Nahum (artist) explained

Nahum
Birth Date:1979
Birth Place:Mexico City
Occupation:Artist, musician, art director
Website:http://nahum.xyz/

Nahum (born in 1979 in Mexico City, Mexico) is an artist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, performer and artistic director who lives and works in Berlin, Germany. His work combines outer space technologies, illusionism, and hypnosis to create alternative and extreme perspectives of human experience.

He is also known under the names of Nahum Mantra and Nahum Romero Zamora.

Biography

Nahum "is the new generation of young professional artists creating new imaginaries that will infect the ideas of tomorrow that will make the future of space possible and is part of a movement in countries outside the major space-faring nations that is taking ownership of the space futures".[1] Nahum is the first artist to receive the Young Space Leader Award;[2] [3] for his contributions to astronautics and space exploration. Nahum is a fellow of the National System of Art Creators, National Endowment for Culture and Arts (FONCA) in Mexico and an associate artist at The Arts Catalyst,[4] London. Nahum was the head curator of the Shunt Lounge in London. In 2015 he curated the Transitio_MX Biennial[5] in Mexico City. He is the Founding Director of the KOSMICA Institute and chaired the Technical Activities Committee for the Cultural Use of Space (ITACCUS)[6] at the International Astronaitical Federation (IAF).[7]

Nahum has chaired the Committee on the Cultural Use of Space (ITACCUS)[8] at the International Astronautical Federation based in Paris, France. This committee "seeks to promote and facilitate the innovative utilisation of space (data, systems, applications) by organisations in the cultural sectors of society internationally, including all areas of the arts and humanities, including the fine arts, entertainment, popular culture and tourism."[9] In 2014 Nahum was the first artist to receive the Young Space Leader Award by the International Astronautical Federation[10] for his artistic and cultural contributions to space exploration. This award recognises exceptional young professionals that have demonstrated leadership in their academic or early careers.[11] He joined the jury in 2016

His work has been exhibited internationally in venues including: Bonniers Konsthall[12] (Stockholm); Institute of Contemporary Arts[13] (UK); KSEVT (Slovenia); Polytechnic Museum[14] (Moscow); Southbank Centre (London); Rubin Center for the Visual Arts[15] (El Paso, USA); National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts[16] (Taiwan); Laboratorio Arte Alameda,[17] Mexico City (Mexico), Centro Nacional de las Artes (Mexico); Fonoteca Nacional de Mexico (Mexico).

Studies

In 2016 he graduated from the International Space University (ISU), where he completed the Space Studies Program at TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Here he participated in the research study entitled aMARTE[18] which was commissioned by NASA. "aMARTE reviewed the most recent discoveries on the Martian environment and evaluated the different implications thereof for human Mars exploration.[19] " Since 2015 Nahum is a visiting lecturer at ISU. Nahum earned his Master in Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London where he graduated with a distinction.[20] During his studies in Goldsmiths, Nahum coursed the Music Pathway programme and joined the Goldsmiths Electronic Orchestra[21] ensemble. He also studied a BS in Computer science at the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City.[22]

Work

"While Nahum's investigations actively engage with the cosmos, his work also suggests a more down-to-earth and self-conscious undertone to humanity's quest to conquer the unknown: understanding ourselves and where we come from."[23] "Nahum's work is less about extraterrestrial miracles or smoke and mirrors than it is about inviting the audience to peek behind the curtain. It hinges on the validity of magical ideas and of human ability, rather than blind faith."[24]

The Contour of Presence (2018)

On 29 June 2018, Nahum launched with SpaceX an interactive artwork to the International Space Station.[25] ¨The work is about the interconnectedness of all things, on a cosmic scale but also here on Earth; the interpretation of the unknown as part of what we don't see but what is inevitably part of the totality of our existence.¨[26] ¨This project is a collaboration between the International Space University, Space Applications Services and Nahum through a partnership with the European Space Agency.http://www.makery.info/en/2018/07/03/cest-officiel-jai-une-oeuvre-dart-dans-lespace/

