Bjørn Staal

Bjørn Staal is an artist and software developer based in Oslo, Norway.

His work explores the dynamic interactions between computational systems, human perception & behavior. With more than a decade of experience in multidisciplinary design and software development, Staal co-founded the experimental art and design studio Void in 2015. Focused mainly on the development of large-scale interactive installations, Void has gained international recognition for its work at the intersection of design, architecture, technology, and art.

Since leaving the studio in 2023, Bjørn has focused on his own artistic practice, exploring how algorithms can enrich our understanding of what it means to be human in an age where more and more of our agency is being outsourced. Staal’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, as part of online and physical exhibitions as well as installations in public spaces. In September 2024, Staal had his first solo exhibition at Wintercircus in Ghent, Belgium.

Losing Oneself

2025

generative art, plotter drawing

Pen, Paper, JavaScript, GLSL

Fxhash

Cure3

Cure3 digital

Losing Oneself is series of generative NFT’s and corresponding plotter-drawings developed specifically for Cure³. Through a set of algorithmically generated psycho-geographic maps, the series explores the tension between the chaotic nature of reality and our simultaneous grasping for control. We plan out our lives, weaving intricate, fictitious structures that we try to inhabit, only to get repeatedly blindsided by chance, disorder, degeneration and eventual disintegration.

The title "Losing Oneself" operates on multiple levels, referencing both the meditative practice of ego dissolution and the more troubling ways we lose agency through stress, emotion, and illness. The work functions as psychogeographic maps inspired by scientific diagrams, urban plans, and neuronal structures. While not claiming to represent the experience of Parkinson's disease directly, the project serves as a personal meditation on personal agency and the ways illness disrupts our ability to plan and navigate life's trajectories. Despite addressing difficult subject matter, the work maintains an underlying optimism rooted in the Buddhist concept of harmonious flow with conditions beyond our control.

Drawing on inspiration from scientific diagrams, urban plans and neuronal mappings, the underlying algorithm produces a set of 128 visual poems. All the available iterations have been hand-picked by the artist from a set of more than 6.000 randomly generated seeds.

© Bjørn Staal

Cure³ is a contemporary art fundraising exhibition established in 2017 that addresses the urgent need for a cure for Parkinson's disease, a condition affecting an estimated 8.5 million people worldwide, with two people diagnosed every hour in the UK alone. This progressive neurological condition, characterized by tremors, stiffness, slowness of movement, and balance problems, also brings additional symptoms including mood changes, chronic pain, and sleep disruption. Currently, there is no cure for this debilitating disorder that is predicted to affect 1 in 37 people during their lifetime.

Devised and curated by Artwise in partnership with Bonhams, Cure³ unites art and science in the fight against Parkinson's through its unique concept that challenges artists to create original works within or on bespoke 20cm³ Perspex cubes. Now in its fifth edition, the exhibition has raised almost £2 million for Cure Parkinson's, a dynamic charity dedicated to funding research that aims to slow, stop, and ultimately reverse this devastating condition.

Iteration #1, plot mounted on mdf with painted nails. Exhibited at Bonhams, London, February 2025.

© Bjørn Staal

The digital section of Cure³'s fifth edition was guest curated by Alex Estorick and Foteini Valeonti, co-founders of reGEN, who expanded the digital exhibition to showcase works by 11 generative artists using code as a creative medium. Building on the success of the previous digital section, which had raised over £240,000 two years prior as part of the event's record-breaking £700,000 total, the curators observed a significant trend toward hybrid practices in 2025.

The work was shown at Bonhams alongside digital artists Licia He, Nat Sarkissian, Florian Zumbrunn, Bjørn Staal, Emily Edelman, Kitel, Piter Pasma, Aleksandra Jovanić, Jacek Markusiewicz, Marcelo Soría-Rodriguez, Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn.

© Cure³