Math Expressionism
Math Expressionism
CCU turns 5 and to celebrate we’re organising "Math Expressionism" at the brand new venue “NAR Café der kunsten”.
Math Expressionism (Math Ex) is an exhibition showcasing the work of artists from the (inter)national community of creative coders. The programme dives into the field of generative art and presents the makers and their tools, the communities they are part of, and the creative processes that shape their work.
Math Ex is also an experiment with Non Fungible Token’s (NFT’s). Through workshops and discussions we offer both makers and collectors hands-on opportunities to develop their own perspective on this controversial field. Makers will share their experiences of being part of NFT communities such as Hic et Nunc and Artblocks. We’ll discuss the controversies and the interesting developments that have emerged. Of course all of this is embedded in a festive programme where all senses will be triggered by means of art, food, drinks and music.
The exhibition is opened on Thursday at 17:00, and Friday until Sunday at 12:00.
Math Ex Exhibition
Math Expressionism (Math Ex) is a programme and a hands-on experiment with the aim to get to terms with the impact of NFTs. Throughout the programme we explore the potential and pitfalls for digital artists and collectors. The exhibition presents the work of artists & designers who use code as creative medium in all its guises. Code can be the tool that generates the digital image, but it can also be the system that drives a robot arm to draw a picture on paper.
Artists: Ahnjili Zhuparris, Alice Stewart, Darien Brito, Eliza SJ, Jaco Schilp, Katpatat, Raphaël de Courville, Sam Tsao, Saskia Freeke, and Zeno van den Broek
The exhibition is opened on Thursday 3/3 at 17:00, and Friday 4/3 until Sunday 6/3 at 12:00.
Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have rocked the art world and unleashed a gold rush among creators. Millions in cryptocurrency are being paid for digital certificates of ownership. While much of the debate is focused on what this all means for the art market or the environmental impact of blockchain technologies, the most important effect of NFTs is that a lively discussion on the appreciation of digital art has finally hit the mainstream.
Math Expressionism (Math Ex) is a programme and a hands-on experiment with the aim to get to terms with the impact of NFTs. Throughout the programme we explore the potential and pitfalls for digital artists and collectors. The exhibition presents the work of artists & designers who use code as creative medium in all its guises. Code can be the tool that generates the digital image, but it can also be the system that drives a robot arm to draw a picture on paper.
Math Ex aims to demystify some of the lingo and focus on how online communities are dealing with some of the criticism. We’ve invited local and international makers of the creative coding community to join the programme, mint and exhibit their work and share their personal vision on NFTs. CCU offers different perspectives and tools to let you navigate the debate and appreciate digital art for what its worth ;-)
Visit the exhibition for artworks by both new and established (inter)national artists in the NFT world. The artist list exists of Ahnjili Zhuparris, Alice Stewart, Darien Brito, Eliza SJ, Jaco Schilp, Katpatat, Raphaël de Courville, Sam Tsao, Saskia Freeke, and Zeno van den Broek.
The exhibition is opened on Thursday 3/3 at 17:00, and Friday 4/3 until Sunday 6/3 at 12:00.
Physical NFTs Serie by Jaco Schilp
In a digitalizing world the way how we see digital art, and its role it plays in society is rapidly changing. Within the development of technology artis should think about the role they are playing within this process. With the rise of NFT art, artists can provide themselves with new opportunities for developing new kinds of art and how they can present their art to the public.
In this rapidly changing art world, artists should always be aware of the impact their art has on society and the world around them.
For me as an artist the social inclusiveness of my work related to the accessibility of the interfaces I am using, are elements of importance for me. That's why I am presenting my first 5 NFT,s as physical NFT objects, and with that exploring the boundaries between digital and physical art.
Jaco Schilp
Moral Crypto Cleansing: Climate Impact, Fraud, and Money Laundering by Ahnjili Zhuparris
There is a dark side to NFTs, albeit its climate impact, and a potential vehicle for fraud and money laundering. Here, I invite you to engage in 'digital moral cleansing', an opportunity for you to "wash away" your immoral acts by purchasing an NFT that would "clean" your moral debt. For each of these dark sides, the profits of the NFT will go to a respective charity or research organization.
Ahnjili Zuparris
Fracture by Darien Brito
A project based on procedural geometry and boolean operations. The motivation for this collection was to explore structures and compositions that rely on union (OR), intersection (AND) and subtraction (XOR), both on the vertex and pixel levels.
