PeopleofSuperintelligence

Builder

Mario Klingemann

Also known as Quasimondo

Mario Klingemann is a German artist who uses neural networks, code, and algorithms to explore creative behavior in machines. He taught himself programming in the early 1980s, set out to create algorithms with near-autonomous creative behavior, and served as artist in residence at Google Arts & Culture Lab from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he won the Lumen Prize Gold Award for The Butcher’s Son and began Neural Glitch by altering trained GAN weights; Appropriate Response earned a Prix Ars Electronica Honorary Mention in 2020. He conceived Botto, a decentralized AI artist launched in October 2021, and tested its code generation through a 19-week experiment in 2024; Verse announced Algorithmic Evolution with Botto in February 2025. As of October 2026, he is an artist exploring creativity through AI and how machines can emulate or expand human perception.

Timeline

  1. 1980s

    Learning to program

    After teaching himself programming in the early 1980s, he works to create algorithms that surprise and show almost autonomous creative behavior. He is a German artist whose work uses neural networks, code, and algorithms.

  2. 2016–2018

    Artist in residence at Google

    He serves as artist in residence at Google Arts & Culture Lab from 2016 to 2018.

  3. 2018

    The Butcher’s Son and Neural Glitch

    He wins the Lumen Prize Gold Award in 2018 for The Butcher’s Son, a machine-generated image made through a chain of GANs. In April 2018, he begins Neural Glitch, which alters trained GAN weights so models misinterpret image texture and meaning.

  4. 2020

    A text for each viewer

    Appropriate Response earns a Prix Ars Electronica Honorary Mention in 2020. The installation uses AI to generate a unique and comprehensible text for each viewer.

  5. October 2021

    Co-creating Botto

    Botto launches in October 2021 as a decentralized AI artist whose generated images go to weekly DAO votes. Klingemann conceptualizes it, and a collective of stakeholders governs the project.

  6. 2024

    A 19-week code experiment

    He conducts a 19-week experiment in which Botto evolves code sketches.

  7. February 2025

    Algorithmic Evolution with Botto

    In February 2025, Verse announces Algorithmic Evolution with Botto. The system writes Processing or P5.js code for animated or interactive art.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI art and human perception

    As of October 2026, he is an artist exploring creativity through AI and algorithms. He investigates how machines can emulate or expand human perception.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Google. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Google. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  3. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes Google. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  4. Google alumni have founded or led 133 other organizations, more than any other AI labIncludes Google. We estimate that alumni of 17 major AI labs went on to found or lead 350 other organizations, including 226 they founded, and we trace 472 career moves directly between 23 labs since 2010.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Mario Klingemann yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. About | Quasimondo quasimondo.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Mario Klingemann — Google Arts & Culture artsandculture.google.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Gold Award Winner 2018 — The Lumen Prize lumenprize.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Neural Glitch / Mistaken Identity | Quasimondo quasimondo.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Appropriate Response — Mario Klingemann | Google Arts & Culture artsandculture.google.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Botto | Onkaos onkaos.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Botto Team in conversation with Louis Jebb and Melanie Lenz | Verse verse.works. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. The Giraffe in the Machine: Mario Klingemann on Algortihmic Evolution | Verse verse.works. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Why Make Images at All Today? Mario Klingemann in conversation with Anika Meier about boredom and inert images art-magazine.ai. Checked 20 October 2026.