Daan Couzijn

Daan Couzijn is a multidisciplinary artist who creates electronic music as well as audio/visual installations. Currently based in Amsterdam. Shows CV (academic) Contact Press Vogue Italia Kaltblut Magazine Berlin TEDx Amsterdam Tradiio Facebook Instagram Soundcloud

[daancouzijn-blog]

"Do you wanna walk the dog with me? Flipper loves an audience when she pees."

Perineal Tears (live performance) - january 2018

An audio performance where I tried to make the visual aspect secondary to the audio aspect. I wanted to do a live performance in which I create a story with my voice on the spot. Having relied a lot on visuality in previous projects I realized that my voice and the way I used it has always played a big part in everything I do. Whether it is music or acting or recording a voice over. In this project I wanted to dive deeper into the power of the voice and its possibilities by stripping away all other elements. Only leaving my voice and a supporting soundscape to tell the story. A story where even the words might be secondary to the melody and the sound of the voice.

Full text will be sent on request.

[daancouzijn-blog]

Fat Guy Dancing (video installation) - november 2017

This video installation was part of the group exhibition ‘Eye See You’ at gallery Not In New York, Rotterdam.

[daancouzijn-blog]

Cousin - Blood (november 2017)

In this solo-project, I create and perform electronic music combined with 3D animated visuals under the pseudonym of Cousin.

I was asked to perform a new track called ‘Blood’ during the TEDx Amsterdam event in 2017. Light Installation by Nikki Hock.

[daancouzijn-blog]

Human Furniture - november 2017

Examining the phenomenon of human furniture within the concept of creating a synthetic self. By having made a previous video installation that explored the concept of having a virtual version of yourself, I came up with the idea of using human furniture as a substitute for the physical leftovers. This video is a visual representation of a hypothetical world in the near future where humans have lost their necessity and have become purely functional.

This video was selected for the ‘Synthetic Selves’ series of The One Minutes, curated by Goys and Birls.

[daancouzijn-blog]

Forever Online / Bring back the Logitech (video installations) - september & october 2017

I exhibited two of my video installation works at the exhibition 'Apocalypse, a working title' at Museum van Bommel van Dam that were on view from 04-09-2017 until 06-10-2017 (curated by Sjors Bindels and Valentina Gal).

Museum van Bommel van Dam presents: ‘Apocalypse, a working title.’ This exhibition evolved around contemporary imagery and their aesthetics. The language they speak, the sounds they make and the stories they show us through their presents. This presents had to be fought for in a time where the immensity of what we call images is being attacked by itself, its reproduction and productivity. The Apocalypse of the image; the knowledge that can be hidden again. Through the layers of mass production secrets can be lost and visions can be found.

‘Apocalypse, a working title.’ Consisting work of a combination of young artists working with new media en contemporary imagery. From modern animations to sculptures dealing with subjects like the internet. This younger generation of makers grew up in a different world, a worldwide world, full of new techniques, developments in the social arena en they will probably see in this life the first people who will travel to Mars. The exhibition ‘Apocalypse, a working title.’ combines several pieces from the core-collection from Museum van Bommel van Dam with this new generation of makers, a clash, a rare meeting, but most of all a valuable experiment that maybe will give us an insight in the zeitgeists of one and the same world.

An Apocalypse is romantic, therefore it is asked for, pushing towards it, cheering for it, fighting side by side it.

Other participating artists were:

Armando / Arthur Boer / Henri Boot / Flip van der Burgt / Marc Chagall / Daan Couzijn / Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof / Jan van Essen / Arash Fakhim / Valentina Gal /Jan Groenenstein / Aad de Haas / Thijs Jaeger / Onne Kamerlingh / Melle / Will Rieser / Mantas Rimkus / Gerard Sluyter / Boris Smeenk / Nardus van de Ven / Joeri Woudstra / Dick Zwier.

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Bring back the Logitech’ (video installation in collaboration with Joeri Woudstra) - july 2017

An interactive video installation that examines the relationship between media technologies and social interaction of individuals. Technology is no longer a machine which can take over one single action; it has become an extension of our personality. The fantasy of technology having a mind of its own and its own willpower has rapidly become a reality. Emotional technology is the new stage in our eternal search for artificial intelligence. This installation gives shape to a playful imitation of life by technology and its desire for emotional interaction in which the viewer can participate and interfere. In a world where we seem to want to be taken over by machines, a chance to place yourself in the middle of this artificial dialogue and to take a moment to think back of much simpler times.

