OPENING: "News From Home - Kaohsiung"
Thank you to everyone who came out to the opening of 'News From Home - Kaohsiung' my latest solo exhibition at Pier-2 Art Centre in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The exhibition across three rooms is a multimedia exploration of the city's daily life through large-scale photomontage installations and audio-visual works. The works are inspired by my three-month residency and extensive fieldwork, from February to April 2024.
The exhibition continues at P3-1 Warehouse, Dayong Area, from April 13-21, 2024, with free admission.
Thank you to Pier-2 and Stroom Den Haag for the support in making this exhibition a reality!
Upcoming Solo Exhibition: "News From Home - Kaohsiung"
Please join me at Pier-2 Art Centre in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for the opening of my solo exhibition, "News From Home - Kaohsiung" on Saturday, April 13 at 5:00 PM. The exhibition features a unique multimedia exploration of the city's daily life through large-scale photomontage installations and audio-visual works. The works are inspired by my three-month residency and extensive fieldwork,
The exhibition takes place at P3-1 Warehouse, Dayong Area, from April 13-21, 2024, with free admission.
SUPPORT: MONDRIAAN FONDS
In March 2024 I was successfully funded by Mondriaan Fonds (The Netherlands) as part of their 'Voucher Development' Grant program. This grant will provide vital support during 2024 and beyond as my practice enters a critical phase of development and expansion in the realm of Virtual Reality (VR). The grant will be used to acquire vital pieces of technology, essential for a range of upcoming VR projects. Thank you, Mondriaan Fonds, for your support - I look forward to get started on these projects!
RESIDENCY: Pier-2 Art Centre, Taiwan
Hello Taiwan! For the next 3-months I will be working in Kaohsiung during an artist residency at Pier-2 Art Centre. During the residency, my collaborator Anne Fehres and myself will be working on the 11th edition of our project News From Home. The final outcome will be an exhibition at Pier-2 Art Centre, featuring a series of photomontages and audio-visual works.
This residency has been a long time coming, as we were originally selected in 2020 just before the COVID pandemic. We are looking forward to exploring the city and working on our first major project outside of Europe.
IFFR and Art Rotterdam 2024
This week, my video installation 'Unfolding' had it's world premiere as part of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 25 - February 4, 2024) and Rotterdam Art Week.
Thank you to everyone who attended the opening performance and the work throughout these events. It was great to recieve feedback from audiences, as well as see the work gain praise in major Dutch media such as NRC, Film Krant and Het Parool
OPENING: IFFR and Art Rotterdam 2024
Today my video installation 'Unfolding' had it's world premiere as part of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 25 - February 4, 2024) and Rotterdam Art Week.
The opening included a public performance intervention in the exhibition location of Rotterdam Central Station. During the performance, the performer from the video work was present in physical space, mirroring the digital movements with virtual ones.
Some snapshots of the performance can be seen here on my Instagram page. It was an event full of spontaneous encounters and equally curious, unsure and impressed audiences!
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EXHIBITION: Art Rotterdam 2024
My video installation 'Unfolding' will be exhibited as part of Rotterdam Art Week from 31 January to 4 February 2024. This event will coincide with the same installation as part of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 25 - February 4, 2024).
In "Unfolding," a video art piece set in the year 2070, I present a futuristic yoga session narrated by air itself, embodying a character. This innovative portrayal challenges conventional perceptions of nature and humanity, urging viewers to see the natural world not as a mere passive setting but as a dynamic and influential entity. This reimagining prompts profound contemplation of our interconnectedness with nature.
The installation of this piece at Rotterdam Central Station during a festival is strategic, aiming to captivate a diverse audience. Its placement in this bustling hub encourages both casual passersby and dedicated festival attendees to engage with the artwork. This approachable yet thought-provoking installation seeks to blur the traditional boundaries between humanity and the natural world, while simultaneously inviting playful interaction.
SELECTION: International Film Festival Rotterdam 2024
I am excited to announce the premiere of 'Unfolding', an experimental video installation by Anne Fehres and myself, at the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 25 - February 4, 2024). This video work, set in 2070, showcases a surreal yoga session narrated by the personification of air, challenging traditional views of nature and humanity. 'Unfolding' invites audiences to reimagine the natural world as an active, influential force, rather than a passive backdrop, fostering a deep reflection on our relationship with nature.
The work will be installed at Rotterdam Central Station during the festival. This unique display invites a broad audience to engage with the work, inviting passersby and festival-goers alike to engage with this playful piece that blurs the lines between nature and humanity.
SELECTION: CYENS Centre of Excellence
Coming up this month I will work on a new project with CYENS Centre of Excellence in Cyprus. I have been selected as one of seven participants in this program, from over 150 worldwide applications. This project will leverage innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, developed in partnership with the Learning Agents and Robots (LEAR) during a residency with CYENS Centre of Excellence in Cyprus (Nov-Dec 2023).
The final work will be an immersive and surreal 15-minute VR experience where audiences can engage in and co-create the non-linear narrative. This blending and layering of multiple narrative paths will be used deliberately as a way to transcend static historical interpretations, allowing the audience to navigate between multiple ‘truths.’
The program is curated by Dr. Ellada Evangelou. The project is coordinated by Dr. Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert & Kleanthis Neocleous, in collaboration with CYENS Thinker Maker Space.
New Project: 'Better Images of AI' with AIxDesign
Myself, alongside collaborator Anne Fehres, have been selected for a new research and creation project titled 'Better Images of AI'. This project will be undertaken during October and November 2023.
The premise of the project is the proposition that current stock images are outdated and misleading, shaping unrealistic narratives. Search for images of ‘artificial intelligence’ and you'll find photos of shiny humanoid robots, glowing blue brains, or the Terminator. These images are used in news stories, blog posts, opinion articles, lectures and press releases – all the place we turn to learn about AI and machine learning.
