Disclaimer: Listings reflect client inquiries verbatim for accuracy and clarity.
MAXmachina 2026 is Media Art Xploration’s laboratory supporting live and immersive works that integrate technology, science, and storytelling. Centered on Human Stories inside Complex Systems, we look for projects that humanize technological complexity through strong narrative, offering a $5,000-$7,500 stipend, production support, expert collaboration, and a fully produced NYC showcase.
MAXmachina laboratory program looks for works in dance, theater, music, experimental performance, as well as immersive pieces incorporating live activation. In a spirit of Human Stories inside Complex Systems, our 2026 laboratory explores the idea that technology’s artistic potential is best realized when paired with a strong human narrative. Projects must be past the initial concept phase, must include a live element, and have not been previously presented in New York City.
Theme of MAXmachina 2026:
- The Ghost in the Machine: Celebrating the unpredictable human element—our creativity, mistakes, and emotions—that animates technology and gives it meaning.
- Productive Disruption: Reimagining unpredictability, imperfection, and the “glitch” as a creative catalyst in art, technology, and science.
- Narrative vs. Technology: Investigating the shifting roles of narrative and technology as allies or adversaries—exploring the “positive friction” generated when they challenge, disrupt, or transform one another.
- The Digital/Physical Blur: Projects that dissolve the binary between the digital and the physical. Are our bodies now as much computational as they are flesh?
Selected projects receive a stipend of up to $5,000 – $7,500 plus tailored production support, which may include rehearsal and performance space, technical equipment, dramaturgy, stage management, and connections to scientific advisors.
Artists participate in workshops, planning conversations, progress check-ins, and possibly a public salon presentation. Projects should be ready for active development and open to feedback and collaborative dialogue with MAXlive staff, advisors, and audiences. Applications are due on March 1st, 2026.
Read the full open-call document