Kinan Art Residence Vol.2 

Following on Kinan Art Residence Vol.1 in 2023, Kinan Art Residence Vol.2 in 2024 will be held.
This program invites artists from Japan and abroad to stay in the Kinan region and conduct research on various aspects of the region’s culture and history, and develop artworks and art projects inspired by this research.
This year, the program invites Dutch contemporary artist Geert Mul.
Geert is a pioneer of media art representing the Netherlands and continues to think about the relationship between nature and technology. Geert is interested in Kumagusu Minakata, a leading naturalist in the Kinan region, will conduct two months of research on Kumagusu Minakata in Tanabe City and Nakahechi, Wakayama, Japan by reading our Kumagusu Minakata Talk Session and he will present new works in the Kinan region from 2025 onwards.
The residency will also include one or two additional artists from Japan, to be announced soon.

<Overview of the residency>

Period: 18 Jul – 15 Sep (planned)

Residence: Towa-so (Tanabe City, Wakayama), Kiri-no-Sato Takahara (Nakabeji, Tanabe City, Wakayama)

＜Residence Artist＞

＠Geert Mul

Biography Geert Mul 

Geert Mul (1965) is a pioneer in the field of digital art and has been exploring for over 25 years the possibilities of a poetry in the language of new media. This resulted in a flow of experimental artworks in a wide range of media: prints, light-objects, video and interactive/generative computer installations. The interrelationship between technology and perception is a leitmotiv in the oeuvre of Geert Mul. 

After over 25 years of artistic practice, Geert Mul’s work has evolved into an exploration of the interconnectedness between humanity, technology, and nature. ‘I aim to reconceptualize the perceived divisions and connections between ‘man’, ‘technology’, and ‘the natural’,’. Mul emphasizes that it is literally of vital importance to acknowledge how technology determines our relationship with nature. 

Geert Mul studied art from 1985 -1990 at the HKA Arnhem where he graduated with computer animations, video and kinetic sculptures. After his studies, he traveled in Mexico, the United States and Asia. He resided for one year in Tokyo. Since 1993 Mul lives and works in Rotterdam, Holland. In the mid-1990s, Mul became one of the first VJ’s, in the alternative Techno scene. These events grew into interactive audio-visual environments, commissioned artworks and installations which were exhibited in a variety of contexts: public space, museums and festivals. 

Mul exhibited in major musea in The Netherlands: Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. International: National 

Museum of Modern Art Kyoto Japan, Museo Nacional Reina Sofia Madrid, Institute Valencia Arte Moderne, Fondation Cartier, Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. 

Geert Mul lives and works in Rotterdam, is represented by gallery Ron Mandos, Amsterdam.

Artist statement. 

We utilize media as a means to observe and document the world around us. However, when our ideologies are ingrained within our technological media, shaping our perception of reality, can we truly engage in critical observation? 

I believe that art offers a means to break free from this closed loop. The history of art is a history of experimentation with media. At its core, the concept and practice of art revolve around exploring the relationship between medium and content, in order to both free the media and the message. 

For me, the content in art arises from a subversive approach to media conventions, just as poetry plays with the conventions of language. My work is not bound by logic, I improvise with correlations and connotations. The resulting artworks are speculative in nature and eschew the pursuit of perfect technological representation in favor of poetic creation. 

Collections: 
Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, NL
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, NL
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, NL
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken / Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, NL 
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen 
Kunstcollectie Menzis / Menzis Art Collection 
Collection Citizen M Hotels 
KRC Collection / Collection Rattan Chadha 
Collection Jeroen Princen 
Collection of Hugo and Carla Brown, Cobra to Contemporary, The Hague, NL 
Collection Antoinde de Galbert 
IVAM, Valencia, ES 

Activities: 
1993 – present Digital Media artist, artistic research, art in public space. 
2009 – present Parttime professor at Gerrit Rietveld Academy, DOGtime, Amsterdam. 
2010 – present Board member Telco Systems: Rotterdam based experimental art collective. 
2018 – present Board member Culture Unlimited: contemporary crossover music festival. 
2023 – present Board member Ron Mandos Young Blood Foundation: supporting young artistic talent. 
2008 Co-founder Baltan Media Laboratories, Eindhoven. 2004 – 2012 Creative board Showroom MAMA,Rotterdam. 2002 Jury – Prix de Rome – Rijksacademie Amsterdam. 1994 – 2000 VJ Cut-Up. 

Awards: 
2023 FESPA Award 2023 München: Media art
2016 Art in Public Space Award – Lenticular Cloud for Deloitte Building Amsterdam 
2015 International FIAT/IFTA Award with Beeld en Geluid Hilversum: Most innovative use of Archive. 
2011 Best Practice Award Virtual Platform Holland. 2011 Share Prize Museum of Science Turin Italy. 2010 Witteveen+Bos Art & Technology Award. 1995 The Rotterdam Art Award. 

＠Geert Mul

<Status of the stay>