Matters of Gravity (2015)

Nahum directed the arts and science project Matters of Gravity (La Gravedad de los Asuntos in Spanish). This project reflects on gravity by its absence and it was executed in a Zero Gravity flight mission at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.[27] Two years of reflection and a few seconds in zero gravity were the origins of a series of artist works that have been completed in different gravity conditions such as 2Gs and weightlessness. The resulting artworks include video, performance, sculpture, drawing, and installation. The participating artists include: Tania Candiani, Ale de la Puente, Ivan Puig, Arcángelo Constantini, Fabiola Torres-Alzaga, Gilberto Esparza, Juan José Díaz Infante, Nahum and Marcela Armas. The project included the participation of Mexican scientist Miguel Alcubierre and curators Rob La Frenais and Kerry Anne Doyle.[28] The Matters of Gravity exhibition has been touring internationally at museums that include: Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City (2015),[29] Polytechnic Museum (VDNH), Moscow (2015),[30] Kapelica Gallery, Ljublijana, and KSEVT, Vitanje, Slovenia (2015),[31] Rubin Center of Visual Arts, University of Texas, El Paso (2015)[32] and the Museu de Arte de Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico (2016).[33]

Performance work and hypnosis

On his series of performances entitled Voyage, he applies hypnosis on the audience to create false memories about impossible journeys. ¨Nahum guides us through many visions in our own minds, as our eyes are closed. He triggers in us intense memories and visions that might be too much for some, creating the theatre in our minds to come alive.¨[34]

In his performance Voyage: A Session for Remembering, Nahum gives to the participants a memory about walking on the Moon and experience observing the Earth from afar.[35] During his performance Voyage: Exoplanet performed at André Breton’s house in Saint-Cirque Lapopie, France, the audience traveled to an unknown planet via hypnosis.[36] In 2016 Nahum was invited to design a workshop and hypnosis based performance for the Insomnia exhibition[37] at the Bonniers Konsthall in Stockholm. In 2017 he was commissioned by the Live Art Development Agency and Performance Magazine to perform Voyage: 1979. In this performance, Nahum responded to and re-contextualise the magazine for the 21st century through video and a hypnosis performance.[38]

KOSMICA

In 2011 Nahum founded KOSMICA, an institute that encourages and promotes creative and critical discourses about the alternative, cultural and artistic uses of outer space. KOSMICA started as a series of international encounters within the spheres of art, science and outer space exploration supported by its initial partner, the Arts Catalyst in London. "Each KOSMICA session is unique: bringing together the cosmically curious and culturally quirky space community for a social mix of art–space programmes – a film screening, performance or live concert with a short presentation, talk and debate about alternative and cultural uses of space."[39] KOSMICA has organised over 20 events and festivals and has featured over 150 space artists, cultural practitioners and space professionals in the UK, France, Belgium, Mexico, Germany and Canada. Some KOSMICA curations include topics such as Women in Space,[40] Astroculture,[41] War and Peace,[42] amongst others. Some KOSMICA participants have included Kevin Fong, Tomás Saraceno, Ariel Guzik, Aleksandra Mir, Empress Stah, Yuri Suzuki, Honor Harger, Roger Malina, Marko Peljhan, Nelly Ben Hayoun, Katie Paterson, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Kapwani Kiwanga, Bompas & Parr, Frederik De Wilde, Nicola Triscott, Anais Toneur, Carey Young, Christopher Riley, Dragan Živadinov, Sarah Jane Pell and Tania Candiani. "KOSMICA created an open, affable environment where the topics ranged from philosophy to the social importance of Star Trek."[43]

Music

Nahum is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is widely known to play the Theremin, an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact. Nahum has performed with Peter Theremin, the great-grandson of Leon Theremin. He earned an MA Music Pathway from Goldsmiths College, University of London where he joined the Goldsmiths Electronic Orchestra.

