NM (studio) / Nicole Martens

public space, Ecology, Diversity, Design, crossover, Conceptual, Community, Audiovisual, Analytical, Abstract

NM(studio) is the hybrid practice of Nicole Martens, a graphic and visual artist working on the intersection of art and design since 2005. The studio holds a strong emphasis on experimentation, research, critical thinking and context-awareness, and explores new areas and various media within the visual and sonic discourse. Working with a wide variety of specialists and artists result in large and small scale, commissioned and self-initiated projects in public, cultural, artistic, educational, commercial and corporate domains.

**Pleasant Place tribute to Mien Ruys** - Contribution for Dutch Magazine Pleasant Place about iconic Dutch landscape architect Mien Ruys. Here printed on textile by Pleasant Place shown at Bonne Suits Amsterdam –– 2024 —— More info: https://pleasantplace.space/issue/mien-ruys

**Glitch** - Banner design for radio operator stage at Blijdorp Festival 2024. A graphic composition where the identity elements glitch – representing the many frequencies that come together at a music festival.

**Content Aware Fill – Chabot Museum** - Content Aware Fill is a visual and sonic composition by Nicole Martens (NL) and Jonny Nash (UK/NL). Conceived as a large-scale installation on the monumental facade of the Chabot Museum in the Museumpark, as a contemporary opening piece for the abstract expressionist exhibition Kunst Stelt Alles Voor in March 2020. After an initial postponement due to the covid-19 measures, Content Aware Fill was able to further develop during extended lockdowns through themes related to the exhibition and the impactful covid period into an intuitive reflection of the prevailing zeitgeist. In collaboration with dublab x LAVA Los Angeles, US and Chabot Museum Rotterdam, NL, the enchanting, hypnotic piece was shared in large-scale audiovisual installations in Los Angeles in 2021, mapped on the banks of the LA River on August 30th and mapped on the Chabot Museum in Rotterdam on September 30th. With this we wanted to bring a moment of elevation and wonder, a sincere gift to the people of Los Angeles and Rotterdam; a rare opportunity at the time to share a special experience with others, in physical locations that were safe at the time. More info: https://www.dublab.com/events/103087/dublab-amp-chabot-museum-rotterdam-present-content-aware-fill-feat-nicole-martens-jonny-nash http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/content-aware-fill/ Video by Pia van Beuken

**Content Aware Child** - Content Aware Fill is a visual and sonic composition by Nicole Martens (NL) and Jonny Nash (UK/NL). Conceived as a large-scale installation on the monumental facade of the Chabot Museum in the Museumpark, as a contemporary opening piece for the abstract expressionist exhibition Kunst Stelt Alles Voor in March 2020. After an initial postponement due to the covid-19 measures, Content Aware Fill was able to further develop during extended lockdowns through themes related to the exhibition and the impactful covid period into an intuitive reflection of the prevailing zeitgeist. In collaboration with dublab x LAVA Los Angeles, US and Chabot Museum Rotterdam, NL, the enchanting, hypnotic piece was shared in large-scale audiovisual installations in Los Angeles in 2021, mapped on the banks of the LA River on August 30th and mapped on the Chabot Museum in Rotterdam on September 30th. With this we wanted to bring a moment of elevation and wonder, a sincere gift to the people of Los Angeles and Rotterdam; a rare opportunity at the time to share a special experience with others, in physical locations that were safe at the time. –– More info: https://www.dublab.com/events/103087/dublab-amp-chabot-museum-rotterdam-present-content-aware-fill-feat-nicole-martens-jonny-nash –– http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/content-aware-fill/ –– video by LAVA (Los Angeles Video Artist)

**Ulay Was Here** - Work period and realization: fall 2020 — Graphic identity design for the promotional campaign of the largest retrospective ever and the first international posthumous exhibition of Ulay (1943–2020). In collaboration with audiovisual artist Kirwin Lonwijk, within the graphic identity of the Stedelijk Museum, originally designed by Meevis & van Deursen. An honorable task to shape Ulay's legacy in the public space. The graphic design, static and moving, works closely with Lonwijk's visual compositions. The items were mainly exhibited in the public landscape of Amsterdam and online. –– Photo: screenshot of 'White Balls on Walls' with the sticker on the laptop of Stedelijk Museum director Rein Wolfs. –– see also http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/ulay-was-here/

