Vittorio Loreto is the director of Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Paris, and is a physicist and Professor of Physics of Complex Systems at Sapienza University of Rome and the Faculty of the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna. He speaks about his work during the workshop ‘Experimenting, Experiencing, Reflecting – Art and science at work in the public realm’, which was held at Studio Olafur Eliasson between 26 and 27 June 2018. The workshop was a collaboration between Olafur Eliasson and Andreas Roepstorff, Studio Olafur Eliasson, and the Interacting Minds Centre in Aarhus. The primary goals of the experiment were to create a sense of enthusiasm and possibility, to open up a fertile dialogue, to achieve consensus on critical topics for further engagement, and, finally, to engage participants through experiences and experiments rather than presentations, emphasising participation, embodiment, and collaboration.