AI4Media teams up with Better Images of AI and AIxDESIGN to commission 3 artists to re-imagine together a better visual language for AI. Our goal is to add new images to the public discourse so we can begin to use a more representative visual language for AI. At project end, we will publish free-to-use stock images in the Better Images of AI library that avoid perpetuating unhelpful myths about AI.
SELECTION: BELGIUM ART & DESIGN FAIR - GHENT, BELGIUM
I am happy to announce that my work ‘Palette Parties #3’ has been selected for the Belgium Art & Design Fair in Ghent, Belgium. The Belgian Art & Design Fair celebrates creation – somewhere between art and design.
This work was the winning selection from over 1100 submissions. It will be on display at the fair from 19 to 22 of October, on 2 screens of 2x3 meters.
SELECTION: GENESTHAI GROUP SHOW - PARIS, FRANCE
A new animated work of mine will be exhibited at IHAM Gallery in Paris, France (Oct.14th - Oct. 28th). The exhibition will take place during Paris+ par Art Basel - 2023, where a variety of digital art works will be highlighted through the city.
The work is part of the group show 'Genesthαi', curated by Brawhaus. The focus of the exhibition is to explore the Intersection of Blockchain Technology, Digital Art, and Psychedelic Research for Mental Health.
SELECTION: "Unfolding" at TIVA 2023
I'm delighted to share that my short film, "Unfolding," will be featured at the 2023 Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition (TIVA) at the Hong-Gah Museum. This year's theme is “Living Togetherness,” exploring the profound concept of “care” in relationships between humans and non-humans.
Curated by the esteemed HSU Shih-Yu and Zoe Chia-Jung YEH, this exhibition offers a space to reexamine our connections with the world around us. I'm honored to be showing my short film alongside a really interesting international line-up of filmmakers.
The exhibition runs from Nov. 4, 2023, to Jan. 28, 2024.
EXHIBITION: La Festa dei Nojesi
This past weekend in Noepoli, Southern Italy, my latest public artwork, "La Festa dei Nojesi," was officially unveiled. The grand opening marked the culmination of a month-long exploration of Noepoli's history and culture, which took place during a residency held in August 2023. Throughout the residency, I had the privilege of collaborating with my artistic partner of long standing, Anne Fehres.
Spanning ancient artifacts to local kitchens, the resulting masterpiece materialized as a photomontage composed of 900 images. This intricately woven tapestry captures the town's multilayered vibrancy. The intent behind our creation was to encapsulate the town's essence, its populace, and their narratives, thereby encouraging the audience to draw their own elucidations. Deliberately avoiding a fixed viewpoint, our aspiration was to forge a dynamic artwork, receptive to the countless interpretations.
The work will be exhibited in the public space of Noepoli on a permanent basis.
EXHIBITION OPENING:
Noepoli, Italy
This weekend in Noepoli, Southern Italy, my latest public artwork "La Festa dei Nojesi," will officially open. This is a large (6x3 metre) art installation born from a month-long exploration of Noepoli's history and culture during a residency in August 2023. This residency was completed alongside my long-term collaborator Anne Fehres.
From ancient artifacts to local kitchens, the final work is a photomontage of 900 images that captures the town's vibrant layers. Our aim with this work is that is can capture the spirit of the town, its people, and their stories, inviting each viewer to weave their own interpretations. Rather than offering a fixed perspective, we aimed to create a dynamic artwork open to the myriad interpretations of those who encounter it.
EXHIBITION: 21st DongGang International Photography Festival, Korea
From July 21 to September 23 2023 myself and collaborator Anne Fehres are exhibiting three works at the DongGang International Photography Festival in Korea. Artists from 77 countries with 6,000 works applied for the international Open Call, which we were successfully selected for.
The photomontage works presented in the exhibition are part of the ongoing documentary project ’News From Home’. Taking place across ten different countries to date, this project seeks to unravel the magical unknowns concealed within the ordinary by exploring the meaningful yet often overlooked stories of a community.
With 'News from Home,' we urge viewers to journey beyond the familiar and seek the magical unknowns nestled in untold stories and unseen realities of global communities. Although each piece's title hints at the location, histories and observations that inspired them, they are meant to spark new interpretations among the audiences at the 21st DongGang International Photo Festival. We encourage the audience to study the works from close and afar, to reveal the magical unknowns hidden within.
PUBLIC OPENING: NEWS FROM HOME - MONDOVÌ
On July 20, 2023, myself and collaborator Anne Fehres presented the 10th edition of "News From Home," a contemporary art and community project that brought us to the rural city of Mondovì, Italy. During our 4-week artist-residency as part the Dialog City European project, we set out to reveal the hidden narratives that shape Mondovì's identity, blending both objective and subjective perspectives.
Immersing ourselves in field research, we captured photographs that embody the essence of this historical city. Embracing the spirit of collaboration, we engaged the community in various physical and digital co-creation activities, encouraging them to share their visions of Mondovì's past, present, and future.
The result is a large 6x2 metre photographic composition, displayed during the Hybrid Festival in Mondovì from July 20 to July 22. This artwork comprises nearly a thousand elements, including children's drawings, historical images, everyday snapshots from community members, city graffiti, and spontaneous street portraits.
Through this fusion of diverse layers, "News From Home" celebrates Mondovì as a place where past, present, and future intertwine in various beautifully messy ways, inviting viewers to embrace the city's multifaceted identity from both local and global perspectives.
