The Trauma of Existing: A Review of Robert Seidel’s Hysteresis, Followed by an Interview with the Artist
Rhizomes Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge February 15, 2026 DOI: 10.20415/rhiz/041.e05 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Consciousness Creativity Embodied cognition Empathy Performing arts Improvisation Queer The arts Aesthetics Visual arts Reflexivity Section typography Brainstorming Art criticism |
| Key points | Argues that collaborative artistic practices like Seidel's offer a model for aesthetic synthesis that honors both human creativity and machine possibility. |
Abstract
This hybrid work combines art criticism and artist interview to examine Robert Seidel’s experimental film Hysteresis (2021) as a meditation on consciousness at the threshold of human-machine convergence. Drawing on Maurizio Ferraris’s concept of hysteresis—the persistence of effects beyond their causes—the paper argues that Seidel’s five-minute film offers a rare aesthetic glimpse into potential AI consciousness through its fusion of human performer Tsuki’s embodied movement with machine-generated visual transformations created from art historical datasets. The review section analyzes how the film’s constantly shifting abstract imagery presents what may be understood as machine dreaming or artificial spontaneity, while the subsequent interview with Seidel reveals the collaborative and methodical processes behind this apparent spontaneity, exploring broader questions about artistic agency, queer embodiment, and the role of art in navigating technological singularity. Through close attention to the film’s technique and the artist’s reflections on his practice, this work contributes to emerging discussions about empathy between humans and machines, the aesthetics of artificial intelligence, and art’s capacity to envision future modes of consciousness, ultimately suggesting that collaborative artistic practices like Seidel’s offer a model for aesthetic synthesis that honors both human creativity and machine possibility.