The scenes are generated by aleatoric processes that use specific numerical starting points, or "seeds". That implies that if the seeds are known, then any given scene can be re-created.
Darien Brito
curi:o (s) by Eliza SJ
curi:o(s) - unusual objects, curious translucent shapes. Works created using procedural methods for generating natural-looking patterns and shapes. GLSL / refraction / domain warping.
Eliza SJ
HOKJES by Katpatat
In HOKJES we ask the question of why we as people always categorize things and never stop to think on why this is and if it’s still relevant to do so.
The works represent the feeling of flowing through life but always walking against the ‘invisible’ frames (hokjes). We got inspired by abstract works and the idea of the liminal space between the physical and digital worlds. For us this is a great tool to make these mostly hidden parts of society aparant and tangible and to express our thoughts about them in an indirect manner. In the end it’s all about being who you are, but to get there you first have to identify and actively push through the HOKJES.
Katpatat
Cellular Stains - "Detonation" series by Katpatat
In Cellular Stains, colors spread and blend in twisted, surnatural ways. Sometimes, strange landscapes or ominous structures emerge from the colorful mess. Does our tendency to interpret noise lead us to hallucinate these fantastic places? Or is the machine trying
to show us glimpses of another world?
Detonation is a small series of handpicked pieces generated from the same set of parameters.
Katpatat
Carat by Saskia Freeke and Raphaël de Courville
I come from a family of gemstones merchants going back a hundred years. In fact, I'm of the first generation who did not pursue the career. Published on fxhash on December 22nd 2021, the 0.20 carat collection was my way to pay homage to this heritage. For this new series, I asked other generative artists to bring their unique style to the emerald cut gemstone motif. Each piece is published as a single edition on the versum marketplace.
Saskia Freeke
Raphaël de Courville
Persistance by Sam Tsao
An oppressive lattice of monochrome blocks wind and shift around indefinitely. Despite this, a pattern of color permeates specific blocks. Clicking and dragging moves the lattice around and mouse-wheeling zooms in and out of it, but the colored blocks remain where they are, persisting.
Made by Sam Tsao with P5.js and GLSL
Sam Tsao
Synergetic Lineation by Saskia Freeke
Harmonious lines, derived from the connection of one coordinate towards the next one in the array. Leaving traces, etched repetitively on the canvas. During the process of formation, multiple arrangements arise, blending together amass. The inherent connections of the lines, then, finally result in a glyph-like assembly.
Generative Artwork, series of 4, web, javaScript, p5js. 10 plotter prints: Paper: Colorplan 350 gsm Pristine White, Pen: Sakura Pigma Micron 05
Saskia Freeke
Breach by Zeno van den Broek
The Breach NFT cyclus offers a seven-folded perspective on the live AV performance, diving into chaotic systems and creating a manifestation of events of protests and riots across the globe. The works create an ever-looping build up and release of tension, anger and energy in a new form of pitch black electronics and dense polyrhythmic structures. Utilising electromagnetic recordings of communication devices and found footage of uproars Breach establishes intense loops on the verge of breaking into chaos.
"BREACH sloganeers: Your anger is a gift. BREACH unleashes: what was kept pent up, creeping slow like glacier ice, but advancing surely as the scorching lava that entombed Herculaneaum. Leaving behind the spiked blast of unloading, BREACH does not represent – fashions disruptive events: compositions of chaos in flux. BREACH breathes the frantic fumes and pulsates with the moving noises of electromagnetic rebels in the streets: this, the density of today. For BREACH is manifest." [words by Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg]
Zeno van den Broek
Math Ex Opening: Vernissage
We’ll see the grand opening of Math Ex with drinks at Café NAR, followed by an introduction and tour through the exhibition guided by curators Fabian van Sluijs & Saskia Freeke. The featured artists will be present to provide us all with some perspective on their work.
We’ll see the grand opening of Math Ex with drinks at Café NAR, followed by an introduction and tour through the exhibition guided by curators Fabian van Sluijs & Saskia Freeke. The featured artists will be present to provide us all with some perspective on their work.
Curators and speakers
Saskia Freeke
Fabian van Sluijs
Math Ex Panel Discussion: NFTs; Beyond The Drama
After the grand opening of Math Ex we'll kick things off with a discussion panel, exploring the dynamics of operating on NFT platforms. Narrated by first-hand experiences of creative coders and curators Darien Brito, Raphaël de Courville, and Michelle Kasprzak and moderated by Rosa Wevers, we dive into the world of NFTs. Together we critically explore the effects of their experiences on their practice, with a special focus on community dynamics.