OPENING PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
Opening: Thursday 20 July 2023 - 8 PM
Location: Giardini del Belvedere, Mondovì, Italy
The basis for the public art installation News From Home - Mondovì was a 4 week artist-residency in June / July 2023. During the residency I conducted field research within this community - making observations, meeting the community, capturing photographs and asking the community to contribute their own photographs of objects and scenes that relate to Mondovì in the past, present and future. The outcome of this research and visual imagery was the creation of a large-scale photographic composition, that will be presented in public space during the opening on the 20th of July, as part of the Hybrid Festival.
Image on the left: is a small preview of the large-scale (6 x 2 metres) artwork.
DIALOG CITY RESIDENCY IN MONDOVÌ, ITALY
I am currently in Mondovì, Italy, as part of the Dialog City Residency program. Alongside my collaborator, Anne Fehres, we have immersed ourselves in this vibrant community to complete our art project.
During this time, we will explore a diversity of community stories through in-depth research, community collaboration and observation. We are specifically interested in both the objective and subjective stories of the community and its members, relating to both a global and local perspective.
The residency is from June 20 until July 24, 2023. The final presentation of the resulting artwork will be shown from 20 to 22 July at the DIALOG CITY HYBRID FESTIVAL in Mondovì.
SELECTION: 21st DongGang International Photography Festival, Korea
In September myself and collaborator Anne Fehres will exhibit a series of photographic works at the DongGang International Photography Festival in Korea. Artists from 77 countries with 6,000 works applied for the international Open Call Over.
The photomontage works presented in the exhibition are part of the ongoing documentary project ’News From Home’. Taking place across ten different countries to date, this project seeks to unravel the magical unknowns concealed within the ordinary by exploring the meaningful yet often overlooked stories of a community.
With 'News from Home,' we urge viewers to journey beyond the familiar and seek the magical unknowns nestled in untold stories and unseen realities of global communities. Although each piece's title hints at the location, histories and observations that inspired them, they are meant to spark new interpretations among the audiences at the 21st DongGang International Photo Festival. We encourage the audience to study the works from close and afar, to reveal the magical unknowns hidden within.
PREMIERE: VIRTUAL LISTENING @ LINZ FMR23
This week, myself and collaborator Anne Fehres are performing our work "Virtual Listening," which is premiering at LINZ FMR 23 in Linz, Austria from June 6 to 11, 2023.
This immersive, participatory audio work invites participants to explore the festival site blindfolded, guided by a geolocated narration and soundscape. By replacing visual perception with sonic experience, we aim to challenge perceptions and create unique auditory memories. If you are in Austria, we would love you to join us at Linz FMR 23 and discover whether, indeed, "hearing is believing."
This image was taken by Andreas Kepplinger at the press preview of the event - a write up (in German) can be found here at subtext.at
UPCOMING: JUNE, 2023 IN LINZ, AUSTRIA
From 6-11 of June we are in Linz to present our work ‘Virtual Listening’ as part of Linz FMR. As the common saying goes – “seeing is believing”. Whether one visits the City of Linz physically or virtually, it is largely visual perception that dominates our sense of “placemaking”. What might happen therefore, if we were instead to rely on our audio perceptions? How might Linz be perceived if “hearing is believing”?
Our work during the festival will focus upon how digitisation and virtual worlds shape and are shaped by society. In considering the socio-cultural implications of this topic, we aim to create experiences that are both critically reflective and playful.
In ‘Virtual Listening’ we present a participatory sonic experience that reflects on the ephemeral nature of our digital and connected present through a physical experience in public space. In the work an audience is blindfolded and transported by the artists through the festival site on a specially created vehicle. During the guided journey the audience experiences their surroundings via geolocated soundscapes, generated from encounters with this particular location in both physical and virtual space.
SELECTION: DIALOG CITY ART FOR PUBLIC RESIDENCY
Alongside my collaborator Anne Fehres, I have been selected to participate in the DIALOG CITY ART FOR PUBLIC RESIDENCY in Turin and Mondoví. During their 4-week residency, we will explore community stories through research and collaboration with community members, culminating in a large-scale photographic composition to be exhibited during the DIALOG CITY HYBRID FESTIVAL. We look forward to the beginning of the residency and the work that will unfold during our project of co-creation.
Premiere of Unfolding
On April 23 my work ‘Unfolding’ will officially premiere during the International Film Festival Karlsruhe. Unfolding is an experimental short film that reflects on the relationship between nature and humanity through an absurd ‘wellness session’. Set in the year 2070, the audience observes a session titled ‘Guided By Nature’ where a futuristic figure is instructed to undertake a variety of bodily positions and thought exercises at the instruction of an off-screen narrator.
Drawing upon the typical tropes of the 21st Century wellness industry, the session initially appears to be a harmonious and reassuring experience. Gradually, however, the session begins contradicting such expectations as it takes on an uncomfortable tone and thematic focus. Slowly the off-screen narrator is revealed to be a personification of air itself. Frustrated by playing the role of comforting guide, the narrator breaks from script and highlights humanity’s perilous yet essential relationship with the natural world.
Unfolding was created with support of Filmboard Karlsruhe through the Media Arts Film Scholarship.
Virtual Listening - Linz FMR
My new project 'Virtual Listening' has now been completed and will be exhibited in the FMR – Biennial. This is a festival for art in digital contexts and public spaces which will take place in Linz, Austria, from June 6 to 11, 2023 at the southern harbour district.
‘Virtual Listening’ is a participatory sonic experience that reflects on the ephemeral nature of our digital and connected present through a physical experience in public space. In the work an audience is blindfolded and transported through a location on a vehicle. During this journey the audience will encounter their surroundings via a geolocated soundscape, generated from encounters with this particular location in both physical and virtual space.
