I am an artist, designer, and facilitator. I experiment with mediums such as visual, digital, and sound art. Recently finished my master's program in Fine Art and Media Design: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) at the Piet Zwart institute in Rotterdam. In the context of my master's research, I aimed to find accessible entry points for other visual makers to use sound in their research and artistic work. In my practice, I weave various lines of work and disciplines - artistic research, collaborative practices exploration, publishing, documentation, and addressing socially charged themes with a mixture of mediums. I sign my works with Ål Nik.
[mapping sensations] // mixed-media experiments on mapping - // visual experiments on mapping feelings and sensations, anything subjective. Mixed-media works on mapping, in which I am approaching the matter with high subjectivity. Why not use mapping as a tool to visualise and record things the way we see them - with the full awareness that it is our intention? For my new visual series , I decided to experiment by mapping things I feel. The documentation on this work is available on my wiki.alnik.me.
[sorry for the inconvenience] // sound and print installation made for the Meet the Makers exhibition - // Organized by: The Hmm, Amsterdam // Artist: participants of the Hmm's FYI Digital Makers program 2023 // Sorry for the inconvenience sound-print installation addresses the housing situation in the Netherlands. It tells the story of a ceiling leakage that was not resolved by the landlord company for 4 months.
[s.å.t.e. – sounds at the exposure] // group exhibition - // November 2 - December 2, 2023 // Artists: Sara Elzinga, Ål Nik, Thordur Hans Baldursson, and Enrica Arbia. // Organized by: SIGN project space, Groningen // Custom ceramic cardholders: Gersande Schellinx // Editor of publication cards: Stephen Kerr // My latest Sound Jam was a playful place that invited you to leave your [musical] experience behind and let yourself try out things you didn't have the chance to do before. With the help of some visual invitations [text prompts and visual inspirations], I proposed the visitors to explore ways to make experimental music, noise and sounds and to disrupt the traditional playing in a band. The stage was as cozy as a living room and the sound-making instruments and objects were accessible and fun. This interactive installation suggested the guests to explore some traditional music-making elements and disrupt them.
[sound jams // deluxe edition] mixed-media publication - It gathers 5 collectively made sonic publications and their visual elaborations within the walls of a CD case. It aims at inspiring practitioners to play with different methods for including sound in their research and artistic practice. This publication collects the outcomes of facilitated group experiences of sound-making and publishing. It is now available on Underbelly shop. A graduation project of master’s programme Experimental Publishing, Piet Zwart Institute.
[alWiki] // documentation, collaboration and publishing MediaWiki space - I became interested in creating an online space where I can document my research and artistic practice. It is also where I make some public parts of my inspirations, exhibition visits, and event reports - all connected to my artistic research. And a place for collaborations with other makers.
[room for sound] // care-taker of the residency 2022-2023 - During the academic year 2022-2023, I was a coordinator of the student-led initiative and in-house residency “Room for Sound” at Willem de Kooning Academy, created by Naomi Jansen in 2021. The invitation to the residents was to experiment with sound as a new or not primary medium in their design and art practice. As a care-taker of the residency, I expanded my research on collective sound-making practices and developed my coordination, facilitation, and communication skills.
