A festival for experimental media art 
and digital cultures

Synths closup

Organized by the METAA (Media Experiments in Technology and Art Association), localhost:2026 is a public event celebrating experimental artistic practices connected to emerging technologies.



This unique evening showcases emerging talents from the swiss and international digital scene while exploring the social, ecological, and political impacts of contemporary technologies.

20→22.03.2026
Lausanne, CH
Hosted by
METAA
Espace Amaretto,
Directions
Pyxis,
Directions

Timetable

Friday

Friday

Pyxis

08:30
Welcome
09:00
Workshops start
12:00
Lunch break
13:00
Workshops continue
17:30
Workshops end

Espace Amaretto

18:00
Doors Opening
18:30
Welcome Keynote
19:30
Unsorted Love (Performance)
20:30
Unsorted Love (DJ/VJ)
22:00
Doors Closing
Saturday

Saturday

Espace Amaretto

09:30
Doors Opening
10:00
METAA Introduction
10:15
2girls1comp (Keynote, Q&A)
11:30
Joannie Lemercier (Keynote, Q&A)
13:00
METAA Award Introduction
13:15
Thomas Gaudin (METAA Awardee)
14:30
Basile Brun (METAA Awardee)
15:45
Dasha Ilina (Keynote, Q&A)
17:00
Martina Marciniak (Keynote, Q&A)
19:00
Performance 1 (Performance)
20:15
Pauric Freeman (Performance)
21:30
Softness (DJ/VJ)
23:15
My name is Fuzzy (DJ/VJ)
Sunday

Sunday

Espace Amaretto

01:45
Doors Closing
08:30
Doors Opening
09:00
Morning Workshops Starts
12:00
Morning Workshops Ends
13:00
Afternoon Workshops Starts
17:30
Afternoon Workshops Ends
18:00
Closing Drinks Reception

Speakers

Dasha Ilina Dasha Ilina
Keynote, Q&A (EN)
21.03, 15:45
Espace Amaretto

Dasha Ilina is a Russian technocritical artist based in Paris. She employs low-tech and DIY approaches to question, document, and challenge the mythology surrounding technology, ultimately revealing what it tells us about the world.

Her practice engages the public in order to facilitate a space for the development of critical thought regarding social imperatives for care, privacy in the digital age, and the reflexive contemporary urge to turn to technology for answers.

Martyna Marciniak Martyna Marciniak
Keynote, Q&A (EN)
21.03, 17:00
Espace Amaretto

Martyna Marciniak is a Polish, Berlin-based artist, researcher, and 3D designer whose work explores the intersection of visual storytelling, media theory, and systemic violence. Utilizing animation, film, and speculative fiction, she investigates technological biases and human rights abuses, bridging the gap between aesthetics and law.

She has collaborated with Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, and co-founded the Border Emergency Collective. A former resident at Akademie Schloss Solitude and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, her work has been exhibited at Ars Electronica, Copenhagen Contemporary, and the Warsaw Biennale.

2girls1comp 2girls1comp
Keynote, Q&A (EN)
21.03, 10:15
Espace Amaretto

2girls1comp is a modding duo founded in 2023 by Marco De Mutiis and Alexandra Pfammatter. Their work changes the logic of video games as an act of creative counter-play, revealing the social and economic fabric in which they are immersed: from reclaiming global digital infrastructures to commenting on free labor within the capitalist ideologies of the gaming industry.

Thomas Gaudin Thomas Gaudin
Keynote (EN)
21.03, 13:15
Espace Amaretto

Thomas Gaudin is a digital artist and designer exploring the relationship between humans and technology through interactive and algorithmic systems. His work investigates how digital environments influence perception and behavior.

Alumni of the Bachelor Media & Interaction Design at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, he is based in Switzerland and combines art, code, and critical reflection to question our reliance on technological systems.

Basile Brun Basile Brun
Keynote (EN)
21.03, 14:30
Espace Amaretto

Basile Brun is an artist, composer, and interaction designer with a Bachelor in Fine Arts and Master in Interaction Media Design from HEAD – Geneva.