Residency at Atelierhaus Salzamt for LINZ FMR23
During March I am staying in Linz, Austria at Atelierhaus Salzamt as part of the FM[Ai]R-23 programme. During this reisdency I am working in Linz on my contributions to FMR 23, a site-specific work for the festival in June. My focus during this month is the creation of s sound work and the are building a bike-like vehicle that will transport FMR 23 visitors around the festival site. The visitors will be blindfolded and can experience the sound of the internet.
The project will be exhibited in the FMR – Biennial. This is a festival for art in digital contexts and public spaces which will take place in Linz, Austria, from June 6 to 11, 2023. In March 2023 we are invited for a one-month residency by LINZ FMR to stay at Atelierhaus Salzamt to work on the project. The project will then be exhibited as part of the festival in June 2023.
New project: Virtual Listening at LINZ FMR23
In 2023, I'll work on a new project called ‘Virtual Listening’. ‘Virtual Listening’ is a participatory sonic experience that reflects on the ephemeral nature of our digital and connected present through a physical experience in public space. In the work an audience is blindfolded and transported through a location on a specially created vehicle. During this journey the audience will encounter their surroundings via a geolocated soundscape, generated from encounters with this particular location in both physical and virtual space. The aim of this work is to create a unique public art experience that investigates how digitisation and virtual worlds shape and are shaped by society.
The project will be exhibited in the FMR – Biennial. This is a festival for art in digital contexts and public spaces which will take place in Linz, Austria, from June 6 to 11, 2023. In March 2023 we are invited for a one-month residency by LINZ FMR to stay at Atelierhaus Salzamt to work on the project. The project will then be exhibited as part of the festival in June 2023.
Tender Absence: A Glocal Class for Digital Performance (online)
In February 2023 I'm participating in the online Glocal Class for Digital Performance of Tender Absence, a network for glocal performance art in digital spaces. I will be participating alongside my collaborator Anne Fehres, alongside ten other global artists.
This exchange programme of workshops, talks and work sessions will take place during the week of 20-24 February 2023. The intensive week will focus on the question of how artists can work together in a locally situated and globally networked way. The digital artistic form will also be the focus of the discussion: How can we produce beyond streams and zoom meetings? Who do we address on the Internet? How can we convey our local realities globally without exoticizing them?
VIRTUAL RESIDENCY: Farfara 2031
Myself and collaborator Anne Fehres were selected to undertake a 3-week research-oriented residency within the Farfara 2031 project.
Farfara2031, referring to an island that appeared sporadically on maps of the 16th century, is a project and research process, using the procedure of bidding with this fictional island for the title of European Capital of Culture (ECoC). Designed as an artistic experimental platform Farfara2031 aims to push the boundaries in thinking, practising and experiencing what an ECoC may be if virtuality is considered as a new form of cultural ‘physicality’.
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COMPLETION: Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency program in Stigliano, Italy.
After three weeks of work in the community of Stigliano in Sothern Italy, the Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency program "Creative Communities" is coming to an end.
During this time I have been working on a project titled 'We Are Here', which is a celebration of the recipes and life of the local community through public art installations. The results of this project have now been installed in the streets of Stigliano and join a number of other urban artworks created by international artists as part of the AppARTengo festival.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2022: Activities as part of the Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency program
Myself and collaborator Anne Fehres have been working for the last three weeks on the 'We Are Here', a project which celebrates community and cultural heritage through food, sharing and art. For three weeks we have lived and worked in the rural Italian town of Stigliano as part of the Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency program.
During this period we invited the community to share their personal recipes and the stories associated with them. During the creation of each recipe, we photographed the process alongside various household objects linked to each participant. These diverse images were then brought together and re-composed in Photoshop. The final five works are soon to be presented as public photo-montage artworks installed around Stigliano, each a celebration of culture and identity across many forms.
The works will be officially opened as part of a community feast in Stigliano on 26 November, 2022.
SELECTION: Funding to create a new work to Premiere at The Independent Days Filmfest - Karlsruhe, Germany
Myself and collaborator Anne Fehres have been awarded the UNESCO Media Arts Film Scholarship 2022. From September 2022 to January 2023 we will work on a new film project called Unfolding which will premiere at the International Film Festival Karlsruhe, Germany in 2023.
This is an experimental short film, reflecting on the relationship between nature and humanity through an absurd VR yoga session set in the year 2070. The film takes place in a surreal scene in which a figure undertakes a variety of bodily positions at the instruction of an off-screen narrator - a personification of air. The narrator of air reverses the typical human versus nature hierarchy. An engagement with the ‘other-than-human’ creates a meaningful opportunity to embrace imagination and reflect on previously ingrained assumptions towards the natural world. Through this film the audience is encouraged to reflect upon their previous perspectives towards nature as a passive agent. Instead, in this work, nature is acting upon them.
The film will officially premiere during the International Film Festival Karlsruhe, which will take place from 19-23 April 2023.
SELECTION: Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency in Italy, November 2022.
From an Open Call which attracted over 70 proposals, my project has been selected for the Euro-Mediterranean co-creation residency programme. During the residency, which takes place in Southern Italy, I will be creating a new series of public art interventions which celebrate food.
During the residency I will invite the community in Basilicata to celebrate their cultural heritage through food, sharing and art. The final outcome of this celebration will be the presentation of various large-scale photomontage artworks installed in community public space. Each of these photomontage works will feature images of a particular community individual/family and a recipe they have created. Through its presentation in public space, the community and broader audience will be encouraged to reflect upon the recipes that hold significant individual/local cultural value, bringing them outside of the home and into public space to be honoured.
OUTDOOR TEXTILE INSTALLATION - YPRES, BELGIUM
In September 2022 I installed my textile installation 'Solidarity Sky' during ‘Open Sites’ outdoor art exhibition in Ypres, Belgium. The work consists of hundreds of images of the sky, submitted to the project by people in over 80 different countries in the two years prior to the exhibition. The exhibition will take place between September 5th and October 2nd 2022 on and around the Ypres city walls between the Menin Gate and the Lille Gate in Ypres.
