Kinan Art Residence vol.4
Following on from Kinan Art Residence Vol.1 in 2023, Kinan Art Residence Vol.2 in 2024 and Kinan Art Residence Vol.3 in 2025, Kinan Art Week held Kinan Art Residence Vol.4 in 2025.
This programme invites artists from Japan and abroad to stay in the Kinan region, where they conduct research on various aspects of the region’s culture and history, and develop artworks and art projects inspired by their research. Every year, one to two artists are invited to apply.
Geert Mul, a contemporary artist from the Netherlands who was in residence last year, has returned to Kinan.Geert is a pioneer of media art in 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, and with the support of the Dutch government, will conduct three weeks of research in Tanabe City, Nakabeji Town, Kushimoto Town and Nachikatsuura Town in Wakayama Prefecture, with plans to present new works in the Kinan region from 2025 onwards.
Heard toured various parts of Kumano in search of large trees, stopping his car whenever he spotted a tree along the way. He had no hesitation in going down the valley to photograph it, even if it was a steep place with a valley lying beside the tree and a river flowing at the bottom.
When I got closer, I saw that it was a large tree beside a small shrine dedicated to the local deity, and although it was not particularly ornate, it certainly had a distinctive presence.
Artist AWAYA Fukushima Masatomo, who accompanied Hare, said that it was impressive to see how Hare, with his unique aesthetic sense, was invited by the trees of Kumano to engage in a dialogue with them.
Geert also participated in the Oku-Nachi Falls Retreat held at the World Heritage Site of Nachi Falls, where she toured the Nachi primeval forest, a special ‘sacred area’ that is normally inaccessible. Away from the artists and art for a while, he celebrated the opportunity to interact with the participants through the pristine forest.
Art residencies are not only about artists stimulating each other, but also about coming into contact with the culture and nature of the land and weaving connections that will have a great impact on the creation of artworks.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to AWAYA Fukushima Masatomo for their cooperation this time.
We look forward to seeing Geert Mul’s new work.
＜Outline of the residency＞
Period: 16 Mar – 5 Apr 2025.
Residence: Towa-so (Tanabe, 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＞