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Forever Online’ (video installation) - june 2017

Constantly fascinated by online presence, I’ve noticed I’m slightly obsessed with the control we have over our image on social media platforms such as Instagram. I find it very satisfying. I presume that the desire to have that control comes from a sense of insecurity. An insecurity that only grows over time because we and all the people around us romanticize our image online. We constantly compare ourselves to these unrealistic ideals. A result of this, is a feeling of not being able to measure up to these ideals and a feeling of insecurity that grows. It becomes a vicious circle. At the same time, it’s causing somewhat of a distorted reality because it separates actual reality from virtual reality. And once you prefer virtual reality, where does that leave the 'authentic' you? If there even is one. In this project I explored this concept by stepping physically, so to speak, into virtual reality. By creating and animating a 3D model of myself. By doing this, I’m trying to give shape to, what a lot of people seem to call; a generation of shameless self-glorification and narcissism. But underneath that, is that extreme insecurity and dissatisfaction. We build our own utopian, virtual, idealistic version of ourselves but virtual reality is empty, it’s nothingness. Or is it the ultimate form of narcissism and have we created a virtual self that will be forever online?

(Watch a teaser video on vimeo)

[daancouzijn-blog]

Cousin - Time (january 2017)

In this solo-project, I create and perform electronic music combined with 3D animated visuals under the pseudonym of Cousin

Source: (cousin)

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘5194′ teaser (video installation) - may 2016

An installation consisting of one television screen and subtitle projection on the wall. A very personal installation that tries to communicate a universal feeling I was experiencing at the time that I think is especially relevant to the millennial generation. Our grandparents grew up being told that even though they work very hard, life's tough and you won't always be able to provide. Our parents grew up being told that if they study and work hard, they will be able to do the things in life they aspire. My generation on the other hand, grew up being told that we're very special and unique and we can become everything we want to. This gave us unrealistic expectations of life. And as we grow up, we realize: we are not special. We have struggled into existence and are now slowly, slipping silently out of it.

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Gloryhole Confessions’ (live visual performance) - january 2016

A live performance with 3D animated visals. A gloryhole is a hole in the wall of, for example, a bathroom stall where people can put there genitalia through in order to get anonymously satisfied by the person on the other side. A seemingly bitter, matured presence behind the hole preaches to the person on the other side that life is not as great as it may seem to him now. Soon, he will get old, fat, he'll discover that God is dead and always has been and no one will be there to look after him and take care of him. A performance about disappointment, the need for love and the absence of God.

(Watch a teaser on vimeo)

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Purple Reign’ (interactive video installation) - september 2014

Consisting of an installation with multiple screens connected to a work out device, Purple Reign is a video installation that examines the fine line between sensuality and vulgarity. When does desire turn into abhorrence and what happens when the audience is given control over the crossing of that line? How much do we want to know about the subjects we're projecting our fantasies on? Do we want to impersonalize them so they become a blank canvas for us to project on or is it human interaction we seek?

[daancouzijn-blog]

Cousin @ Fashionclash Festival - june 2015

In this solo-project, I create and perform electronic music combined with 3D animated visuals under the pseudonym of Cousin.

[musicbycousin]

[daancouzijn-blog]

Cousin - Overdone (january 2015) 

In this solo-project, I create and perform electronic music combined with 3D animated visuals under the pseudonym of Cousin

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Constructive porn in its most deductive form’ (interactive video installation in collaboration with Marieke de Zwaan) - august 2014

This installation consists of a minimalistic film set in which carefully selected audiencemembers, portray characters in a scene. Before entering the room, three voluntary audience members are selected to participate and to be placed in the film set without any explination whatsoever of what is about to happen. After the participants are placed, the rest of the audience can enter the room. The filmset is being filmed with two cameras. One camera is filming a wide shot and the other one is making close-ups. Both the audience and the participants are able to view what is being filmed on monitors. Suddenly, a track will play and we hear characters conversing. The actors, the participants, are free to react in any way they feel comfortable. They have become a blank canvas free for the audience to project on. This creates an awkward situation for the participants who have no idea what they’re about to be the subject of. Especially when two of the audible characters in the scene start to become intimate. (Watch a teaser video on vimeo)

[daancouzijn-blog]

‘Silence’ (live performance) - may 2014