OPENING PUBLIC ARTWORK IN PLOVDIV, BULGARIA
As part of the official opening of my new public artwork in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, I had a national television feature. During the interview the project curator Svetlana Kuyumdzhieva spoke about the project, alongside various shots from the install of the work. This piece was broadcast to thousands of homes as part of the National breakfast news program.
OPENING PUBLIC ARTWORK IN PLOVDIV, BULGARIA
On August 14, 2022 I officially opened my latest public artwork in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This work was created during a 6-week residency, undertaking the ninth edition of @news_from_home, a project which explores the overlooked and omitted stories of a community.
During the residency period I walked over 240 km in the city area, capturing 1000s of photos of the community. A selection of these photos were later cut up in Photoshop and digitally combined into a large photo-montage work.
The final piece features over 500 individual layers, which come together to reflect on various stories from this community, ranging from its ancient history, its socialist past, its present day and imagined future.
The final piece was printed out and pasted up to cover a 5x4 metre wall in the centre of Plovdiv.
COMING SOON: NEW PUBLIC ART WORK IN BULGARIA
Soon I am revealing a public artwork in public! I would love to have you present at the opening to enjoy the art, some light refreshments and conversation. If you know of others who may be interested, please pass on this invitation - all welcome!
Date: Sunday the 14th of August.
Time: 19:00
Location: Back of the BNT-Regional Television Centre Plovdiv building, Nayden Gerov St 8 in Plovdiv
ARTIST TALK AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: BULGARIA
I am currently part way through undertaking the ninth edition of 'News From Home', which explores Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The outcome of the residency will be a large-scale photographic composition in public space.
A recent artist talk as part of the residency program was published in the local newspaper. It can be found on the following link (translation needed).
ARTIST RESIDENCY IN PLOVDIV, BULGARIA (JULY-AUGUST)
I have arrived in Plovdiv (Пловдив), Bulgaria as artists in residence at Context Air. Over the next 6 weeks I will be undertaking the ninth edition of 'News From Home', which explores the Plovdiv community.
During this project I wil be specifically interested in both the objective and subjective stories of this community which express its unique urban identity as a place of ancient history, socialist heritage and modern reality.
The outcome of the residency will be an exhibition of our impressions of such stories, captured in a large-scale photographic composition in public space.
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SELECTION FOR 'CONTEXT AiR' IN BULGARIA, JULY 2022
Alongside my long-term collaborator Anne Fehres, my project 'News From Home' has been selected for 'Context AiR Plovdiv'. This program was initiated by the Municipality of Plovdiv and aims at creating new works, partnerships, interventions in public space, inspired by the city of Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and its eclectic mix of ancient history, socialist heritage and modern reality.
The residency is planned for the second half of 2022 - we will provide regular updates via social media during the project.
AUSTRALIAN PAVILION AT THE 2022 VENICE BIENNALE
Super excited to be part of the Australian Pavilion invigilation program at the Venice Biennale. During June 2022, I'll be working alongside a diverse group 14 Australian creative and cultural workers living in Europe and the United Kingdom who will oversee the day-to-day visitor experience of Marco Fusinato’s exhibition during the Venice Biennale, curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor.
SOUND ART EXHIBITION IN BARCELONA
On December 9th I will be part of a conference talking about art, international co-operation and urban space, as part of the 'Sounds of Our Cities' project. The day will consist of talks about issues related to the project. It takes place at ABF-huset in Stockholm but it will also be livestreamed digitally. I will be part of the 13.00 - 14.00 panel. discussing the topic: 'What is Sounds of our cities?'
Alongside me on the panel will be my collaborator Anne Fehres, Remy Kroese (founder Dearhuntrer), Irati Irulegi (curator Idensitat), Laurent Dewilde (founder Impact), Gino Dehullu (staadt Roeselare), Cumhur Erkut (researcher Aalborg University). The panel will be moderated by Mattias Desac (ABF Stockholm)
SOUND ART EXHIBITION IN BARCELONA
In November I presented the latest edition of my 'News From Home' project in Barcelona as part of @sounds_of_our_cities. Following on from my residency in the Barcelona neighbourhood of Sant Andreu in 2020, during the exhibition period I presented a variety of exhibitions, activation workshops and tours.
FROM 11 TO 21TH OF NOVEMBER: EXHIBITION IN BARCELONA
Coming up in November, I will be exhibiting work as part of 'Sounds of Our Cities'. This is a project based upon research and knowledge transfer between art, technology and social space. The resulting exhibitions include sound art projects developed in two cities, the Krottegem district in Roeselare (Belgium) and the Sant Andreu district in Barcelona, mounting a critical reflection upon cultural identity in relation to community and silence. Follow the link below for all the detail!
Postcard Exchange
The eighth edition of my project News From Home is based in the district of Sant Andreu in Barcelona, as part of the Sounds of Our Cities project. For this project I have created a series of five ‘audio postcards’ inspired by the sounds of Sant Andreu. The postcards feature an object from Sant Andreu on the front and an associated audio piece accessed by a QR-code on the back.
In November, I will be exhibiting my work in Sant Andreu and as part of this will be running a postcard exchange. In the postcard exchange, residents of Sant Andreu will be given the opportunity to send a postcard from their neighbourhood to a variety of locations around the world. These postcards will not only include our work, but also space for a personal written message.
If you would like to receive a postcard, please fill out the ‘Google Form’ here
Online Artist Talk - Part of 'The City' group exhibition.