After the grand opening of Math Ex we'll kick things off with a discussion panel, exploring the dynamics of operating on NFT platforms. Narrated by first-hand experiences of creative coders and curators Darien Brito, Raphaël de Courville, and Michelle Kasprzak and moderated by Rosa Wevers, we dive into the world of NFTs. Together we critically explore the effects of their experiences on their practice, with a special focus on community dynamics.
Panel: NFTs; Beyond The Drama
What the f*ck are NFTs? If you open up Twitter on this topic it’s likely that your timeline is taken over by a multitude of perspectives. On the one hand, you’ve got the people pushing their next “drop” and begging you to become part of the next platform that will democratise art. On the other hand, a group of people claim that NFTs are bullshit and should be ignored. How should we position between these extremes?
In this panel we’ve invited creative coders Darien Brito, Raphaël de Courville, and curator/researcher Michelle Kasprzak to share their story. From first-hand experiences in the NFT space we’ll learn about the experience of earning (a lot of) money, and the ethical and practical considerations of choosing “doing” NFTs. Also: the dynamics of the communities that drive different NFT platforms. The stories around the rise & fall and uprise of the Hic et Nunc platforms deserve to become a Netflix series by their own right. Join the panel to learn about the potential and pitfalls of NFTs and gather insight on their use beyond the financial perspective.
Darien Brito
Raphaël de Courville
Michelle Kasprzak
Rosa Wevers
Math Ex Workshop: How to Mint & Tax NFTs?
In this workshop you’ll get a masterclass in minting NFTs of your artwork. The workshop is supervised by Saskia Freeke and will demonstrate a variety of methods and platforms. We'll conclude the programme with a session on the topic of taxation. In this part of the session we’ll review a bundle of text put forth by the Dutch Tax Institution, stating their perspective on how to deal with crypto assets. Together we’ll see if we can make sense of it.
In this workshop you’ll get a masterclass in minting NFTs of your artwork. The workshop is supervised by Saskia Freeke and will demonstrate a variety of methods and platforms. We'll conclude the programme with a session on the topic of taxation. In this part of the session we’ll review a bundle of text put forth by the Dutch Tax Institution, stating their perspective on how to deal with crypto assets. Together we’ll see if we can make sense of it.
Math Ex Workshop: How to Mint & Tax NFTs?
In this workshop you’ll get a masterclass in minting NFTs of your artwork. The workshop is supervised by Saskia Freeke and will demonstrate a variety of methods and platforms. We'll conclude the programme with a session on the topic of taxation. In this part of the session we’ll review a bundle of text put forth by the Dutch Tax Institution, stating their perspective on how to deal with crypto assets. Together we’ll see if we can make sense of it.
Saskia Freeke
Math Ex Music Night
CCU has turned 5 and to celebrate this we’re throwing a party! We’re inviting friends and family of CCU to perform at this special occasion. You can expect everything from live electronic music and visuals to DJ-sets. Indulge yourself in all the good things that we’ve missed throughout the long pandemic times. The vrijmibo’s of NAR are becoming just as hyped as NFTs so come early, have dinner and make sure you don’t miss out as the capacity is limited!
CCU has turned 5 and to celebrate this we’re throwing a party! We’re inviting friends and family of CCU to perform at this special occasion. You can expect everything from live electronic music and visuals to DJ-sets. Indulge yourself in all the good things that we’ve missed throughout the long pandemic times. The vrijmibo’s of NAR are becoming just as hyped as NFTs so come early, have dinner and make sure you don’t miss out as the capacity is limited!
Zoe Reddy (Live)
Math Ex proudly present a live performance by electronic storyteller Zoe Reddy: field recordings, vocals en layers of beats are mixed together, looped back around and presented on a danceable substratum of sound
Zoe Reddy
Breach by Zeno van den Broek (2019)
Breach dives into chaotic systems and creates a manifestation of the recent events of protests and riots across the globe. The album and live audiovisual performance explore the build up and release of tension, anger and energy in a new form of pitch black metal electronics and dense polyrhythmic structures. Utilising electromagnetic recordings of communication devices and found footage of uproars Breach establishes an intense experience by putting the beholder in the centre of a system on the verge of breaking into chaos.
Zeno van den Broek
Luna Ludmila (DJ-set)
Booked for Math Ex: Luna Ludmila, the talented Utreg' DJ who has been developing and maturing her sound over the years, while always focussing on providing a hypnotic trip for the listener.
