“The home of new media art” – Amsterdam is not shy when it comes to museums, cultural discoveries and innovative events. In a context where the Netherlands is developing a strong presence in new media (particularly XR and immersive), we set out to discover the Nxt Museum, a museum 100% dedicated to these new modern writings and renewed dialogues with digital and technology focused works. Here’s a look back at a lively, innovative venue that opened in 2020, with Creative director Natasha Greenhalgh, who co-founded the museum with Managing Director Merel van Helsdingen.
Cover: Connected by Roelof Knol with sound by Marc Mahfoud. Part of the inaugural exhibition at Nxt Museum,Shifting Proximities. © Peter Tijhuis
Why the Nxt Museum?
Natasha Greenhalgh – There was a real need for a permanent venue for new media art in general, and especially for exhibitions that could accommodate large-scale works and contemporary creators. There are, of course, already a number of such venues around the world, but not currently in The Netherlands. What’s more, the Nxt Museum also nurtures and stimulates new forms of creativity through the commissioning of new works and by offering a space to discuss and learn – a knowledge centre for emerging technology. Nxt aim’s to push the boundaries of what a museum can be – a space to create, test, learn, fail, dance and discuss – to offer a proactive space for the world of contemporary new media art.
N. G. – There are many events and festivals devoted to new digital works: Sónar Barcelona in Spain, GIFF in Switzerland, Ars Electronica… And there are also great pop-up events in both physical and online locations. We are convinced that it’s imperative for the public (and creators) to have a permanent home for new media art – a place that is open all year around – a physical location to come together and reflect on culture and the development of technology. Nxt Museum offers this, a hybrid space that explores varying subjects, themes and modes of creative expression. We don’t just focus on digital practices but a broad spectrum of new media, with exhibitions of 3D-printed sculptures, robotics, video games, sound…
N. G. – Having the Nxt Museum in the Netherlands is a wonderful opportunity to further explore and showcase the rich surrounding context – where new media creativity is high, with fantastic courses, education, festivals and support from cultural initiatives and spaces. p. And above all, with many academics involved in the field, driving innovation forward.
Curating for the Nxt Museum: exhibitions, public programme and education
N. G. – As far as our programming is concerned, we aim to keep it as current and relevant in terms of subjects and creative tools as possible. This means that the format for and the type of programme we do is very open to change.. Key for us is that the exhibitions all stem from very vigorous curation (and research), with a strong curatorial narrative running throughout developed by very experienced and knowledgeable curators. In addition to our large scale exhibitions (within which we have a strong focus on the commissioning of new works), we also create public programmes and events that focus on education, movement and sound. These include the likes of workshops (i.e. creative coding, filter creation, slow looking) performances (music and dance), residencies (notably with Amsterdam Dance Event) and talks – a range of formats, with various modes of engagement. The aspiration is to make learning and engaging with art more approachable and accessible – We want audiences to feel comfortable in a museum, to feel that art is for them, and believe that helping people to develop the tools to learn and understand is an important part of that. Especially with our focus on technology, and the increasingly rapid rate at which it is developing, we try to provide insights into these developments, to encourage discussion and empower people with knowledge.
N. G. – While ‘digital’ works and tools play a big part in our exhibitions and programming, the physical and sonic aspect of the works is an equally big part. It is the highly multidisciplinary nature of the works at Nxt Museum (coders, developers, architects, poets, scientist, sculptures, musicians, etc) that brings an exciting and fresh approach, with heightened levels of creativity, and new modes of collaboration. Through these collaborations and the commissioning of work from varying creators and makers (whether or not they have a typical arts background), we see the formation of all new ideas and forms of exploration. An example of this could be in our inaugural exhibition “Shifting Proximities” where curators Bogomir Dorringer andJesse Damiani presented the first artwork exhibited by Roelof Knol. Discovered on Instagram during the pandemic period, the curators worked with him to transform his tabletop size interactive pieces into a room size installation in collaboration with a sound artist. This enabled us to welcome him alongside more established artists such as Marshmallow Laser Feast and Lucy McRae offering an interesting dialogue between practices.
