What does it mean to be human at a time when life itself must be redefined? AIR 2025 creates the conditions for a different kind of attention—one that allows the subconscious to surface, and for meaning to be felt before it is named. The gathering took inspiration from Paul Chan’s multi-year odyssey in programming a synthetic self-portrait through artificial intelligence and Sara Imari Walker’s challenge to conventional definitions of life in her book Life As No One Knows It, from which AIR 2025 found its name. The renowned artist and filmmaker Matthew Barney headlined the future-facing program, which drew inspiration from the historic Aspen International Design Conference, where pioneering figures such as John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Susan Sontag, and Steve Jobs convened between 1949 and 2006.

The AIR 2025 festival program was preceded by the AIR Retreat, an artist-led gathering of thirty leading experts from the arts, humanities, sciences, industry, and policy. The retreat focused on developing frameworks for artists and thinkers to inform the design of new technological tools. The first edition, held from July 26 to 28, 2025, was conceived by the AIR curatorial team in collaboration with artists Paul Chan and Aria Dean, poet and technology researcher Zoë Hitzig, and writer Evan Calder Williams.

AIR 2025 was presented in partnership with Aspen Institute, Serpentine, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, as a part of their Creative Labor, Creative Conditions campaign, Aspen Music Festival & School, and City of Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House, with Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES), Aspen Center for Physics, Red Brick Center for the Arts, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass, Aspen Words, and Aspen Film.

With special thanks to Henry Timms for his thought leadership, support, and guidance, and to Michael Baca, Danielle Baussan, Lindsay Bobyak, Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, Peggy Burke, Charlotte Burns, Hillary Carpenter, Inyeong Cho, Alîce Collins, Chris Collins, Ashley Ferro-Murray, Alan Fletcher, Rob Goyanes, Mike Harrington, Danny Harris, Amanda Jenkins, Andrea Jenkins Wallace, Ginger Kennington, Jim Kravitz, Nicole Levesque, Isabel Ling, Lauren Moravchik, Kate Northfield Lanich, Molly O’Leary, Maddy Overton, Isabel Quinzaños Alonso, Michael Rock, Lisa Roth, Sarah Roy, Susan Sellers, Alanna Stang, András Szántó, Brandon Thompson, Ashley Todey, Marisa Walbert, Peter Wanders, Lara Whitley, LinYee Yuan, and Mary Zlot for their invaluable contributions and support.

The Bluhm-Kaul Keynotes are made possible through a major gift from Barbara Bluhm-Kaul and Don Kaul.

The Tisch Program Series—a dynamic selection of commissions, performances, and dialogues presented throughout the week—are made possible through a generous gift from Steve Tisch and Jamie Tisch.

Matthew Barney’s performance TACTICAL parallax is made possible through the major support provided by Gael Neeson | Edlis Neeson Foundation.

AIR is founded by Nicola Lees, Nancy and Bob Magoon Artistic Director and CEO.

Life as No One Knows It wascurated by Vic Brooks, AIR Curator at Large; Nicola Lees, Nancy and Bob Magoon Artistic Director and CEO; Daniel Merritt, Chief Curator; and Claude Adjil, Curator at Large, with Anisa Jackson and Eliza Ryan, Curators at Large; Stella Bottai, Senior Curator at Large; Simone Krug, Curator; and Mariana Fernández, AIR Editor and Project Curator.

The Bluhm-Kaul Keynotes were curated in collaboration with Hans Ulrich Obrist.

AIR 2025 has been developed in dialogue with the AIR Artist Council—Paul Chan, Aria Dean, and Zoë Hitzig—and with the generous insights of AIR Advisors Alia Al Senussi, Sarah Broughton, Sarah Brown, José Esparza Chong Cuy, Jynne Dilling, Dana Farouki, Ashley Ferro-Murray, Rachel Shechtman, Evan Calder Williams, and Sarah Workneh.

AIR’s Operations and Production were led by Molly McIver, Strategic Consultant and Executive Producer, with Alicia Russo, AIR Project Manager, Nora Chellew, AIR On-site Producer, Dawn Reinholtz, AIR Producer, Ryan Jenkins, AIR Technical Director,  alongside Christine Navin, Deputy Director of Operations.