**pixel** - Work period: 2018 Completed: 2023 — Commissioned by and in collaboration with MVRDV, developer IMKAN. Pixel is the name of the facade design for the eponymous residential and commercial complex in Abu Dhabi by MVRDV architects. The abstract organic 3D pattern is a tribute to the pearl oyster and its important role in the pre-oil history of the region. The complex artwork flows over the seven compact mid-rise towers of different heights, connecting them as one whole. It is composed of four design variations of precast concrete panels. This enveloping shell aims to captivate from afar and up close. — photo: John Wallis — see also http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/pixel-mvrdv/

**Heart for Alexander** - Pitch commissioned by CBK Work period: 2017 Not realized — Alexander Love is a study for a temporary floor design for the Prins Alexanderplein in Rotterdam. This conceptual artwork illustrates the history of the area and addresses the current and future water challenges for one of the lowest-lying areas in the Netherlands. As an inspiring prelude to an upcoming redevelopment, Stichting Hart voor Alexander and CBK Rotterdam (Center for Visual Arts) selected five studios to propose a design with an ambitious brief. The project also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Prins Alexander train station and aims to support the local community. — see also http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/alexander-love/

**Complex- and Wall Compositions In Living Color, with Carl, Saville, Gmelig, Kelly, Susan, Zubli** - Work period: 2013–2017 Completed: 2017 Client: Housing association Ymere –– Six murals for the gables and an accompanying color design for three related apartment buildings in a demographically diverse residential area. As part of major maintenance, the aim was to also visually refresh the buildings with six works of art as a gift to the residents, thus making a long-term positive contribution to the living environment. The design and the works of art were developed from social perspectives in consultation with the residents. — see also: http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/alexander-love/

**An Elastic Tension of Force from Part to Part, Part II** - This work is Part II of a diptych made for the group exhibition 'Blueprint, Who's Urban Appropriation is This?' by Metro54 in TENT Rotterdam in 2017. Both abstract pieces are the result of a research into the origins of 1988/'92 Afrocentric hip-hop fashion, its influence on urban architecture and the signature of NM. From an analytical design research with historical cultural patterns carefully composed compositions emerged. Part II elaborates on Part I and tells on a larger canvas about inter-cultural connections between symbolism, constructs and diversity. The work is read as a random semi-anthropological composition, an urban composition, an architectural construction and a city map. Part I. is designed for a museum context, deliberately exhibited in a public commercial space and frame. The opposite is true for Part II, designed for a commercial banner frame and installed in a museum context. — the works, conceived as a city plan, a mural, an architectural or fabric design, propose a critical perspective on cultural themes of ethnicity and social constructions, their origins and how this has historically been facilitated or driven by economic intentions, city planning and (urban) ecology. At first the pieces speak purely aesthetically, on closer inspection they offer access to the deeper meaning, as is the case with Hip-Hop fashion and the many awe-inspiring artworks that have been examined. — see also http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/an-elastic-tension-of-force-from-part-to-part-part-i/