N. G. – Focusing on the most contemporary forms of creative expression is our DNA. With a lot of these being tools native to younger people, we have seen an incredible level of engagement with younger audiences. For example with our exhibition UFO – Unidentified Fluid Other (curated by Bogomir Doringer) which focused primarily on digital identities, we saw a record number of people under 30 in the museum. With the video-game based works by (award winning new media artist) Lu Yang (“Great Adventure of Material World“), The younger audiences totally immersed themselves in these gamified environments, navigating their way through complex philosophical worlds. Offering different modes and levels of immersion is important to us. Especially in a period where the term ‘immersive’ has totally exploded. There are many different ways in which to immerse oneself. Reading a book, walking in nature being deep in conversation is also immersive. For us it’s about being fully engaged, about bringing our visitors as close to creation and curation as possible, physically and mentally. It comes from the subtle interactions and the curatorial narrative as much as it can from a room of projection surfaces. It’s important to have this balance – the understanding of the human body, of all our senses and the space(s) in which we inhabit. This is also why for every large scale work we have, we also have smaller more intimate moments to reflect, to learn, to be.
N. G. – Performance is an important part of our programming at Nxt Museum.. It’s a real opportunity to explore varying types of creative expression, to further connect with the public and with new and different types of audiences. It’s an interesting opportunity to create live open dialogue and interaction between creators and visitors. It offers a different type of ‘interaction’. Another theme that we have seen with increasing attention over the past years. With audiences wanting and even now expecting ever more interaction with works. . This for some of the artists we work with has been an interesting reflection point. If you take Heleen Blanken’s work from our first exhibition (HABITAT), she intentionally chose to work with very subtle interactions, and not give into the elaborate reactions that visitors often want as part of our culture of heightened instant gratification. For Heleen who creates work based on the development of and our relationship with nature, the idea is not to stimulate interactivity at all costs, but to slow things down, to the subtle and nuanced speed of our natural environments – to encourage visitors to take their time to tune in and connect.
Nxt Museum… and the XR world?
N. G. – We hosted a VR installation in 2022, as part of our Amsterdance Dance Event Artist in Residence Programme. The installation (XENOPUNK by Transmoderna) worked to supplement the audio-visual dance performance that took place during one of the evening (where 750 people raved inside the museum, cocooned in the virtual words projected around them on the wall and floor while the DJ played live the centre of the visual work and audience). Our intention was to explore and offer different levels of immersion/connection to the digital works, and the VR, as to be expected, offered during the day time, the opportunity to come face to face with and better explore the digital ecosystems and charters that comprise the work. While it’s wonderful to present VR works in the museum, the challenge that we have with doing so via headsets is capacity and maintenance. We need extra staff and equipment, just for a few helmets, and there can be quite a backlog of people waiting to use them. To try and find a balance in this, for this presentation we also complemented theVR with other content (projecting part of the work the huge projection surface in the space so others could engage while waiting to use the VR and as a means to open up the dialogue and offer a collaborative way of viewing and engaging.. VR headset do still pose quite a challenge for us, and we hope to find new solutions in the future. There are some fascinating works out there. Whether VR or AR, so we need to find ways of making the public’s experience of these formats more fluid.
N. G. – To increase access to the works at Nxt and offer alternative ways of learning about them and the arists (including collecting their works as NFTs) started a “Nxt Virtual Gallery. It’s still a form of experimentation, but one that allows us to also test building an online archive of the installations at Nxt Museum. While blockchain can help to authenticate artworks and artists we see it also as a wonderful opportunity for them to build on their portfolio and easily share it (globally) and in a way that’s curated and informative.
Nxt Museum: what’s next?
N. G. – We host until September our first solo exhibition – one entirely dedicated to the artist collective Random International, which looks back on 20 years of their incredible endeavours.Curated by Bogomir Doringer, the exhibition dives into questions about humanity, and what it means to be human today, in an world that is increasingly technological. With the presentation of newly commissioned large scale interactive works (such as “Mother Flock” and “The Living Room” as well as classics like their “Swarm Studies” we take the opportunity to revisit, sometimes through a more research and academic point of view, the impact of new technologies (AI, biomimicry, NFTs…) on the ways we engage, interact and interpret not only one another but the world around us. It’s a fascinating series of studies on human behaviour, based on extensive research, through new media works. And with a lot of evocative multisensory moments that really take your breath away!
N. G. – Next up (June 1st & 2nd) “Breath in a Physical Resolution” – live dance performances by local Dutch dance Collective ICK, which will take place inside the artworks as a response to Random International solo exhibition. And in our largest space, “Nxt Stage” Marco Brambilla takes a critical look at Hollywood glamour (until June 2024). We also have a very special launch event with I-Do (23/22 May), where they will present their new sculptures and collectables, along with a performance by acclaimed artist Sevdaliza. And more to come!
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