MONOCOLOR alias Marian Essl is a Vienna based audiovisual artist. He explores the interrelations between sound and image in both performance-based and installation-based works. His fully generative, algorithmically created imagery oscillates between fluid, organic textures and rigid structures. He focuses on the relation between sound, image, light and space, aiming to create highly immersive audiovisual universes. His work has been shown in various contexts around the world. In 2020, he was awarded the Japan Media Arts Festival New Face Award for his audiovisual fulldome performance Latent Space that was created during a residency at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) in Montréal. In 2024, he opened his large-scale solo exhibition SCREEN—SPACE in Krems, Austria.
Performed / Exhibited at (Selection)
Ars Electronica — SAT Montréal — Japan Media Arts Festival Tokyo — Unsafe+Sounds Festival — Elektra Festival Montréal — PRECTXE Seoul — iX Symposium Montréal — Live Cinema Festival Rome — DA-Z Digital Art Zurich Festival — WeSA Festival Seoul — Diagonale. Festival for Austrian Film — V2 Lab for the Unstable Media — Museum für Gestaltung Zurich — Kunsthaus Graz — sound:frame — Parallel Vienna Art Fair — Zeiss Großplanetarium Berlin — Mapping Festival Geneva — Miraikan Toyo — CIVA Festival — Uncloud Festival Utrecht — AIxMusic Festival — Fulldome Festival Jena — Patchlab Festival Krakow — Dutch Design Week Eindhoven — Fulldome UK Festival — Zer01ne Festival Jerusalem
→ Works
→ Contact
© Niko Havranek
© Johannes Hucek
© Clara Wildberger
Awards
2024: MA/IN Awards – REFRACTIVE INDEX (Finalist)
2023: Best Of Earth Award – Honorary Mention for Entangled Structures
2022: Hybrid Vision - Digital Art Competition – Nominations: Special-Shaped Projection for Latent Space (won) CN
2020: Japan Media Arts Festival New Face Award for Latent Space (won) JP
2019: Golden Wire Award for Latent Space (nominated) AT
2019: Jena Fulldome Festival Student Award for Latent Space (2018) (nominated) DE
Residencies
2024: Djerassi Resident Artists Program – Woodside US
2023: Monopol – Berlin DE
2022: CULTVR – Cardiff UK
2019: Société des arts technolgiques (SAT) – Montréal CA
Press
2024: Video portrait (german with english subtitles)
2024: Niederösterreichische Landesgalerie zeigt MONOCOLOR – Ö1 Radio Feature by Wolfgang Popp about SCREEN—SPACE (german)
2024: Medienkünstler MONOCOLOR in der Landesgalerie (german)
2024: WeSA Musikfestival mit Experimentalkünstlern aus Österreich (german)
2022: Entrevue avec MONOCOLOR / Interview with MONOCOLOR – Interview with Hakeem Lapointe of SAT Montréal about Entangled Structures (french / english)
2022: CULTVR Lab hosts mesmerising audiovisual art experience, Entangled Structures – Review on Buzz Mag Wales (english)
2021: In virtuelle Welten tauchen mit MONOCOLOR – Interview with Franz Magazine (german)
2021: Monochromer Ruhepol – Article about DISARRAY (german)
2020: Raumfänger – Artist Portait by morgen (german)
2020: MONOCOLOR, Latent Space and the fulldome environment – Interview with Isabelle Rousset for Derivative / TouchDesigner (english)
2019: Video Interview with Alain Brunet – iX Symposium 2019, SAT Montréal (english)
2018: Monocoloristisch - schwarz weiß ist nicht gleich farblos. – Interview with Vangardist Magazine (german)
Speaking
2024: University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW) – Artist Talk / Lecure
2024: Hexagone Scène Nationale Grenoble – Artist Talk
2024: State Gallery of Lower Austria – Artist Talks / Guided Tours
2024: WeSA Festival Seoul – Artist Talk / Lecture
2023: PRECTXE Pohang / Seoul – Artist Talks / Lectures
2023: DA Z Zurich – Artist Talk
2023: TouchDesigner Event Berlin – Artist Talk / Q&A
2022: SAT Montréal – Artist Talk / Q&A
2022: CULTVR – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: DA Z Zurich – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: Astra Brixen – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: Diagonale. Film of Austrian Film – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: V2 Lab for Unstable Media / CIVA – Artist Talk (online)
Teaching
2023 / 2024: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Bielefeld DE – Digital Media and Experiment