Hard Drives from Space
Zuzanna Zgierska (she/her) is an artist-researcher and filmmaker working at the intersection of ArtScience, Transmedia Storytelling, and Digital Culture. Her artistic practice is driven by the need for critical narratives in the age of “ex-” (extraction, exclusion, and extinction). She untangles the planetary tongues through fieldwork, geo-hacking, and cross-cultural exchanges. From Earth Simulation Lab to the North Pole, Zuzanna creates landscape imaginaries by connecting scientific research with indigenous wisdom, challenging the existing knowledge paradigms.
She teaches Theory in Practice and Research and Discourse at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and Interscalar Research Methods at the Design Academy Eindhoven (MA Critical Inquiry Lab). Zuzanna is currently a Digital Culture Fellow 2023–24 (Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht) and a member of “Politics of Knowledge” Research Group 2022–24 (Lectorate Art Theory & Practice, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague). Besides her appointments at art academies, Zuzanna gave presentations worldwide at community centers, galleries, artist initiatives, film festivals, research institutes, science seminars, and radio shows.
Zuzanna received a Talent Award 2024 (Creative Industries Fund NL), a Golden Calf in Digital Culture 2022 (Netherlands Film Festival), and a Landscape Research Award 2021 (Landscape Research Group UK). Her cinema-expanded and installation works have been shown at international festivals and galleries, including Sonic Acts Biennial (Amsterdam), Netherlands Film Festival (Utrecht), Digital Art Festival (Taipei), Noorderlicht International Photo Festival (Groningen), W139 (Amsterdam), MU Hybrid Art House (Eindhoven), and Stroom (The Hague). She has a studio at Quartair Contemporary Art Initiatives in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design (2020), Graduation Award (Main Prize)
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
Activities: Curatorial Team; Reading Group; Design Research; Hack Club
Foundation Diploma in Graphic Design, Minor Audiovisual Design (2015), Distinction
Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, NL
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Industrial Design (2014), Distinction
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow, PL
Activities: Experimental Design; Design Methodology; Multimedia Imaging Laboratory
Academic Experience
Tutor Research Group, Research & Discourse (BA), Feb 24 – Present
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
Tutor Moving Matter: Interscalar Research Methods, The Critical Inquiry Lab (MA), Dec 23 – Present
Design Academy Eindhoven, Eindhoven, NL
Research Candidate Politics of Knowledge, Lectorate Art Theory and Practice, Oct 22 – Oct 24
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
Board Member Theory Platform, Sep 22 – Present
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
Tutor Theory in Practice, Foundation Year, Sep 21 – Present
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
Other Experience (Selection)
Digital Culture Fellow, Sep 23 – Sep 24
Netherlands Film Festival (NFF), Utrecht, NL
Artistic Team Member, May 21 – Present
Quartair Contemporary Art Initiatives, The Hague, NL
Artistic Team Member, Sep 20 – Present
ARK Collective, Amsterdam, NL
Artist, Researcher, Filmmaker, Feb 20 – Present
Studio Zuzanna Zgierska, The Hague, NL & Worldwide
Recent interdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations (selection):
Artist Louis Braddock Clarke, The Hague, NL & Worldwide, Sep 18 – Present
Film Producers Manuela Girón & Luis Andrés Schwartz, Guatemala City, GT, May 23 – Present
Qaanaap Ratiunga (Qaanaaq Radio), Qaanaaq, GL, Jul 22
StarPlan (Centre for Star and Planet Formation), Copenhagen, DK, Nov 21 – Sep 22
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK, Nov 21 – Sep 22
Paleomagnetic Laboratory, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL, Oct 21 – Sep 22
Earth Simulation Lab, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NL, Oct 21 – Sep 22
The Nest Collective, Nairobi, KE, Apr 21 – Sep 21
