ARTISTS
ALBA DE LA FUENTE
ADRI BESADA
NONO PALACE
MONOMO
NIEVBLA
International Open Call for Art Students
SMTH launches the 4th International Competition for Digital Arts Students under the theme “Digital Reflection”.
We invite students and artists to explore how the digital environment shapes our identity and self-perception. In an era where the physical and virtual selves intertwine, key questions arise: do these platforms bring us closer to a more authentic version of ourselves, or do they pull us away from it? Through works that address this duality, we aim to reflect on how digital identity redefines our sense of belonging and authenticity in an increasingly interconnected world.
This edition is presented in collaboration with LABA Valencia School of Art, Design & New Media, CC Xperience San Boi, CC Xperience Logroño, CC Maremágnum, CC Meridiano, CC Nueva Condomina, CC Príncipe Pío, CC L'Aljub, CC Vallsur, CC Zielo Shopping Pozuelo, CC La Gavia, and CC Som Multiespai.
The competition will be open from January 1, 2025, to March 30th, 2025. A panel of experts will select the five best works, each awarded €500 and displayed across all screens from April to July 2025.
This year, there will be an additional prize reserved exclusively for those who were born in the Valencian Community or who are studying in that community. L'Aljub Shopping Center will give the winner a gift card of 150 euros to spend in the center, and in addition, his work will be exhibited in the digital media of the center.
We want to explore how these relationships redefine our sense of community and connection, questioning whether technology brings us closer to a more authentic understanding of ourselves or distances us from it. In this way, "Digital Reflection" becomes a space where each piece addresses the complexity of existing in a constantly shifting reality, where both self and society are in continuous transformation.
We live in an era where the boundaries between the physical self and the digital self are blurring, raising fundamental questions: Who are we in the virtual space compared to our identity in the physical world? Do we create new personas online, or are they extensions of who we already are? How does the virtual environment affect our personality?
Through this call, we invite students to reflect on the impact of virtual interactions on our self-perception, exploring whether these environments reflect our "true" selves or, instead, promote idealized versions. This is an identity in constant flux, where the tangible and intangible intertwine, allowing us to question and reimagine our essence in a connected world.
IMAGE 2024
Felina H.DB. is a 3D artist and designer connected to the worlds of fashion and virtual environments. Her work focuses on exploring the boundaries between the 3D world and physical reality. Through subtle challenges to the laws of physics, Felina H.DB. projects a vision that portrays unreal concepts combined with reflections on digital space.
THEME
DIGITAL REFLACTION
IMAGE
FELINA H.DB
Felina H.DB.'s practice specializes in studying the intersection between virtual realities and the physical realm. Her work adeptly navigates the duality of brilliance and obscurity within the digital age, unearthing insights into the evolving relationship between the virtual and the tangible.
Her creative journey ventures through diverse interpretations of fashion, art and space design, fusing unreal materials with traditional elements to define a distinctive visual identity. Among her notable achievements are collaborations with the MMMAD Art Festival and music artists such as Lola Índigo. Furthermore, she has led several 3D animation campaigns for Zara.
Currently, she shares her expertise as the programme leader for the Digital Fashion Masters at IED, while also maintaining her personal and commercial practice.
At the core of Felina H.DB.'s work resides a profound commitment to universe creation through digital tools. Through meticulous exploration, her aim is to shed light on how the physical and digital realms intertwine, shaping contemporary perceptions and experiences of Fashion, Art, and Beauty.
SUBMISSION
SUBMIT YOUR WORK
RULES AND REGULATIONS
INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL FOR ART STUDENTS
EXHIBITION SPACES
12 SPACES // 9 CITIES
ANNAN SHAO
"Reptile Café" by Annan Shao explores the connection between human instinctive behaviors and the influence of beverage culture through reptilian symbolism and virtual drink branding. Drawing on the Triune Brain theory, which identifies the "reptilian brain" as the instinct-driven core shared with lower life forms like lizards, the project examines how our primal instincts are soothed by the fleeting pleasures of modern drink consumption.
By creating an immersive drinking space, the work reflects on how these instinctual patterns dominate behavior while encouraging contemplation of our ability to observe and transcend this system.
ANDREA MIKYSKA
Andrea Mikyska is a media artist working at the intersection of technology, nature, and dreams. Her work explores how adaptation, evolution, and mutation shape our perceptions of materiality, form, and time. By delving into the dynamic relationships between the organic and synthetic, Andrea aims to visualize speculative futures and reimagine hybrid identities within ecological systems.
