Throughout history, technology has helped shape and shake up the art world, and that’s never been clearer than it is today. The advent of AI, virtual reality, and augmented reality have seen contemporary art change beyond recognition, moving so fast that it’s often hard to keep up.

Enter: Acute Art. This summer, the central London art studio is teaming up with the Royal College of Art for a one-of-a-kind course (taking place Monday 28 August – Friday 1 September 2023) that covers how technology is impacting the art world. Led by John Slyce, a senior tutor at the RCA School of Humanities, and Acute Art director Daniel Birnbaum, the course also promises unparalleled access to some of the world’s biggest artists, designers, and entrepreneurs.

Olafur Eliasson, who contributed to Acute Art’s Unreal City AR exhibition in 2020, will be one of the guest contributors on hand, alongside the likes of KAWS and Gilbert & George, to provide unique insight into the intersection between art and tech. Site visits across London will also help to map the spread of VR and AR art in the 21st century.

Elsewhere, there will be talks from curator and Serpentine Gallery director Hans Ulrich Obrist, crypto entrepreneur Vignesh Sundaresan (AKA MetaKovan), Frieze CEO Simon Fox, Acute Art CTO Rodrigo Marques, and Dazed Media’s own Sophie McElligott. Each will share their own takes on exhibiting and collecting future-facing artworks, and understanding the effects of these new technologies on the art world ecosystem.

These kind of insights don’t come cheap, of course, but luckily for you, Dazed has two free places up for grabs – one for a reader, and one for a member of Dazed Club. All you have to do is fill in the form below to be in with a chance of attending. Take a closer look at the course here.

The course runs from Monday 28 August until Friday 1 September 2023.

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