David Casey/Surface Area Media, Detroit, USA, Mar 21 – Sep 22
Video Power, Maastricht, NL, Oct 20 – Present
Advanced Soft Matter, Delft University of Technology, Delft, NL, May 20 – Sep 20
Artist Guy Ben-Ary, Leiden, NL & The Hague, NL, Sep 18
Artist Assistant, Jun 18 – Nov 18
iii (instrument inventors initiative), The Hague, NL
Photography Editor, Jan 17 – Dec 17
Katrin Korfmann, Amsterdam, NL
Editor, Nov 12 – Oct 14
Austeria Publishing, Cracow, PL, Budapest, HU, Syracuse, IT
Grants & Awards
2023 Creative Industries Fund (Stimuleringsfonds), Talent Development Grant, Proj. “Moving Matter,” Rotterdam, NL
2022 Netherlands Film Festival, Golden Calf in Digital Culture, Proj. “LAWKI,” Utrecht, NL
2022 Creative Industries Fund (Stimuleringsfonds), Digital Culture Grant, Proj. “Out of Focus,” Rotterdam, NL
2021 Netherlands Film Fund & Mondriaan Fund, De Korte Verbeelding Award, Proj. “Out of Focus,” Amsterdam, NL
2021 Video Power, Talent Award, Proj. “Out of Focus,” Maastricht, NL
2021 Niemeijer Fund Grant, Proj. “Out of Focus,” Dordrecht, NL
2021 Mondriaan Fund, Kunst Opdracht Grant, Proj. “LAWKI—NOW,” Amsterdam, NL
2021 Landscape Research Group, Research Grant, Proj. “Out of Focus,” Poole, UK
2021 Creative Industries Fund (Stimuleringsfonds), Digital Culture Grant, Proj. “LAWKI—NOW,” Rotterdam, NL
2020 Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, Graduation Award (Graphic Design Main Prize), Proj. “ex.citable inter.faces,” The Hague, NL
2015 The Van Beek-Donner Foundation, Study Grant, Rotterdam, NL
2015 Marjanne Knüppe-Hüsken Fund, Art & Design Talented Student Award, Arnhem, NL
2014 Soroptimist International, Study Grant, Cambridge, UK
Residencies & Fellowships
2024 Upcoming: Self-initiated Residency, Guatemalan Highlands, GT
2024 Arcadia Leeuwarden-Fryslân, Proj. “Exploring Collaborative Boundaries in Hybrid Knowledge Creation,” Leeuwarden/Frisia, NL
2024 Wongema, Proj. “Politics of Knowledge,” Hornhuizen, NL
2023 Netherlands Film Festival 2023, Digital Culture Fellowship, Proj. “Exploring Collaborative Boundaries in Hybrid Knowledge Creation,” Utrecht, NL
2022 Self-initiated Residency, Northern Greenland, GL
2021 Self-initiated Residency, Northern Greenland, GL
Art Commissions
2023 Arcadia, Commission, Proj. “Arcadia Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2028,” Leeuwarden/Frisia, NL
2022 Stroom Den Haag, Commission, Proj. “Meteorite 82149,” The Hague, NL
2022 Digital Art Festival Taipei, Commission, Proj. “LAWKI—Passages,” Taipei, TW
2022 Sonic Acts, Commission, Proj. “Hard Drives from Space,” Amsterdam, NL
2021 MU Hybrid Art House, Commission, Proj. “LAWKI—ALIVE,” Eindhoven, NL
2021 Noorderlicht Photography Foundation, Commission, Proj. “LAWKI—NOW,” Groningen, NL
Representation
Sonic Acts
Netherlands Film Festival
Stroom Den Haag
Platform for Arts Research in Collaboration (PARC)
Skills
Artistic
ArtScience
Transmedia Storytelling
Digital Culture
Photography & Film
Visual Anthropology
Interactive Media
Installation Art/Sculpture
Experimental Design
Research
Artistic Research
Creative Writing
Critical Theory
Analytical Thinking
Intercultural Collaboration
Fair Practice Code
Art Education
Technical
Adobe Creative Suite
Da Vinci Resolve
Coding (HTML, CSS, JS)
Tinkering & Hacking
Wood & Metal Workshop
Driving License B
Project Management
Art Direction
Art Management
Stress Management
Effective Communication
Communications & Public Outreach
Scheduling
Hybrid Environments (Offline & Online)
Problem Solving
Troubleshooting
Flexibility
Finance Planning & Budgeting
Languages
English — full professional proficiency
Dutch — limited working proficiency
Polish — native
Italian — limited working proficiency
Ukrainian — beginner
“Rock Rewriting, Rock Restitution”
Panel Discussion (Organiser & Host) @ Joint Research Day, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL, Oct 2023
“Exploring Collaborative Boundaries in Hybrid Knowledge Creation”
Talk @ Netherlands Film Festival 2023, Professionals Programme, Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, NL, Sep 23
“Down the Crimson Cliffs, Past the Fjord of the Dead, Over the Signal Mountain”