On October 1, myself alongside collaborator Anne Fehres, will be giving an artist talk, discussing our contribution to the exhibition 'The City'. The City is a digital-based exhibition exploring artistic image and social practice in times of global change. This show is the result of a joint virtual residency that myself alongside twelve other artists and art collectives based in Europe and Russia have undertaken in May-June 2021.
During the artist talk, we will be discussing our contribution to the exhibition - a 360-degree VR work titled 'Naked Windows'. We will discuss our inspiration behind this piece as well as the various methods that went in to its creation.
You can find more details and watch the live artist talk on the exhibition Facebook page.
Premiere: Naked Windows
Today Anne Fehres and I premiere our new work titled 'Naked Windows'. This work was created as part of a six week online residency with St. Petersburg Art Residency, where 12 artists from Europe and Russia created works under the theme of 'The City'.
The piece we created is an immersive 360-degree short film, filmed entirely in our home in the small city of Delft, The Netherlands. It is a meta-work that imagines the possible realities outside of the rectangular boxes presented in virtual meetings, while also grappling with the demand to make purposeful art.
In the video the audience occupies the role of a voyeur, invited by the artists (Anne and myself) to peer ‘backstage’ into our personal interior spaces while we engage in a virtual presentation about our art. In this role, the audience must negotiate their own curiosity and voyeurism while exploring the boundaries between public and private, truth and fiction.
In addition to the online presentation of this project beginning today, over the coming months there will be announcements of further virtual events and a public program complimenting these works.
Behind The Screens
For the past 6 weeks, Anne Fehres and I have been part of a virtual residency with SPAR (St. Petersburg Art Residency). During this residency, we have been creating work in response to the theme of ‘The City’. Our response is a new 360-degree video work titled ‘Naked Windows’.
Our work was inspired by our experiences during the residency, where we engaged with the curators, guests and other artists entirely virtually. During the many hours of online meetings, in this ‘virtual city’ we found ourselves getting lost in the backgrounds of the participants, with each Zoom meeting becoming a sort of cabinet of curiosities.
‘Naked Windows’ is a response to this experience, inviting the audience to peer behind the staged reality of our curated ‘rectangle’ of the virtual meeting. We have created a meta-video work which follows us talking about our art project in a Zoom meeting. Taking place across four rooms in our house, while our virtual background and clothing (from the bottom up) stays constant, the environment outside of this is a surreal world.
The work will be released online this coming Friday, alongside the responses of the eleven other artists in the residency.
UPDATE: 'The City' Residency Program // Naked Windows
During May and June, collaborator Anne Fehres and myself, are participating in an online artist residency titled 'The City'. We are currently writing and brainstorming ideas for our final work, with a working title of 'Naked Windows'
This work will be an interactive 360° video. The title - Naked Windows - refers to the idea of a house without curtains, a common trait of apartments in Dutch cities. Embracing this idea, in the video the audience will occupy the role of a voyeur, invited by the artists to peer ‘backstage’ into their personal and private interior spaces.
You can follow along with our process and find out more about the project on the virtual residency page here. An exhibition for this project will be announced in early July.
Selection for 'The City' Residency Program with the Goethe-Institut and the St. Petersburg Artist Residencies
During May and June, collaborator Anne Fehres and myself, will be participating in an online artist residency titled 'The City'. We were selected for this residency alongside other artists residing in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Italy and Russian Federation.
For the residency we plan to complete a large digital collage animation, around the theme of 'The City'. The exact form and content of this piece will develop throughout the project. The project will last 6 weeks (17 May - 25 June 2021), and will be followed up with an online exhibition (to be opened on 9 July 2021).
The project is co-financed by EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and moreover by the Consulate General of the Netherlands, the Danish Cultural Institute, the Goethe-Institut, the Institut Francais, the Finnish Institute and the Instituto Italiano di Cultura (in St. Petersburg).
Re-creatie Reinaerde Residency - Audio Tour Map
March 31, 2021:
This is the map Anne Fehres and I made for our recent project ‘Talk To Me’. It is an audio tour around the area of De Heygraeff in The Netherlands. In this area we have created five ‘listen locations’, where you will find a local ‘other-than-human’ resident (a mole, pine tree, boom gate, wooden pole or street light), who we have created a fictional conversation with.
By scanning the QR-code at each location, the audience is taken to a webpage where they can listen to a conversation with each resident (approx. 15-20 minutes). In the conversation the audience is encouraged to engage with the local environment in new ways, to hear about their lives and views on the world, but also engage directly with each resident through sight, touch and smell.
The Talk To Me project was created during our residency at Recreatie Reinaerde where we lived and worked in the context of the adult care organisation Reinaerde. As such, many of the ideas and discussions that can be heard in these conversations, relate to our observations and insights from the disability care context.
To help people find the location of each conversation, we have created a map of the area, full of icons. Icons are often used in disability care to help with visual communication with residents, but also all around De Heygraeff environment in the signs communicating places to park, walk, swim, cross the road etc.
The map and conversations are in Dutch. An online video version of each conversation, with English subtitles, will be released soon.
END PRESENTATION: Re-creatie Reinaerde Residency
March 11, 2021:
On the 26th of March, I will be presenting the outcome my artist residency in the 'Re-Creatie' program. Over the past three months I have been working in this program, within the context of Reinaerde, a care organisation in The Netherlands for adults with severe disabilities.
The project I have created, alongside collaborator Anne Fehres, is titled 'Talk To Me'. This project is an audio tour, that invites the audience to listen to five audio pieces in around the context of 'De Heygraeff', where Reinaerde is located. Each of these interviews is with a fictional character, that is 'other-than ‘human'. Although absurd and humorous in nature, the topics that each conversation touches upon offer an insight in to some of the many perspectives around the disabled care context.
