Mathias Mu (°1991, BE)  is a multidisciplinary artist from Antwerp. In his practice, Mu embraces digital cultures, technoromanticism and hyperspace, as well as emerging technologies and media, exploring their potential for artistic expression within the context of contemporary art. Mathias Mu creates objects, performances, sound works and installations, in which he questions the increasingly blurry boundaries between the physical and digital, as well as the organic and artificial. In their creation, Mu’s sculptural objects transform from two-dimensional sketches to three-dimensional renders, to AI-generated forms, into digitally fabricated physical objects. Additionally, the artist takes a critical look at various issues linked to sustainability that digital production insinuates, exploring the use of 3D printing in biomaterials such as clay, mycelium, and others.

Web: mmu.ooo
Social: @mathias.mu

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A Glimpse of Mu No Gatari

 

For the occasion of Wonder festival and Kortrijk Art Weekend, Avee joins forces with A.P. Stu­dio and PLUS-ONE Gal­lery. The installation in the shop window of the for­mer Foto Maro com­ple­ments the aug­men­ted rea­li­ty work Mathi­as is pre­sen­ting on the banks of the river Lys. “Mu no Gatari” refers to the name of Mu’s fictional virtual world, which is in a constant state of flux, ever shifting and evolving with new object, sculptures, and environments. Each guided by its own meaning, gradually leading to the development of a virtual world backed by game-technolgy as an extension of Mu’s physical practice.

"Mu no Gatari”, is Japanse for "The Tale of Nothingness" or "The Story of Emptiness”. The term "Mu" is derived from a character that stands for synergy. It exceeds dichotomous thinking and creates space to postpone judgments and see what happens then.

This sense of emptiness or nothingness relates to the objects, sculptures and environments in Mu’s work that function as (digital) artefacts of things that have never existed and stories yet to be told. As such, they seek a kind of freedom; a freedom from history and context. It speaks to the non-physical essence of these objects that inhabit a space where materiality is no longer the primary concern. It is an environment, where the nature of the objects is elusive, awaiting the meaning we give to it.

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