Lecture-Performance @ Artistic Research Research Group (ARRG), University of Amsterdam, NL, Feb 24
Lecture-Performance @ Landscape Research Group, Research Fund Showcase, Poole, UK, online, Jun 23
Lecture-Performance @ Transitions Festival 2023, Lumière Cinema, Maastricht, NL, Mar 23
Lecture-Performance (Commissioned) @ Night Air: Melting Cores, OT301, Amsterdam, NL, Mar 22
“Meteorite 82149”
Installation (Commissioned) @ “Positions: Elsewheres,” Stroom Den Haag, The Hague, NL, Feb – Jul 23
“Extractive Archives”
Talk @ W139, Amsterdam, NL, Oct 22
“Hard Drives from Space”
Immersive Installation (Commissioned) @ Sonic Acts Biennial 2022, W139, Amsterdam, NL, Sep – Oct 22
“LAWKI—Passages”
Immersive Installation with A.I. (Commissioned) @ Digital Art Festival Taipei, Digital Art Center, Taipei, TW, Sep – Oct 22
“Out of Focus: Down the Crimson Cliffs, Past the Fjord of the Dead, Over the Signal Mountain”
Essay Publication (Commissioned) @ Ecoes Magazine #3, Amsterdam, NL, Jul 22
“Paleomagnetic Listening”
Lecture-Performance @ Mag-NetZ: The Magnetic NetworkZ Seminar Series, Liverpool University, Liverpool, UK, Apr 21
“LAWKI—ALIVE”
Immersive Installation with A.I., Solo Show (Commissioned) @ MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, NL, Oct – Nov 21
“Meet the Makers”
Talk @ Dutch Design Week, MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, NL, Oct 2021
“LAWKI—NOW”
Immersive Installation with A.I. (Commissioned) @ Noorderlicht Festival, Der Aa-Kerk, Groningen, NL, Aug – Oct 21
“LAWKI—Life As We Know It”
Film Screening @ “UNMUTED,” Het Hem, Amsterdam, NL, Jun 21
“New Common Sound Designers”
Talk @ “Common Waves,” Tbilisi Architecture Biennial, Tbilisi, GE, online, Oct 20
“LAWKI (Life As We Know It)”
Film Screening (Commissioned) @ Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht, NL, online, Sep 20
“On Our Own Time”
Curated Exhibition @ KABK Graduation Show 2020, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL, Jan – Sep 20
Curated Online Exhibition @ The Wrong Degree Show, Paris, FR, online, Jul – Dec 20
“Bezrękie bestie?” [Eng. “Beasts Without Hands?”]
Essay Publication @ “Formy” Magazine, Cracow, PL, Nov 19
“Delo Archive Lab”
Social Intervention, Radio Show (Commissioned) @ 26th Biennial of Design, Ljubljana, SI, Nov 19 – Feb 20
“The Frayed Edges of Efficiency”
Film Screening @ open! Platform for Art, Culture and the Public Domain, NL, online, Aug 18
“Discipline Objects”
Film & Installation (Commissioned) @ “Models for Humanity,” Theater Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL, Apr 18
Zuzanna Zgierska
bio/cv
contact
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Hard Drives from Space
2022
Thousands of years ago, a meteor shower hit the grounds of the present-day Inugguit Nunaat (Northern Greenland). During Danish colonization and 19th-century North Pole expeditions, these meteorite pieces found their way to museums in New York and Copenhagen. Alongside mineral trophies, a group of indigenous Inugguit people were relocated and displayed as a living “anthropological zoo.”
In “Hard Drives from Space,” shaping mineral magnetism becomes a key strategy to lift the weight of colonialism and restitute indigenous narratives. The installation takes the form of a research station composed of speculative stones. Through a series of decolonizing rituals with hunters, shamans, and artisans in Inugguit Nunaat and art-scientific experiments at the Paleomagnetic Laboratory in Utrecht, samples of the meteorite are remagnetized. In the process of rewriting magnetic histories, new narratives emerge—one sun after another.
Commissioned by
Sonic Acts
Exhibitions
2022 “one sun after another,” Sonic Acts Biennial 2022, W139, Amsterdam (NL)
Collaboration
Louis Braddock Clarke
Curator
Margarita Osipian
Documentation
Pieter Kers, George Knegtel
Press
Het Parool, Metropolis M, AQNB, Clotmag, The Wire — printed magazine
Support
Sonic Acts
Mondriaan Fund
Netherlands Film Fund
Creative Industries Fund (Stimuleringsfonds)
Video Power
Landscape Research Group
Royal Academy of Art, The Hague
Niemeijer Fund, Fonds Kwadraat
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