HEDDA ROMAN

Under the title Test Time, Kunstverein Bielefeld presents a survey of works by the artist collective Hedda Roman, specifically conceived for the institution. Running from August 30 to November 9, 2025, the show unfolds as a poetic-scientific experiment that explores the relationship between human consciousness and machine learning, while also reflecting on experiences of time.

The title Test Time refers to the cognitive moment in which reasoning occurs¬–a process of inference central to both human thought and algorithmic computation. For Hedda Roman, this moment signifies a “productive delay”: not merely processing time, but a reflective pause that opens a space for consciousness. Within the exhibition, this temporal interval serves as a mirror for human introspection and alludes to what philosopher Henri Bergson termed durée–the lived, subjective time of consciousness, characterized by a continuous, immeasurable flow of moments.

Through drawings, poetry, prints, films, generative image processes, and spatial installations, the exhibition constructs a walkable topology of image and time – fluid, suspended, obscured, and narrative. Time here is rendered perceptible as a dynamic phenomenon: it shifts, overlaps, compresses, and raises the fundamental question:

How long does an image persist?

The exhibition offers insight into future-oriented modes of image production and perception, while also positioning AI technologies as collaborators in the artistic process. It examines the shifting boundaries between reality and virtuality, raising epistemological and aesthetic questions about mediation, presence, and representation.

Hedda Roman is an interdisciplinary artist duo based in North Rhine-Westphalia, consisting of Hedda Schattanik and Roman Szczesny. Since its formation in 2014, the collective has explored intersections of art, technology, and language. Their installations integrate artificial intelligence with cinematic narration, surrealist animation, literature, and sculptural form, engaging with existential themes that emerge from the complexities of contemporary coexistence.