Rhizome Conference 2026: NFTs, AI, and Digital Privacy at the New Museum

Rhizome held its annual conference at the New Museum in 2026, continuing its focus on artists working at the intersection of art and technology. Founded in 1996 by Mark Tribe as an email list, Rhizome has evolved into a conference and residency program. Director Michael Connor discussed the conference's evolution, noting that the first NFT, Quantum, was created at Rhizome's 2014 conference by Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash, years before the NFT market boom in 2021. This year's discussions centered on combating AI and addressing a perceived decline in creativity. The conference format was restructured to allow more time for collaboration among artists, computer scientists, and creative thinkers. Connor expressed concerns about attention regulation in an increasingly digital and isolationist world. A notable project involved an artist weaving a narrative from publicly posted photos, prompting questions about privacy and shared memory. Scientist Michael Levin from Tufts University presented on patterns in art, suggesting that artwork could serve as a source of computational data. Connor encapsulated the conference with the quote, 'the environment is a bearer of intelligence,' emphasizing the goal of fostering intellectual discussion and collective understanding for the next generation.