Arts Thread

Niels Baumgartner
Data DEsign + Art [ba]

Hochschule Luzern

Graduates: 2026

Specialisms: Design and Technology / Graphic Design / Digital Arts

My location: Lucerne, Switzerland

niels-baumgartner ArtsThread Profile
Hochschule Luzern

Niels Baumgartner

niels-baumgartner ArtsThread Profile

First Name: Niels

Last Name: Baumgartner

University / College: Hochschule Luzern

Course / Program: Data DEsign + Art [ba]

Graduates: 2026

Specialisms: Design and Technology / Graphic Design / Digital Arts

My Location: Lucerne, Switzerland

Website: Click To See Website

About

Research- and data-driven, my practice explores the intersection of art, design, and emerging technologies. Drawing from fields such as data visualization, interaction design, digital fabrication, electronics and immersive media, I develop works that translate complex systems into engaging visual and spatial experiences. My projects range from 2D graphics and interactive interfaces to large-scale installations. I investigate socially relevant questions and make complex data, processes, and relationships tangible, and open to reflection.

DUTY FREE - Cartographies of Elite Hypermobility and Their Ecological Costs

Every day, thousands of private and business jets traverse global airspace almost invisibly. The installation Duty Free condenses publicly available flight data into a fragmented, cartographic movement log of the global polluter elite. Flight routes become visible in real time between the digital and physical planes and materialize as printed documents upon arrival. Over the course of the exhibition, a growing archive of intangible traces and the irreversible ecological costs of excessive hypermobility is created. Process Documentation and Thesis: https://dutyfree-process.baum.garden/en The installation consists of a real-time projection visualising all private jet flights currently in the air worldwide, alongside an ever-growing physical representation of flights as they land. This physical archive is produced by a custom-built machine incorporating a thermal printer and a bespoke paper-feed mechanism. Visitors can interact with both components of the installation: they can navigate and explore the projected visualisation via a touchpad interface and engage directly with the accumulating printed records produced throughout the exhibition.