Artist in Residence - Hydromedia: Seeing with water

Hydromedia: Seeing with water is a collaboration project of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (Belgium), HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (HKU, NL) and the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Karlsruhe (DE). For the residency in Utrecht, the following four artists have been selected.

Mariko Hori

Mariko Hori is a Japanese visual artist living in in Amsterdam and occasionally in Belgrade (Serbia). She is also the singer of Tokyo-based experimental band ‘Information’ and organiser of the international experimental event ‘Soro-sorO’.

Instagram: Mariko Hori

Alexandra Crouwers

Alexandra Crouwers is visual artist and PhD artistic researcher at the LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven (Belgium). By using a range of digital technologies, from LiDAR scanning and augmented reality to immersive 3D animations and avatars, Crouwers is researching the relation between ‘the real’ and the ‘unreal’, which is essentially the surreal.

Instagram: Alexandra Crouwers

Meng-Chan Yu

Meng-Chan Yu is a visual artist, mainly specialised in the research of materials. She began studying Fine Art in Taiwan and later moved to Germany and Finland to further develop her conceptual and interdisciplinary skills.

Her works are about nature, ecology and the environment. Her creative process is concept-driven and supported by thorough material experiments. By studying the characteristics of materials, she investigates the possibilities that these materials reveal and applies this knowledge in her artistic practices.

Instagram: Meng-Chan Yu

Sanne Vaassen

Sanne Vaassen (NL) seeks out alternative facts by dismantling (non-)materials; shifting, twisting and reshaping it. She often deconstructs objects that have been given a certain meaning and value within society. She also has a tendency to create unconventional measuring tools with characteristics that are traditionally seen as inefficient. A recurring theme in her practices is making the invisible observable by capturing a moment in time.
Instagram: Sanne Vaassen

Symposium Hydromedia: Seeing With Water

The symposium was kicked off on Thursday 5 October 2023 in Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, shedding a light on (our relation to) water and water management from the perspectives of philosophy, ecology, science and fine art. Various speakers shared their views on water, with talks by René ten Bos (former Philosopher of the Nation) and Suzette Bousema (artist).
Instagram: Hydromedia: Seeing With Water

Exhibition in AG

A total of twelve artists have been selected via open calls to conduct research and experimental works at the Art Academies of Antwerp (KASK), Utrecht (HKU) and Karlsruhe (HfG), centred around ecological challenges related to water and water management through an artistic approach. In the month of October, HKU receives four of these artists. They are staying in Utrecht for one month to conduct research and create works.

The works will be displayed for the first time during the exhibition in AG– Hall for new arts and media (formerly known as the Academy Gallery) in Utrecht, from 17 February to 2 March (opening ceremony on 16 February).

The programme Hydromedia: Seeing with Water is partially supported by the EU’s Creative Europe programme. In the fall of 2024, the works of all the 12 participants will be collectively displayed in the curated group expo in the Dresden Museum of Technology and Industry (Germany).