Biography

The practice of Thom van Hoek (b. 1990, Rotterdam) finds itself between the physical and the virtual world, where one influences the other resulting in an interruption in our sense of perception. Predominantly inspired by mediation and the passage of time, he investigates how we define matter in relation to repetition and its disintegration, questioning the influence of mediation on content and vice versa. His work is rooted in the term ecology; οἶκος meaning “environment / house” and λογία “study of” – which is strongly connected to the landscape of The Netherlands, responding to terraformed and virtual aspects of the curated environment. This topic inescapably circles around the sociopolitical question of how to organically coexist in a space that has been designed on the drawing board. Propelled by this line of questioning, his practice often involves the notion of time and site-specificity. This manifests itself primarily in the form of temporary sculptures - by using plant-based material - installations, photography and video, advocating a kind of organic inclusivity. After studying at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and graduating from the temporary master program Materialisation in Art & Design at the Sandberg Instituut, he currently works from his studio at Lokaal Lokaal.