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Nils Völker is an artist and communication designer living and working in Berlin.

In 2004 he received a diploma from the Bauhaus University in Weimar. Afterwards he moved to Berlin where he started working self employed as communication designer specializing in the development of corporate identities and book design. About five years later, in 2009, Nils Völker got more and more into the creation of artworks with the means of physical computing somewhere at the intersection of technology and art.

In June 2009 he realized an interactive installation for an exhibition in The Netherlands that visualizes the movement of the visitors eyes. Early in the year 2010 he built a machine that converts the sound of car engines into paintings made with used motor oil on canvas and a cars backlight on exposure photographs. Later that year he realized an installation mainly made from cooling fans and garbage bags. This work, called "One Hundred and Eight", has been exhibited in Mannheim, Istanbul and The Hague and has been published in several books and blogs until now.

In spring 2011 he realized the largest work until now. In close cooperation with his brother Sven Völker, he built a temporary installation made from 252 inflatable plastic bags for the exhibition "Captured – a Homage to Light and Air". Later this year Nils Völker realized two more site specific installations, "Thirty Six" for Art Lab Gnesta and "Forty Eight" for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

Currently Nils Völker is working on a new installation which will be exhibited from 1st January 2012 at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei, Taiwan.

Short CV
1979 born in Aalen, Germany

1999 – 2004: Studies of Visual Communication at the Bauhaus University, Weimar
since 2004 and ongoing: self employed communication designer
since 2009 and ongoing: creating artworks mainly in the field of physical computing and new media art

Exhibitions
2012:
– "Transjourney", Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan
2011:
– Rewire Festival, The Hague, Netherlands
– "Lost in Lace", Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK
– "Rhythm", Art Lab Gnesta, Gnesta, Sweden
– ISEA 2011, Cumhuriyet Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
– "Captured - A Homage to Light and Air", MADE Space, Berlin, Germany
– B-Seite Festival, Mannheim, Germany
2010:
– Smart Urban Stage, Berlin, Germany
2009:
– "Makers & Spectators", MU, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Published Work (excerpt)
books
upcoming: Inflatable Architecture, Art & Design, LinksBooks (coming in spring 2012)
2011: A Touch of Code, Interactive Installations and Experiences, Gestalten Verlag.
2010: Left, Right, Up, Down. New Directions in Signage and Wayfinding, Die Gestalten Verlag, ISBN: 978-3-89955-312-3
2009: The Design and Design Book of the Year Vol. 1, ISBN: 978-84-96309-80-7

magazines
2011: PAGE Magazine (7-2011), Antipasto Magazine (1-2011)
2010: Der Kunsthandel (7-2010), Intersection (summer 2010)
2008: PAGE Magazine (7-2008, 10-2008), Form Magazine 07/08-2008

online
Spiegel Online, Gizmodo.com, Engadget.com, Wired.com, DesignBoom.com, SlashGear.com, Netdiver.com, ...

Awards
2008: twice the iF Communication Design Award 2008 / Nomination for the The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany
2007: Art Directors Club Award 2007
2006: iF Communication Design Award 2006 in Gold
2005: iF Communication Design Award 2005