**An Elastic Tension of Force from Part to Part, Part I** - This work is Part I of a diptych made for the group exhibition 'Blueprint, Who's Urban Appropriation is This?' in TENT Rotterdam in 2017. Both abstract works are the result of a research into the origins of 1988/'92 Afrocentric hip-hop fashion, its influence on urban architecture and the signature of NM. From an analytical design research with historical cultural patterns, carefully composed compositions emerged. The works claim that what seemingly distinguishes cultures, is the same thing that connects them; culture is by definition the result of interdisciplinary, intercultural appropriation and diversity. In this way, the diptych becomes a plea for re-evaluation of origin, legitimacy, appreciation, material and context. Part I was made specifically for the billboard. It is the first composition that emerged from an intensive visual analytical and densification process of cultural symbols and patterns. It refers to the original forms and color applications, and recomposes them in a contemporary translation. This prelude to Part II is created independently of its spatial context, but is read as a response to decorative window frames beneath the work. Part I. is designed for a museum context, deliberately displayed in a public commercial space and frame. The opposite is true for Part II, designed for a commercial banner frame and installed in a museum context. — The works, conceived as a city plan, a mural, an architectural or fabric design, among others, propose a critical perspective on cultural themes of ethnicity and social constructions, their origins and how this has historically been facilitated or driven by economic intentions, city planning and (urban) ecology. At first the pieces speak purely aesthetically, on closer inspection they offer access to deeper meaning, as is the case with Hip-Hop fashion and the many awe-inspiring artworks examined. — see also http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/an-elastic-tension-of-force-from-part-to-part-part-i/

**Style is Merely the Outside of Content** - Work period: 06–07.2017 Status: design delivered, independent of the design the building was cancelled due to political processes just before construction. Client: MVRDV –– This facade-encompassing artwork was specially made for the Cultuur Cluster, to be executed in perforated metal cassettes. The building is, as it were, turned inside out and reveals the personal identity of the 17th-century 'Golden Age' Zaankanter in the abstract net curtain design. It consists of a large variety of newly designed patterns that have emerged from the layering and editing of historical costumes and architectural symbolism. The referential and dynamic design, which shows a decorative image both from close up and from afar, gives a personal character to the center of Zaanstad. —— see also: http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/style-is-merely-the-outside-of-content/

**Dancing On the Ceiling** - Work period: 2017 Completed: 2019 Commission: Stichting Hoofdkwartier Executor: Marsie Schilderbedrijf — Dancing on a Ceiling is a permanent site-specific artwork in the public space. Designed on the underside of a fitness school, the canopy of the middle of Kiphofplein, supported by pillars. The design is a colored reflection of the temporary site-specific floor artwork Game of Lines that stretched over almost the entire Kiphofplein. With the color palette from the street, Dancing on the Ceiling is a permanent imprint of and a memory of Game of Lines, with the aim of involving this new construction part of the street in the special reconstruction of the architecture of the street and neighborhood. — see also: http://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/dancing-on-the-ceiling/

**Game of Lines** - Work period: 2011–2014 Completed: 2014 Committee: Municipality of Rotterdam Executor: Road marking company VVR —— Game of Lines is a large-scale abstract artwork on a wide sidewalk. The work is a response to the surrounding post-war architecture and is inspired by modernism and hopscotch games. This temporary marking was the first step in the transformation of an inconspicuous empty sidewalk into a lively square. Game of Lines creates space for people, nature and commuters to enjoy the passage and to make it their own in order to stimulate a better connection between people and the neighborhood.

**Non-Advertising** - Photo: 2005, Witte de Withstraat, by Frank Hanswijk — Non-Advertising is the title of a collection of visual works in various media as a preliminary outcome of an academic research project from 2004. Function of Behaviour does not explain the Mechanism of Behaviour (Function vs Mechanism, FvsM). An investigation into human behaviour in relation to nature, why humanity destroys its habitat instead of caring for and nurturing it, why people seem insensitive to calls to do otherwise. The research and results are set out in the book of the same name. Non-Advertising offers space for reflection, putting things into perspective, an ability that is exceptional for humans, in an endless stream of media messages. It also offers an alternative to environmental propaganda and ideological advertising from that time. It infiltrates commercial/consumer-oriented media with that which relaxes us in the current era, which calms us down, something that asks nothing of us and seems to convey no apparent message: Nature. A provisional answer, to integrate this space for thoughts, silence and contemplation also in the hectic life. In order to arrive at decisions that are better for nature, and thus also for our habitat. — see also https://www.nicolemartens.nl/en/work/non-advertising/

Date: 17-01-2005

This artist has no awards yet.