Zalán Szakács

artistic research - installation - Light - media - film

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.

  • Portfolio
  • Activities
  • Contact

    • Tisztas (2023)

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 26-01-2024 t/m 28-01-2024
    • In collaboration with: International Film Festival Rotterdam
    • Location: International Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam
    • '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.'
    • https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2024/films/tisztás

    Lichtspiel | Experiment No. 2 – Underworld

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 21-10-2023 t/m 29-10-2023
    • In collaboration with: Koelhuis Eindhoven / Dutch Design Week
    • Location: Koelhuis Eindhoven, Eindhoven
    • Szakács' site-specific version of Lichtspiel engages with the water-flooded basement of Koelhuis Eindhoven through light, haze, and sound. Lichtspiel interprets unrealized machine drawings from four centuries ago through contemporary technologies. Inspired by the writings of the Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher, Szakács guides the public through the shifting environment of the underworld.
    • https://ddw.nl/en/programme/10649/lichtspiel

    Lichtspiel

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 31-03-2023 t/m 02-04-2023
    • In collaboration with: TENT Rotterdam
    • Location: TENT Rotterdam, Rotterdam
    • Lichtspiel projects a re-configuration of 17th century optical devices into the present. It is a wunderkammer, a theater 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, materializing historical ideas through contemporary techniques.
    • https://www.tentrotterdam.nl/en/event/tent-welcomes-campsite-a-timewindow-festival/

    Lichtspiel

    Performance

    • 03-03-2023 t/m 03-03-2023
    • In collaboration with: Instrument Inventors Initiative
    • Location: Instrument Inventors Initiative, The Hague
    • Lichtspiel projects a re-configuration of 17th century optical devices into the present. It is a wunderkammer, a theater 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, materializing historical ideas through contemporary techniques.
    • https://instrumentinventors.org/agenda/evidence-in-motion-fragile-continuums/

    nebulae

    Performance

    • 01-10-2022 t/m 02-10-2022
    • In collaboration with: The Warp
    • Location: Beatrix Park, Amsterdam
    • Intangible colored vapor of different sizes and different densities creates by itself an ongoing 'state of progressive collapse'.
    • https://zone2source.net/event/eureka/

    nebulae

    Performance

    • 07-05-2022 t/m 07-05-2022
    • In collaboration with: The Warp
    • Location: Beatrix Park, Amsterdam
    • Intangible colored vapor of different sizes and different densities creates by itself an ongoing 'state of progressive collapse'.

    Topia

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 20-07-2022 t/m 15-08-2023
    • In collaboration with: Light Art Museum Budapest
    • Location: Light Art Museum Budapest, Budapest
    • Topia (2021) is a 'screenscape', a space filled with planes of lights resembling the digital screens we are constantly surrounded by. The work attempts to create an embodied experience of new definitions for the modern screen.
    • https://lam.xyz/artists/zalan-szakacs/

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 09-10-2022 t/m 16-10-2022
    • In collaboration with: The Gray Space in the Middle
    • Location: The Gray Space in the Middle, The Hague
    • Eigengrau (2021) functions as a temporary escape in a contemporary setting, in which a light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states.
    • https://thegreyspace.net/program/eigengrau-14-15-10-2022/

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 16-10-2021 t/m 24-10-2021
    • In collaboration with: Manifestations / Dutch Design Week
    • Location: Campina, Eindhoven
    • Eigengrau (2021) functions as a temporary escape in a contemporary setting, in which a light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/eigengrau

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 30-09-2021 t/m 03-10-2021
    • In collaboration with: BIG Art
    • Location: Hembrugterrein, Zaandam
    • Eigengrau (2021) functions as a temporary escape in a contemporary setting, in which a light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/eigengrau

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 23-07-2021 t/m 24-07-2021
    • In collaboration with: pre-reserved
    • Location: pre-reserved, Amsterdam
    • Eigengrau (2021) functions as a temporary escape in a contemporary setting, in which a light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/eigengrau

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 01-07-2021 t/m 04-07-2021
    • In collaboration with: The New Current / Rotterdam Art Week
    • Location: Spanish Cube, Rotterdam
    • Eigengrau (2021) functions as a temporary escape in a contemporary setting, in which a light cylinder takes the audience through a narrative of various mental states.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/eigengrau

    Topia

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 17-03-2021 t/m 17-03-2021
    • In collaboration with: pre-reserved
    • Location: pre-reserved, Amsterdam
    • Topia (2021) is a 'screenscape', a space filled with planes of lights resembling the digital screens we are constantly surrounded by. The work attempts to create an embodied experience of new definitions for the modern screen.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/topia/

    Around

    Performance

    • 23-04-2021 t/m 24-04-2021
    • In collaboration with: The Warp & It's Weft
    • Location: Kunstkapel, Amsterdam
    • Kring invites the audience into a subliminal intervention at Kunstkapel. Inspired by the unique 360° curved architecture of the space, the work constructs a moment of contemplation. In various beliefs, people move around sacred objects as spiritual passages. With the end of Kunstkapel insight, Szakács' site-specific performance Kring enacts the space. Through intangible gestures such as sounds, lightning, and circular movements, the ritual continues beyond material realities.
    • http://www.thewarp.org/springboard-ii-a-personal-place-to-be/

    eigengrau

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 15-07-2019 t/m 16-07-2019
    • In collaboration with: Piet Zwart Institute
    • Location: UBIK/Slash Gallery, Rotterdam
    • Eigengrau is an interactive and immersive 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.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/eigengrau

    ornament

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 19-06-2019 t/m 26-06-2019
    • In collaboration with: sound:frame
    • Location: Kunsthaus Graz, Graz
    • Kunsthaus Graz morphs into a sound machine: 'Ornaments' on the BIX-media facade activate the architecture at night and transforms the foyer of Kunsthaus into a soundscape during the day.
    • https://www.zalan-szakacs.com/projects/ornament

    Acknowledgments

      Scholarship

    • Fonds Kwadraat

    • 2020
      Scholarship

    • Prince Bernhard Culture Fund

    • 2020
      Scholarship

    • Amsterdam Fund for the Arts

    • 2021
      Scholarship

    • Makers counter Dream and Deed

    • 2021
      Scholarship

    • Immerseinteract, Incentive Fund/Dutch Film Fund, Development contribution

    • 2021
      Scholarship

    • Talent Development Scheme, Incentive Fund

    • 2021
      Scholarship

    • NORMA

    • 2022
      Scholarship

    • Immerseinteract, Incentive Fund/Dutch Film Fund, Realization contribution

    • 2022
      Scholarship

    • The Cultural Fund

    • 2023
      Scholarship

    • Loving You

    • 2023