We will be presenting the outcome of the residency in an online presentation at 15:30-17:00 CEST, on Friday 26th March. The talk will be in partly Dutch and English. If you would like an invite to the online presentation, please get in contact with me here.
UPDATE: Re-creatie Reinaerde Residency
March 03, 2021:
Over the past weekend myself, alongside collaborator Anne Fehres, headed into the studio in The Hague to record five fictionalised ‘interviews’ with five ‘other-than-human’ interviewees. These recordings will be part of our project ‘Talk To Me’, an audio tour around De Heygraeff, launching at the end of March.
We have been busy creating these scripts over the past month and a half, as part of the Re-Creatie Artist Residency at Reinaerde, a care organisation in The Netherlands for adults with severe disabilities. In the creation of the series of interviews we have aimed to touch on themes and ideas which relate to this disability context in subtle yet meaningful ways.
Progress: Re-creatie Reinaerde Residency
February 14, 2021:
I am currently part way through my Artist-In-Residence in the 'Re-Creatie' program in Woudenberg, The Netherlands. This program brings together the areas of art, social design and reuse in the unique context of the care organisation Reinaerde.
Over the past weeks my collaborator, Anne Fehres, and I have been researching, sound recording and interacting with the community here (as much as is possible during COVID-19 restrictions).
Over the coming weeks we will be writing and recording our 'interviews', which will be the basis for our project 'Talk To Me' - to be presented at the end of March 2021.
You can follow along more closely to the project on the Facebook page below.
Selection for Re-creatie Reinaerde 2021
January 6, 2021:
From January to March 2021 I will be working with Anne Fehres on a new edition of our project 'Talk To Me'. This new edition will occur as part of our selection for the Artist-In-Residence 'Re-Creatie' program in Woudenberg, The Netherlands. This program brings together the areas of art, social design and reuse in the unique context of the care organisation Reinaerde.
Our goal in this new edition of the project is to make new connections between this organisation where people with a (severe) mental and physical disability live, and the (recreational) environment around them. As much use as possible will be made of residual materials from the organization and the surroundings. In this way, care for people and material come together in one place: physical and social repair.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be various challenges and restrictions along the way, however we are very excited to dive in to this new edition of our project in this context.
Newspaper Release!
December 1, 2020:
The News From Home newspaper has arrived. This 16 page newspaper features 52 stories and accompanying collages from the first six locations of this project. After working away digitally on the newspaper for months and the @news_from_home project for over two years, we have just received the final prints in the mail. Thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy, they will be on their journey to you soon!
BARCELONA - For 'Sounds of our Cities' Project
November 04, 2020
Alongside artist Anne Fehres, I am currently undertaking a residency in Barcelona as part of the SOUNDS OF OUR CITIES project. This is a European project of cultural cooperation based upon research and the transfer of knowledge among the spheres of art, technology and social space. It is led by the City of Roeselare, Idensitat, Dear Hunter and Aalborg Universitet.
The objective is to activate sound art ideas in order to create a story that, from contemporary reality, deals with the concept of "silenced spaces". Taking recall and memory as its point of departure, the project aims to offer a fictional landscape upon which to project various realities, while opening up debate upon current issues.
We will be working on our project 'News From Home' during the residency - capturing various sounds from the local community of Sant Andreu (Barcelona). We will develop an exhibition of our work from this period, to be displayed next year.
EXHIBITION OPEN!
September 18, 2020:
Today is the opening of 'TASMAN' and exhibition by myself and collaborator Anne Fehres. The works are created out of a variety of eclectic resources from 90s pop culture, internet iconography, stock photography, historical archives and personal images. Each piece in the exhibition consists of hundreds of individual images that have been digitally brought together and later added to with a variety of manual techniques. What emerges from this approach, is a mythology that is full of contradictions and new interpretations, where Abel Tasman remains just as unknowable as ever.
Talk To Me - Project Opening on Pampus Island, The Netherlands
August 16, 2020:
Over the weekend Anne Fehres and I opened our latest project 'Talk To Me' as part of the exhibition for Het Klimaatmuseum on Fort Island Pampus in The Netherlands.
‘Talk To Me’, is a humorous and thoughtful sound project which aims to explore the possibility for Human communication with the ‘Other Than Human’. It does so through the creation of various absurdist, fictional dialogues with objects/entities.
For the exhibition on Pampus Island we created fictional dialogues with three natural objects on the island - a tree, stone and grass blade. The interactive sound installation takes the audience on a journey through each object's life. The story of each object offers an examination of the human condition, ultimately touching on the basic things that make us who we are and encourage a greater imagination towards the earthly objects all around us.
The audio from this exhibition can be found below.
Talk To Me - Opening 15th August, Pampus Island, The Netherlands
August 09, 2020
Over the past weeks, I, alongside my collaborator Anne Fehres, have been working on an audio project titled 'Talk To Me' for Het Klimaatmuseum. This project will be opened on Pampus Island, in The Netherlands in the coming week. 'Talk To Me' presents three fictional conversations with objects on this island. Through listening and actively engaging with the conversations presented, this project aims to encourage new perspectives and help build a greater consideration of the natural world around us.
Selection for ARE Holland Residency Program
August 07, 2020
During July, August and September I will be working at Artist Residency Enschede (ARE), working on a variety of new textile works. These works will be based on Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer who was the first European to set foot on Tasmania. The results of the residency will be exhibited in the gallery 'Concordia', in Enschede at the end of the residency period.
