This weekend a new museum will open in Amsterdam. Nxt Museum (@nxtmuseum) is the first museum in the country completely dedicated to new media art. In the opening exhibition “Shifting Proximities” several large scale, immersive multi-sensory exhibits can be viewed. Some of them commissioned especially for this brand new museum.
The 7 (large!) rooms of the museum all have a little anteroom to prepare the visitor for the artworks. That’s no luxury, as most of the artworks are truly immersive. They suck you in, sometimes making you lose sense of space. Most rooms are quite dark, obviously and – even though it was one of my favorites of the exhibition – the work by United Visual Artists (@unitedvisualartists) actually gave me some kind of motion sickness. That may be my age speaking, however. 😉
There are several recurring topics throughout the exhibition. Interaction between visitors and artworks for example. Sensors play an important part in these works – as they do in the reality of the Internet of things we now live in.
The possibilities and dangers of artificial intelligence is another. As is the relationship between nature and technology, exploring black holes, waterfalls and forests.
The museum can be found in Amsterdam Noord (North), a couple of minutes walking-distance from the ferry across the IJ river from Amsterdam Central Station. Tickets for a specific time-slot need to be purchased online beforehand. (Mind you: they’re not cheap. 😕)
👨🎨 Heleen Blanken (@heleenblanken) (software development: NAIVI; sound artist: Stijn van Beek)
🖼️ Habitat (2020)
🏛️ Nxt Museum
🎟️ Shifting Proximities
📅 from August 29
