Zalán Szakács is an artist who brings together immersive art, scenography and media theory research.
Through his work, Szakács explores the relationship between space, body and technology, resulting in multi-sensory experiences that include elements such as light, sound, smell, tactility and movement.
Szakács' art installations invite the viewer on a mystical journey where reality and fiction intertwine. Attuned to both the individual and collective experience, it evokes a deeper awareness of the body in space and is capable of transporting the viewer to another place and time.
Based on the research of media theory and media archaeology, his artistic work brings forgotten analogue technologies – such as 17th-century optical experiments and 18th-century phantasmagoria – to the contemporary context, unfolding as experiential art installations. For each project, Szakács closely collaborates with scientists and researchers as well as filmmakers, artists, sound designers, and local communities.
Tisztás (2023) - 'Zalán Szakács made the sensuous Tisztás after a ten-day exploration of the Romanian region of Transylvania. The film combines interviews with visual interpretations and gathered sounds. Against the backdrop of this remarkable landscape, we watch and listen to the residents and their myths, tales and traditions, that revolve around the connection between culture and nature.'
Lichtspiel (2023) - Lichtspiel projects a re-configuration of 17th century optical devices into the present.
Szakács conducted a media archaeological investigation into the perceptual qualities of projection techniques from the 17th century. At this shifting period between the mystical time of alchemy and the scientific explorations of the enlightenment, machines and instruments were not only seen as functional and technical objects but also carried metaphorical narratives. For example, people perceived immaterial projections as uncanny, and peacock-shaped oil lamps symbolised God.
Lichtspiel is a wunderkammer, a theatre of optical instruments exploring several narratives in the form of light experiments. Based on old speculative machine drawings, the work creates a configuration between old and new technologies, materialising historical ideas through contemporary techniques such as LED light, stepper motors, 3D printing, and lenses. Inspired by the writings of the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, Szakács guides the public through shifting environments – the underworld, the earth, and heaven – by manually changing the lenses. The public becomes part of the work as their shadows form on the walls while they move through the space. By combining various (kaleidoscopic) lenses and crystals with stepper motors, the spectators find themselves in a configuration of mysticism and technology.
Nebulae (2022) - Nebulae is a site-specific performance inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe on nebula. Intangible coloured vapour of different sizes and different densities creates by itself an ongoing 'state of progressive collapse'.
Topia (2021) - Topia is a luminokinetic installation that evokes the Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti’s intellectual tradition of a point-of-view perspective on reality, interpreted as a window opening onto reality. The work seeks to present the two-dimensional world that emerges from the virtual windows of the digital screens we all use today, which can be interpreted as post-kinematic projection screens, in a stage-like space, using sculptural devices to create a plastic dimension. Taking into account the changes in the etymology of the concept of the screen over time, Szakács’ work draws on the historical context of the screen, which originally had an architectural function, when, referring to the original function of the image display device, it invites the viewer to enter a “screen space” in which the visible but not tangible surface appears as an invisible wall projected onto a fog rolling in space. This new screen is in fact an immaterial interface, created through digital technologies but manifested in a physical environment. The curtain-like nature of the wall of light emphasizes the flatness of the “screen,” while the light blue colour evokes the typical colour range of LED screens that are ubiquitous today.
Eigengrau (2021) - The immersive cinematic experience is a ritual in total darkness that solely uses light, haze, sound, smell, and movement. A light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states while referencing the magic circle and loading screens. Eigengrau creates a perceptual illusion inspired by phantasmagoria, constructing a temporary escape in a contemporary setting.
Eigengrau (2019) - Eigengrau is a performative installation, a temporary escape from the current media landscape in which screens are omnipresent. Inspired by 18th century phantasmagoria, Eigengrau tells a contemporary story about image culture, only by the means of light, haze and sound. A prototype version of the work has been shown in UBIK/Slash Gallery in Rotterdam in July 2019
Catoptrica (2020) - The one-minute virtual journey takes the viewer into various perspectives of a contemporary catoptric theatre through digital renders by challenging the observer’s perception through various spatial disorientation.
Ornament (2019) - Kunsthaus Graz morphs into a sound machine: ‘Ornaments’ on the BIX-media façade activate the architecture at night and transforms the foyer of Kunsthaus into a soundscape during the day.
Topia (2019) - Topia constructs worlds within worlds by creating an immaterial space through the opening and closing of surfaces. The spectator finds themself torn between reality and perception.
