Osmo Nadir is an interdisciplinary artist born in Podlachia, Poland, currently based in Warsaw. Nadir’s artistic practice includes kinetic art, design, music, installation, visual art and performance. Born in 1985, Nadir belongs to the generation of artists associated with the information revolution that begun in the 2000s. Through research oriented between cognitive science and evolutionary biology, using radical synthesis as his primary tool, he unlocks the complex dynamic of the processes that shape our reality.
“Through my works I often oppose the anthropocentric humanism which attributes a special role to humans while elevating them above the animal kingdom. I object to the concept of nations, which seeks to perpetuate divisions and slows down the formation of a global society capable of facing worldwide problems. I am an evangelist of evolution, a feminist, an advocate of diversity, unobstructed migration and information flow. I believe in chaos.“
Osmo Nadir
Sound machines and instruments
During his studies at the Design Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Nadir began to work on audiovisual laboratory merging the worlds of sound, design and performance. The machine is equipped with a number of exceptional instruments (a Laser String, a tilt-sensitive Spindle and a Pendulum to name a few) for creating and modulating sound. The premiere show was held at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. In 2015, the Third Programme of the Polish Radio awarded him with the prestigious prize for his achievements in the field of audiovisual arts. Osmo Nadir uses his knowledge in the field of design along with his artistic background to define new creative realities.
Motion and kinetic installations
“Together with sound and precisely customized space, motion translates concepts and verbal messages into powerful multi-sensory experiences.”
Rhythm 1 is one of the most recognized kinetic-sound installations by Osmo Nadir. The work opens a discussion about two of the greatest illusions of human civilisation. The first one is an anthropocentric myth that elevates man above the kingdom of other living organisms. The other is the illusion of life as a linear narrative. We are extremely attached to closed narrative forms which contain a beginning, middle and end. However, this is not the case in real life – death comes unexpectedly, finding us amidst chaos of unfinished issues and unrealized goals. Bringing life down to the form of a universal timeline equals human life with the life of a dog, a microbe or a robot.
Music for Laser Spindle
Music for Laser Spindle EP, a minialbum first released in the end of 2020 consists of five compositions created and recorded with the use of laser spindle – a new performative instrument, built by the artist.
Singularity LP
Singularity, a debut full-length album, is the first ambient record in history that resounded on the Antipodes Islands. Released in November 2015, it was listed among Parisian Tartine de Contrebasse’s “The things we should have talked about in 2015” – top 30 independent releases of the year. Although many new projects have been launched since, Nadir continues to tour in support of Singularity.
Read about how ambient music resounded on the Antipodes in the story From the end of the world.