Luna Ludmila
Siuli K.O. (DJ-set)
Siuli K.O. is best at “Spanking, flying kicks & rocking the dancefloor,” and can best be compared to “Pucca Girl on acid.” As a DJ, she's ever against the flow but always true to the dance floor, playing an ever wicked party mix of dark electro bass and London style breaks and beats.
Siuli Ko
Timo Hoogland (Live Coded AV Set)
Creative Coder and CCU regular Timo Hoogland has found the perfect combination for his passions of music, images and technology. For his performance at to Math Ex Timo Hoogland will represent the ‘algorave’ (algorithmic rave) scene and perform a live coded electronic set with visuals.
Timo Hoogland
Fafi B2B2B Vaggh (DJ-set)
Niklas Vaggh & Fafi Fabi will blend their distinctive style into a broad sonic spectrum of warm and shadowy vibes in their trademark B2B2B fashion…
Pre-celebration of International Women's Day
Come to NAR Café der Kunsten for a pre-celebration of international women's day. Throughout the evening we will be enjoying a line-up full of amazing female/femme djs and vjs. Come by for a drink and enjoy the performance.
Come to NAR Café der Kunsten for a pre-celebration of international women's day. Throughout the evening we will be enjoying a line-up full of amazing female/femme VJs and DJs. Come by for a drink and enjoy the performance.
Full line-up TBA
Line-up Pre-celebration of International Women's Day
Math Ex Closing Panel Discussion
Math Ex discussion panel "A Critical Guide to Collecting Generative Art / NFTs"
The NFT hype has finally lead to to the recognition of digital art by the art world. During the closing panel of Math Ex we discuss the promises and controversies within blockchain cultures. All this attention has lead to a call for a critical review of generative art. Inte Gloerich and Marissa Memelink will provide you with a framework to critically review generative art and NFTs.
Math Ex discussion panel "A Critical Guide to Collecting Generative Art / NFTs"
The NFT hype has lead to the recognition of digital art by the art world. However the NFT space is large in its diversity of work: From meme’s to GIFs and from tweets to games. Now that everybody can mint an NFT it’s hard to review quality and authenticity. This calls for the development of a critique on digital art and NFT blockchain platforms as distributors.
Panel discussion: A Critical Guide to Collecting Generative Art
Researcher Inte Gloerich does research on the culture of the blockchain. She’ll dive into the forming principles of crypto. She’ll critically reviews the promises of decentralisation and privacy that blockchain technologies should provide. How do these principles and promises manifest in NFT space? To which promises do you invest when buying an NFT?
Math Ex approaches NFTs through the lens of creative coding. As CCU’s mission is to stimulate digital creativity we are especially focused on the principles of generative art and design. How can we understand creative processes when part of the creative process is delegated to machines? What is the role of the artist? Marissa Memelink will introduce her framework on analyzing and comparing generative art that give us a new perspective on how to tackle these questions.
Inte Gloerich
Marissa Memelink
Mattijs Franken
Math Ex Finissage: NFT Auction
30% of all NFT sales will be donated to CCU’s Education Programme. With CCU’s education programme we aim to create open source educational tools for teachers to use in their classes. We believe that exploring code as creative medium is missing in most educational curricula and should be fundamental part of forming creative and resilient people living in contemporary society.
30% of all NFT sales will be donated to CCU’s Education Programme. With CCU’s education programme we aim to create open source educational tools for teachers to use in their classes. We believe that exploring code as creative medium is missing in most educational curricula and should be fundamental part of forming creative and resilient people living in contemporary society.
Math Ex NFT Auction
This is the moment where you choose to step into the NFT game. The panels should have given you insight to be able to make an informed decision. The artist and CCU will auction the works that are exhibited and the price range will vary in order to make it an affordable and accessible to all. As we’re also selling a lot of phygital works there’s a big chance that you can go home not only with an NFT, but also with an actual art piece to be hanged above the couch. For all the sales 70% goes to the artist and 30% of all the NFT sales will be donated to CCU’s Education Programme*. As CCU has an ANBI status you can deduct your investment from your income. So join this experiment and support the creative coding community!
* With CCU’s education programme we aim to work with artists to create open source educational tools for teachers to use in their classes. We believe that exploring code as creative medium is missing in most educational curricula and should be fundamental part of forming creative and resilient people living in contemporary society.