ART ON AN ISLAND
July 22, 2020
In August, a new project titled 'Talk To Me' will be exhibited on the Pampus, an island off Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Talk To Me is a sound installation that gives nature on Pampus a voice. What does a tree, stone or blade of grass have to say? Absurd sounds and fictional dialogues make us think about a different, more sustainable world
I am in a short documentary talking about my project Solidarity Sky
June 16, 2020
I was recently part of a short documentary where alongside my co-creator Anne Fehres I talked about one of my lastest project - Solidarity Sky. In the clip I talk about the inspiration for this project , how it came about and also what I hope to achieve with it.
New Textile Works - Thanks to Arts Tasmania Funding
June 08, 2020
With assisstance from Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts, I have been able to purchase a variety of textile materials to experiment with. This was as part of The Vita Brown Bequest Bursary.
I have been really pleased with the new forms that are starting to appear and the new directions this is pushing my practice. I have been
particularly focusing on experiments with the Japanese practice of ‘boro’. Boro, meaning 'tattered', is the practice of repairing clothes/futons by sewing small pieces of scrap fabric over holes. The results of this experiments will be seen soon!
News From Home - Pardubice
June 01, 2020
The seventh edition of ‘News From Home’ has just been completed. It took place in Pardubice in The Czech Republic, during May 2020.
During this period we travelled to this community virtually, creating works based on Pardubice as seen through ‘online spaces’. This postcard records this exploration, showing four scenes captured by the artists during a tour of the town through Google Earth.
This work raises the question: is a postcard created without ever visiting a place any less authentic than one created there but only showing it’s idyllic side? It is questions such as this that capture the aim of this project, to encourage alternative stories and representations of communities.
The four main works from the residency will be released in the coming days.
NEW PROJECT - Solidarity Sky
May 31, 2020
I was able to secure funding from Stroom Den Haag (The Netherlands) this month, to help support the online project Solidarity Sky. Created in collaboration with Dutch artist Anne Fehres, this is a virtual community driven artwork with the aim of bringing people together through sharing personal images of the sky. On the website, users are invited to become the artist in this project, contributing their own ‘piece of sky’ that will join a larger ‘virtual sky’ made up of thousands of images from across the world.
This project is inspired by Anne Frank who, while in hiding from prosecution at the age of 13, wrote in her diary: I looked out of the open window...over all the roofs and on to the horizon, which was such a pale blue that it was hard to see the dividing line. "As long as this exists" I thought, "and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy"
What she captures in this quote is the power of the sky, despite circumstances, to hold our hopes, dreams and desires. Solidarity Sky aims to build on this sentiment. It intends to encourage creative participation, unite people across real and imagined borders and foster hope through shared visions of something we all hold common – the sky above our heads
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Exhibition Opening - News From Home in Russia
December 24, 2019
On the 24th of December, 2019 I was in Russia to open the exhibition 'News From Home' Petrozavodsk. This project was the work of myself and Anne Fehres (The Netherlands) and consisted of 16 collages and 38 photographs. As part of the opening there was a postcard exchange organised as part of our the project. Forty four locals from Petrozavodsk wrote a message on a postcard designed for this project. These postcards will be sent to to people in 18 different countries around the world including Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Iceland, Finland, Spain, Philippines, India, The Netherlands, Russia, U.S.A, Canada and Indonesia.
Iceland Group Show - ICEFOLD
November 29, 2019
We have enjoyed our time in Iceland over the past month and it was great to be part of the group show at the SIM Residency Gallery. We decided to show a 'video postcard', which was a new way to experiment with our works. In the future we hope to continue working with the ideas and images we have captured in Iceland, to create prints and postcards.
Participation in BYOB Festival, Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht
October 05, 2019:
Last week I participated in the Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB) Festival in the Netherlands. The festival took place in NicolaiKerk in Utrecht, and involved over 30 individual artists all using moving imagery in some way. During the festival I showed a portion of my previous project 'Phantasm'. This work can be seen on the bottom right of the image, with the church and other pieces in the background. Read more about the festival here:
Open Studio
September 21, 2019:
On the 19th of September we held an open studio and artist talk at the Viborg Kunsthal in Denmark. We were really happy with the turn out and recieved some positive comments as well as ideas for our future projects. Our project 'News From Home' is all about the community, so it was great to have so many people connect with our work.
We're on Russian TV!
July 31, 2019:
Myself and collaborator Anne Fehres held an Artist Talk about our project News from Home at the медиа-центр vыход/ media center vykhod in Petrozavodsk. We had a greataudience and a Russian television station came to film the presentation. This presentation was a good closure for our stay at the Karelian Art Residence. We are leaving with more experiences, lots of stories and we are looking forward to come back for our exhibition in December.
Russian Residency
July 16, 2019:
This month I am in Petrozavodsk, Russia, working on my project News From Home. I will spend the month here researching and taking images, before returning here with the finished pieces in late December. I will have a show at Media Center Vykhod in Petrozavodsk, opening on December 24, 2019. More details to come.
EXHIBITION OPENING IN BERLIN - 31st May
May 29, 2019:
I have an opening coming up very soon in Berlin, for a project called PHANTASM. See the details below.
WHEN: Friday 31st May at 7 PM – 10 PM
WHERE: Hosek Contemporary MS Heimatland / Fisherinsel, 10179 Berlin,
Phantasm is a video art project presenting various surreal scenes that explore the notions of ‘nature’ and ‘the natural’. The audiovisual installation involves multiple video projections in the main exhibition space of Hosek Contemporary, an old cargo boat floating on the River Spree.
Artist Residency at Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin
Thursday, January 03, 2019
Today I start an artist residency at Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin, Wedding. I have started an Instagram page where you can follow my progress in this residency, in the project called 'News From Home'. It's cold so far, but such a creative city to get inspired by.
Selection in Tasmanian Portraiture Prize
This exhibition will tour three cities in Tasmania. The entry that I had selected can now be found on my main page - 'The Family Photo'. If you are in Tasmania, I hope you can go and check it out!