Orchestra Elastique

Nahum is a founding member of Orchestra Elastique, an international music improvisation collective.[44] Formed during a residency at the Shunt Vaults in April 2010, Orchestra Elastique comprises a group of performers and multi-instrumentalists. The core members of Orchestra Elastique are Joris Beets, Antoine Gilleron, Bruno Humberto, Nahum, Philippe Lenzini and Tristan Shorr.[45] Regular collaborators include Steph Patten (cello), Fiona Bevan (vocals, violin) and Larry Achiampong (bass, vocals) among others.[46] ¨Orchestra Elastique is dedicated to testing the possibilities of improvised music and live scoring with a touch of psychedelia, avant classical, drone, ambient, electro-acoustic, minimalistic, krautrock amongst other yet unknown genres. The ongoing motif of the collective is to face music as a playground, as a sensorial and enduring physical engaged performance to explore mental spaces of communion through sound. In this live exploration we take from a broad palette of instruments, styles and traditions of music and sound making. Each concert is an occasion to embark on a fresh exploration of music; a one-off experience shared between performers and audience members. The music that we create evolves in unexpected formations by multiplying and testing the possibilities that reside in live acts and making visceral sonic landscapes that in old times would have been forbidden and punished by the inquisition.¨[47] ¨Orchestra Elastique regularly play at Café Oto, The Vortex and the Servant Jazz Quarters in London, and in April 2014 they represented the UK with jazz legend Dave Holland at the International Arts Festival FIA in San Jose, Costa Rica.¨ Their discography includes the soundtrack for a "Fallible Girl" and original albums "My Father Was A Fakir" and "London Live Sessions 1".

