of what art can be in the age of machine intelligence. Developed by Refik Anadol Studio’s collective of artists, scientists, architects, and engineers, the exhibition redefines the museum as a site of continuous production, where art is no longer presented as a finished object but unfolds in real time through the dynamic interplay of data, computation, and human presence.
Machine Dreams: Rainforest will be on view from Saturday, June 20, 2026 to Sunday, January 31, 2027.
TICKETS AND OPERATING HOURS:
DATALAND is open Tuesday – Sunday with the following operating hours:
Tuesday & Wednesday – 11:00am-8:00pm
Thursday & Friday – 11:00am-10:00pm
Saturday – 10:00am-10:00pm
Sunday – 10:00am-8:00pm
Standard access tickets [$49-$79] with Priority access for premium experiences [$89-$129] go on sale this Thursday, May 14, at 10AM PT at www.dataland.art.
Special pricing for students, active-duty military personnel, and seniors (67+) with valid ID, children aged 12 and under, and persons with disabilities plus one companion or caregiver. Ticket prices subject to change.
Memberships are currently on sale. All members receive preview access to the museum before it opens to the public.
Following opening, members enjoy ongoing benefits including recurring access to the museum, priority entry into the museum and its galleries, and preferred pricing for guests.
Sign up for the official DATALAND newsletter to gain insider access to ticket onsales, presales, special programs and more.
About DATALAND
DATALAND is the world’s first Museum of AI Arts and digital ecosystem where human imagination meets the creative potential of machines. DATALAND’s flagship Los Angeles location has five galleries across 25,000 square feet of public space with an additional 10,000 square feet of space that houses the museum’s advanced technologies. Situated at Frank Gehry’s The Grand LA, DATALAND unites pioneers across multidisciplinary fields including the arts, science, and technology under the artistic leadership of Refik Anadol Studio.
Opening on June 20, 2026, DATALAND joins the renowned visual and performing arts institutions in the city’s Grand Avenue Cultural District including The Broad, LA Phil, MOCA, The Music Center, REDCAT, and The Colburn School. DATALAND’s mission includes serving as a public repository for large-scale nature-focused data sets, providing online access and learning platforms, and collecting and exhibiting artworks by digital and AI artists. In October 2025, DATALAND established an artist residency program in partnership with Google Arts & Culture to support creatives working with machine intelligence.
DATALAND is designed in collaboration with award-winning architecture firm Gensler and engineered by global built environment consultancy Arup. Aspiring to set the standard for the presentation, curation, and exploration of AI Arts, DATALAND embodies a new model for cultural institutions in the 21st Century. Website: www.dataland.art; Socials: @datalandmuseum
About Refik Anadol Studio
Established in 2014 by Refik Anadol, a pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence, and artist and entrepreneur Efsun Erkılıç, the Los Angeles-based Refik Anadol Studio produces enthralling and immersive media art intended for anyone, any age, and any background.
The award-winning studio has been engaged by leading tech companies, groundbreaking researchers, and cutting-edge thought leaders to produce projects that have been shown in more than 80 cities spanning six continents, and experienced by millions of ardent fans. In taking the data that flows around us as the primary material and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol and his team paint with a thinking brush, offering us radical visualizations of our collective memories and expanding the possibilities of interdisciplinary arts.
Refik Anadol Studio comprises artists, architects, data scientists, engineers and researchers from diverse professional and personal backgrounds, embracing principles of inclusion and equity throughout every stage of production. www.refikanadolstudio.com
Refik Anadol e Efsun Erkılıç. Foto Dustin Downing
About Refik Anadol
Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) is an internationally renowned media artist, director, and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. He is the Director and co-founder of Refik Anadol Studio in Los Angeles, the Artistic Director and co-founder of DATALAND, and teaches at UCLA’s Department of Design Media Arts. Anadol’s site-specific data paintings and sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms, while encouraging us to rethink our engagement with the physical world, public art, decentralized networks, and the creative potential of artificial intelligence. Anadol’s work has been exhibited at venues including MoMA, Guggenheim Bilbao, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Serpentine Galleries, National Gallery of Victoria, Venice Architecture Biennale, Hammer Museum, Arken Museum, Casa Batlló, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Daejeon Museum of Art, and Istanbul Modern. Anadol has received a number of awards and prizes including TIME AI 100 Impact Award, UCLA’s 2024 Edward A. Dickinson Alumnus of the Year Award, the Lorenzo il Magnifico Lifetime Achievement Award for New Media Art, Microsoft Research’s Best Vision Award, Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards of Turkey, iF Gold Award, D&AD Pencil Award, German Design Award, UCLA Art+Architecture Moss Award, Columbia University’s Breakthrough in Storytelling Award, University of California Institute for Research in the Arts Award, SEGD Global Design Award, LOOP Design Award and Google’s Artists and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award. www.refikanadol.com
About Efsun Erkılıç
Efsun Erkılıç (b. 1982, Istanbul, Turkey) is a visionary artist, producer, cultural researcher, and co-founder of Refik Anadol Studio and DATALAND. With a career spanning over a decade, Erkılıç has been the Executive Producer of multidisciplinary artworks at more than 80 venues worldwide, ensuring the seamless blend of human-machine collaborations and high-quality execution in every step of the Studio’s interdisciplinary projects. Erkılıç is also an established painter. Her work captures an eclectic spectrum of colors and shapes, chronicling her myriad mystical, inner, and physical odysseys. Beyond her visual art, Erkılıç crafts performance pieces that meld bodily expression with philosophical insights into the human condition. She holds a BA and MA in Visual Communication Design from Bilgi University, Istanbul.
Professionally she works as an AI Data Analyst & Digital Content Strategist.
She is a researcher in the field of AI-generated images and copyright, and Lead Art & Creativity for Women in AI Italy.
Her artistic practice combines Analogue Art, Digital Art, Generative AI, and Augmented Reality; she has exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale 2024, Art Basel Week, and Swiss Art Expo Zurich.
Co-author of a 2026 Springer volume on AI ethics, she is the Italian Representative of Artivive, organiser of AWE Nite Florence, and Founder and Editorial Director of ARea6DoF, an online journal registered with the Italian Court.
Personal website: cecilialascialfari.it
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilialascialfari/