I am an artist and musician with a background in experimental physics (Ph.D. in self-organisation of soft matter).
The main theme running through my work is the aliveness of matter. I explore how the physical world and its movement is endlessly intertwined with the mental and emotional.
I express this theme through science-art installations and writing. In addition, I am the lead-singer, guitarist and write lyrics for the band Zalf, more info and upcoming gigs: www.zalf.band
WORK
THE SHAPE OF AN ECHO
Analog audio-visual installation (2024-current)
Sound is not just audible, but also visible. Water, close to a sound source, resonates in dynamic, unexpected patterns. As a listener, water is a body that receives, reflects and holds the shape of sound. In some traditions, water is said to remember, symbolically retaining the emotional imprint of words or music.
The shape of an echo is a performative audio-visual installation based on cymatics. In a live setup, a performer witnesses how their music reshapes the surface water, exploring the materiality of their sound.
With Bass player and composer Daniel Eskens: “Daniël Eskens - Songs for Paul live with AV installation by Simon Stuij”
WATERLAND & SUIKERGROND
double EP + lyric booklet (2024/2025)
The EP’s Waterland and Suikergrond explore how landscapes hold emotions. For instance, the landscapes of my childhood, a combination of the polder (low lying reclaimed farmland) of Holland and the clay soil of Limburg.
Accompanying the double EP was a hand sewn lyric booklet, including extra poetry and an essay. Order on bandcamp: https://simonstuij.bandcamp.com/
FROM MYSTICISM TO TECHNOLOGY
Essay (2024)
Inventors and scientists making new discoveries often find inspiration in non-rational or even mystical sources. In this essay I explore if my own mystical beliefs can be used to guide an invention. Finally I arrive at the butter-computer.
This essay is published in DIG (de digitale internet gids): https://www.de-internet-gids.nl/artikelen/van-mystiek-naar-techniek
COLLOIDAL DESIGN: BUILDING, BENDING AND BREAKING
Ph.D. Thesis Soft Matter Physics (2020)
Self-assembly is the process by which disordered building blocks autonomously form ordered structures. This thesis presents a colloidal system with different self-assembly mechanisms.
Colloids consist of small particles of a few 100nm in size that are floating in a liquid. Colloids are a type of soft matter: matter that has both liquid and solid properties.
Contact
For any questions and booking requests.
info@simonstuij.com