Co-creator of Blue Ash Studio and Sound Designer at Panflip Studio, he creates independently as musician and 2D/3D artist under the pseudonyms Chap0ng and Oh Deer.

His practice bridges game design, sound design, and illustration through code, generative music, and audiovisual performance.

His work investigates spatial sound in digital environments and the hidden narratives in gaming.

Performances

Pauric Freeman Pauric Freeman
Performance (EN)
21.03, 20:15
Espace Amaretto

Pauric Freeman is a multidisciplinary artist from Ireland working across audiovisual performance and installation.

He develops custom tools to generate real-time compositions from live instrumental data.

His performances unfold as structures of dense harmony and chaotic rhythms, where sound and image operate as interdependent systems, distorting and reconfiguring through permutations.

Unsorted.Love Unsorted.Love
Performance (EN)
20.03, 19:30
Espace Amaretto

unsorted is a Zurich-based creative collective and physical space located at Josefstrasse 206.

It is run by a core group of five artists and is dedicated to the intersection of technology, artistic expression, and digital sovereignty.

The space serves as a research hub for collaborative knowledge exchange, bridging the gap between high-level digital art theory and practical artistic practice.

The collective operates through a variety of formats, including audiovisual performances, interactive installations, and educational workshops.

Their work is characterized by an exploration of using

Softness Softness
Performance (EN)
21.03, 21:30
Espace Amaretto

DJ/VJ performance set.

My name is Fuzzy My name is Fuzzy
Performance (EN)
21.03, 23:15
Espace Amaretto

My name is Fuzzy stages its pop songs through sound, visual, and interactive installations. In contrast to online music that is accessible anywhere and at any time, the audience only discovers the songs by visiting the installations.

Pixelle Panthere Pixelle Panthere
Performance (EN)
21.03, 22:30
Espace Amaretto

Mathilde Périat and Juliette Cuénoud share a common love for moving images and other graphic vibrations. As image hunters and ‘cinegenic’ lovers, it was a natural fit for them to collaborate on a project that is unique, experimental, and visually rhythmic.

Pixelle Panthère is an analog visual experience created using vintage electronic equipment. Through their machines, spectators travel through the pixels of another era. All created images are improvised and generated live on the spot, tailored to accompany concerts, performances, and other festivities. The goal is to offer a visual medium for watching sounds, listening to images, and letting oneself be carried away by the spectacle.

Vera van der Seyp Vera van der Seyp
Performance (EN)
21.03, 22:00
Espace Amaretto

Performance.

Conus Conus
Performance (EN)
21.03, 20:30
Espace Amaretto

Performance.

Workshops

Basile Brun Basile Brun
Workshop (EN)
20.03, 09:00
Pyxis

Workshop session.

Elodie and Kylan Elodie and Kylan
Workshop (EN)
21.03, 09:00
Pyxis

Workshop session.

Tickets

Friday
at Espace Amaretto

Free Ticket

Friday & Sunday
Workshops at Pyxis

Full fare 40 .– METAA Members 40 .– Reduced* 40 .– ECAL/HEAD Students 40 .–

Saturday
at Espace Amaretto

Full pass + 1 Drink on Friday 40 .– Reduced* 50 .– Party pass 15 .– Supporter pass 150 .–
Book Tickets

*Reduced tickets are available for students, AI, AVS and unemployed
If the ticket cost is a financial barrier, we still really want you to join! Please contact us.

About METAA

METAA is a non-profit Swiss association dedicated to promoting experimental artistic and digital practices. It supports emerging creators by highlighting projects that address issues related to technology.
Since 2020, the Release Candidate Award has recognized the most daring graduation projects from the Media & Interaction Design (ECAL) and Media Design (HEAD) programs. This award provides the winners with professional exposure during an annual private event , a key gathering for the METAA community. With localhost:2025 , the association expands this celebration to the public, sharing these critical insights and emerging talents with a broader audience.
Website

Follow us

@localhost_festival @metaa_social

Partners

Funding Sponsors

Supporting Partner

Partners

School Partners

localhost could not exist without our partners, METAA members and volunteers who contributed to make this event what it is.