Late last year we announced our latest initiative with Rabanne to find the next generation of visionaries in digital image-making. Titled ‘Arts Factory’, the programme aims to provide a platform for the finalists to showcase their craft for the chance to work with Rabanne on an exciting project at the end of this year.

Out of an impressive pool of applicants, consisting of students and Dazed Club community members, only a few creatives were selected. To carefully deliberate through the portfolios, we formed an expert panel featuring Jefferson Hack, Julien Dossena, Venus Lau, and Claude Adjil. The six finalists include Alice Bucknell, Lorenzo Risani, Elizabeth O’Brien, Buse Simon, Lola Moniz, and Lucy Ellis. Ranging across different forms of multimedia, their specialities vary from merging traditional and digital art practices to using technological advancements as a means of storytelling – while also critiquing what the rapid evolution of current tech means for art and culture as a whole today.

As an extension of the project, Rabanne has just announced its partnership with Art Basel. On June 12th, judges Jefferson Hack and Julien Dossena will be joined by the director of Art Basel Paris, Clément Delépine, for a panel discussion. In addition to that, towards the end of the year, the winner(s) of the Rabanne Arts Factory will have the chance to showcase their work at Art Basel in Miami Beach.

Below we get to know the finalists, as well as the judges who selected them.

FINALISTS

ALICE BUCKNELL

Alice Bucknell is an LA-based artist, writer, and educator pushing boundaries at the intersection of gaming and art. Recently, they’ve been crafting cinematic universes within game worlds, delving into the emotional landscapes of video games to unpack different ideas around complex systems, relationships, and knowledge forms. Bucknell also runs ‘New Mystics’ and serves on the faculty at SCI-Arc, helping to shape the next wave of digital art and architecture.

LOLA MONIZ

Artist Lola Moniz specialises in movement, tapping into a fusion of virtual realms with physical scenographies. Her art practice weaves multimedia narratives through writing, editing, video, and scenography. Currently, she’s pursuing a master’s in Fashion with a Focus on Image, Media, and Editorial at Duperré School in Paris, blending rising tech with tangible traditional storytelling.

BUSE SIMON

Buse Simon, also known as BUSESART, is a London-based technical 3D artist specialising in ‘Unreal Engine 5’ – a 3D creational tool. Collaborating with global brands and artists like Chris Avantgarde, ARTBAT, and KAS, she’s also an Unreal Engine Fellowship alum and part of the Epic Dev Community. As an Unreal Engine Instructor for the ARCHI-Metaverse-PRO Advanced Modelling & Game Design Class and a Production Designer at Populous London, she’s honed her expertise in real-time procedural design pipelines. BUSEART’s work includes developing virtual assistants and creating immersive 3D characters, animations, and environments.

LORENZO RISANI

Born in Bagno a Ripoli, Italy, in 2000, Lorenzo Risani is a multimedia artist working with photography, video, sound, sculpture, and 3D modelling. He initially studied Biology at the University of Pisa but shifted to art after winning a scholarship to Istituto Marangoni, where he now studies Multimedia Arts in Florence. Lorenzo’s art journey began in 2016 after a workshop with photographer Marco Quinti, leading to exhibitions such as Le farfalle non devono essere toccate (2017), Flash in Romania (2018) and most recently Visionary Minds #2 (2023). Currently, Lorenzo is preparing installations for the upcoming Istituto Marangoni Firenze Graduation Show.

ELIZABETH O’BRIEN

Elizabeth O’Brien’s artistic practice blends digital animation and sculpture to explore contemporary, digital environments. Her work often critiques the current relentless advancement of technology and its capitalist ties, questioning the boundaries between technology and nature by merging woodwork with digital software. Highly Influenced by ideas of post-humanism, Simon O’Sullivan’s Fictioning and thinkers like Deborah Levitt and Donna Haraway, O’Brien creates objects that reimagine anthropocentric narratives. In her work with Collective Hysteria – a multidisciplinary collective –  her digital avatars challenge traditional gallery spaces, broadening accessibility and confronting gendered social structures.

LUCY ELLIS

Lucy Ellis is an experimental animator in her final year of BA Fine art with Creative Computing. Her work blurs the lines between digital and analogue, using scrap and found materials to craft new identities and narratives. Texture plays a crucial role in her practice, helping to evoke different memories. Ellis’s innovative approach repurposes materials, transforming their original purpose into something entirely new. With a keen eye for process and materiality, her animations explore the ephemeral nature of existence, creating an immersive experience that resonates deeply with her viewers.

THE JUDGES

JEFFERSON HACK, JULIEN DOSSENA, VENUS LAU AND CLAUDE ADJIL

For the judging process, four industry experts joined forces to find the next generation of talent, including Dazed co-founder and CEO Jefferson Hack. Since founding Dazed in the early 1990s, Hack has gone on to launch many iconic titles including AnOther, Another Man, Nowness, Dazed Beauty, and the innovative Dazed Studio. Known for its trailblazing stories, Dazed Media spans print, digital, and video, continuously shaping the cultural zeitgeist. 

Hack was joined by Julien Dossena. Launching his fashion journey at Paris' École d’Arts Appliqués Duperré, Dossena went on to work at Balenciaga under Nicolas Ghesquière's wing, quickly rising to the role of senior designer by 2008. Today, he brings his unique touch to Paco Rabanne, skillfully blending the brand’s rich artisanal legacy with contemporary sensibilities, offering fresh interpretations that embody the label’s signature blend of sensual allure and grounded sophistication.

Elsewhere, another judge included Venus Lau, director of Jakarta’s Museum MACAN, who previously led artistic initiatives at Modern (Meta) Media Group and K11 Art Foundation. Her curatorial prowess is evident in exhibitions like Katharina Grosse’s Mumbling Mud and Simon Denny’s Real Mass Entrepreneurship. At Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, she curated acclaimed shows featuring artists like Ming Wong and Haegue Yang.

The final judge is Claude Adjil. Based in London, Adjil is the current curator-at-large at the Serpentine where she has been the brain behind exhibitions such as Grace Wales Bonner: A Time for New Dreams (2019), Arthur Jafa: RHAMESJAFACOSEYJAFADRAYTON (2022) and Steve McQueen: Grenfell (2023). Alongside her work at the Serpentine, Adjil also works as a curator for the Aspen Art Museum.

Head here to check out our hub with all things Arts Factory.