"Second Body" by Andrea Mikyska explores the sea as a primordial space of transformation and rebirth, drawing on mythology, science, and symbolism to reflect fluidity, hybridity, and cycles of destruction and renewal. Inspired by mythological figures like Proteus and Tiamat, the project reimagines hybrid beings that merge the organic and synthetic through AI-driven processes. Grounded in Donna Haraway’s concept of “making kin,” it envisions speculative futures shaped by ecological and technological change. The ocean, as a symbol of boundlessness and coexistence, becomes a metaphor for adaptation and survival, offering a meditation on interconnectedness and renewal in a technologically mediated world.
FELINA H.DB.
Felina H.DB. specializes in the study of the intersection between virtual realities and physical reality. Her work deftly navigates the duality between brightness and darkness in the digital age. Her creative journey explores diverse interpretations of art, space-time, and emotional exhaustion in modern society. Her ever-morphing visual identity is deeply influenced by the twists and fluctuations of her life in combination with her passing obsessions. At the core of Felina H.DB.’s work lies a deep commitment to creating universes through digital tools. Her virtual persona acts as a vehicle of reverie, connecting desire with materiality. Through meticulous material exploration, she seeks to shed light on how the physical and digital realms intertwine, shaping contemporary perceptions and experiences of technology.
"YEARN" by Felina Hernández del Barrio explores a sentimental relationship between the artist and an AI-generated character, embodying her desires through a fusion of artificial personalities. Reflecting on her reliance on fictional realities as a form of escape, the piece examines themes of emotional deprivation, social behavior, and modern isolation. By blending physicality and computational fantasy, the artist critiques the interplay between desire’s light and dark aspects, portraying love as a machine-driven response to emotional emptiness and a perpetual digital construct countering physical loneliness.
SYBIL MONTET
Sybil Montet is a French artist and 3D director. Her work explores the occult potentials of emerging technologies and their influence on the collective unconscious through forms and phantasms. She develops a fictional and critical ecosystem inspired by science fiction and fantasy, using CGI, sculpture, and painting, while also exploring experimental applications of AI. After studying high jewelry at the École Boulle and earning a degree in special effects at SAE Paris, she taught herself CGI and digital sculpture. She runs her own creative studio as a 3D artist and produces commercial works for the theater, fashion, and music industries. Between 2015 & 2020, she was active as core.pan, a French-Czech artist duo. She is currently working on new moving image, paintings and sculpture commissions for upcoming presentations in Europe, Asia & the US.
"Geomancy" by Sybil Montet is an experimental sci-fi film and interactive installation that uses AI and real-time weather data to explore the relationship between humanity, technology, and Earth's natural systems. Driven by a custom AI algorithm, the film transforms global environmental patterns into speculative, hyperreal imagery, blending advanced CGI with machine intelligence. For Nescience, it adapts into a curated cinematic experience, reflecting on geoengineering, climate instability, and humanity's role within Earth's dynamic systems. Merging philosophical inquiry with cutting-edge digital aesthetics, it invites viewers into a speculative world of interconnectedness and transformation.
THINH TRUONG
Thinh Truong is a Vietnamese Barcelona-based multidisciplinary creative exploring the interplay of identity, memory, and technology in a post-natural world. His practice captures the memories of people, cultures, places, and everything in between—whether living or non-living. At the intersection of art, technology, and social science, Thinh transforms these stories into imaginative and meaningful experiences, giving them a voice that resonates deeply. Rooted in Southeast Asian heritage and global narratives, his work draws inspiration from neuroscience, cultural hybridity, and the fluid boundaries between the natural and artificial. As he says, "even the quietest stone has a tale to tell—if only you know how to listen." Through immersive and conceptual systems, Thinh invites audiences to engage with evolving, adaptive worlds that challenge conventional notions of time, space, and meaning.
"The Horse" by Thinh Truong is an AI artwork exploring memory as a fluid, evolving entity within the latent space, where the essence of a horse transcends its biological form to transform into hybrid species that blend equine identity with traits from other creatures. Influenced by "mnemonic improvisation," the work reimagines memory as an adaptive ecology, questioning what it means to exist in a digital realm where identity is encoded in data rather than physicality. It invites viewers to reflect on evolution driven by artistic intent and algorithmic processes, redefining life, transformation, and the essence of being.