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Performances

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: congratulations to nahum mantra romero= space artist. 7 May 2014. Roger Malina. 26 June 2017.
  2. Web site: Nahum Romero Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017.
  3. Web site: Young Space Leaders Recognition Programme (YSL) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20141205081010/http://www.iafastro.org/activities/honours-awards/young-space-leaders-recognition-programme-ysl/. 5 December 2014. dead.
  4. Web site: Nahum Mantra Arts Catalyst. www.artscatalyst.org. 26 June 2017.
  5. Web site: TRANSITIO_MX 06. www.06.transitiomx.net. 26 June 2017.
  6. Web site: Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space (ITACCUS) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017.
  7. Web site: Nahum Mantra Arts Catalyst. www.artscatalyst.org. 26 June 2017.
  8. Web site: Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space (ITACCUS) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017.
  9. Web site: Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space (ITACCUS) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017.
  10. Web site: Young Space Leaders Recognition Programme (YSL) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20141205081010/http://www.iafastro.org/activities/honours-awards/young-space-leaders-recognition-programme-ysl/. 5 December 2014. dead.
  11. Web site: Young Space Leaders Recognition Programme (YSL) Iaf. www.iafastro.org. en-GB. 26 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20141205081010/http://www.iafastro.org/activities/honours-awards/young-space-leaders-recognition-programme-ysl/. 5 December 2014. dead.
  12. Web site: Bonniers Konsthall – Insomnia öppnar!. Bonniers Konsthall. sv-SE. 26 June 2017.
  13. Web site: Orchestra Elastique. www.ica.art. en. 26 June 2017.
  14. Web site: "Reasons of gravity" in the Polytechnic Museum at VDNH. vdnh.ru. en. 26 June 2017.
  15. Web site: Rubin Center – Space Without Rockets. rubin.utep.edu. en-gb. 26 June 2017.
  16. Web site: 國美館英文網站. 國美館. 16 December 2008. 26 June 2017.
  17. Web site: Laboratorio Arte Alameda 2011. www.artealameda.bellasartes.gob.mx. es-es. 3 July 2017.
  18. Web site: aMARTE. Group. PMB. isulibrary.isunet.edu. 26 June 2017.
  19. Web site: ISU Space Studies Program 2016 successfully closed in Haifa. ISU. en-gb. 2017-06-26.
  20. News: Nahum Mantra. Goldsmiths, University of London. 26 June 2017.
  21. News: Nahum Mantra. Goldsmiths, University of London. 26 June 2017.
  22. Web site: Visionarios: Nahum Mantra, el mago multidisciplinario que lleva el arte al espacio. Creators. es-mx. 26 June 2017.
  23. Web site: Conjuring Art Between Magic and Outer Space. 12 March 2015. Hyperallergic. en-US. 21 December 2018.
  24. Web site: Conjuring Art Between Magic and Outer Space. 12 March 2015. Hyperallergic. en-US. 21 December 2018.
  25. Web site: "It's official: I have an artwork in outer space". Makery. en-US. 21 December 2018.
  26. Web site: The artworks floating above the Earth. Maldonado. Devon Van Houten. www.bbc.com. en. 21 December 2018.
  27. Web site: IAC Archive — IAC-15/E5/4/4. iafastro.directory. 26 June 2017.
  28. Web site: Rubin Center – Matters of Gravity. rubin.utep.edu. en-gb. 26 June 2017.
  29. News: La Gravedad de los asuntos llega al Laboratorio Arte Alameda. Sánchez. Leticia. Milenio. 26 June 2017. es.
  30. Web site: "Reasons of gravity" in the Polytechnic Museum at VDNH. vdnh.ru. en. 26 June 2017.
  31. Web site: // Habiton symposium // Matters of Gravity exhibition. noordung.blogspot.de. 26 June 2017.
  32. Web site: Rubin Center – Matters of Gravity. rubin.utep.edu. en-gb. 26 June 2017.
  33. Web site: Museo de Zapopan presenta exhibiciones multimatemáticas de artistas mexicanos. www.notimex.gob.mx. es. 26 June 2017.
  34. Web site: Experimentica, 1st Day, Chapter. 12 April 2018. Art Scene in Wales. en-US. 21 December 2018.
  35. News: Review: Nick Leassing and Nahum Matra at FACT - Artinliverpool.com. 13 November 2016. Artinliverpool.com. 26 June 2017. en-US.
  36. Web site: Current Projects Rob La Frenais. roblafrenais.info. en-US. 26 June 2017.
  37. Web site: Bonniers Konsthall – Insomnia öppnar!. Bonniers Konsthall. sv-SE. 3 July 2017.
  38. Web site: Performance Magazine Online: Launch Event at Re-ROOTed Festival, Hull – Events – Live Art Development Agency. Live Art Development Agency. en. 26 June 2017.
  39. News: Kosmica. Run Riot. 26 June 2017. en.
  40. News: FACT: Kosmica Liverpool - Artinliverpool.com. 31 January 2012. Artinliverpool.com. 27 June 2017. en-US.
  41. Web site: KOSMICA x Astroculture Arts Catalyst. www.artscatalyst.org. 27 June 2017.
  42. Web site: Explora la guerra y la paz en el espacio exterior con el festival Kosmica en México. Creators. es-mx. 27 June 2017.
  43. Web site: KOSMICA x Astroculture. Art. Royal College of Arts – Curating Contemporary. inspire.rca.ac.uk. 26 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073533/http://inspire.rca.ac.uk/reviews-interviews/2013/kosmica-x-astroculture/. 8 April 2018. dead.
  44. Web site: London Live Sessions I, by Orchestra Elastique. Orchestra Elastique. 27 June 2017.
  45. Web site: Orchestra Elastique. www.ica.art. en. 27 June 2017.
  46. Web site: Orchestra Elastique Mindpirates. mindpirates.org. 27 June 2017.
  47. Web site: Orchestra Elastique ← People ← Cafe OTO. www.cafeoto.co.uk. en. 3 July 2017.