MONOCOLOR alias Marian Essl is a Vienna based audiovisual artist. He explores the interrelations between sound and image in both performance-based and installation-based works. His fully generative, algorithmically created imagery oscillates between fluid, organic textures and rigid structures. He focuses on the relation between sound, image, light and space, aiming to create highly immersive audiovisual universes. His work has been shown in various contexts around the world. In 2020, he was awarded the Japan Media Arts Festival New Face Award for his audiovisual fulldome performance "Latent Space" that was created during a residency at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT)  in Montréal. Currently he is working on a large-scale solo exhibition which will open in Spring of 2024.

Performed / Exhibited at (Selection)
Ars Electronica — SAT Montréal — Japan Media Arts Festival Tokyo — Unsafe+Sounds Festival — Elektra Festival Montréal — PRECTXE Seoul — iX Symposium Montréal — Live Cinema Festival Rome — DA-Z Digital Art Zurich Festival — WeSA Festival Seoul — Diagonale. Festival for Austrian Film — V2 Lab for the Unstable Media — Museum für Gestaltung Zurich — Kunsthaus Graz — sound:frame — Parallel Vienna Art Fair — Zeiss Großplanetarium Berlin — Miraikan Toyo — CIVA Festival — Uncloud Festival Utrecht — AIxMusic Festival — Fulldome Festival Jena — Patchlab Festival Krakow —Dutch Design Week Eindhoven — Fulldome UK Festival — Zer01ne Festival Jerusalem
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Works
→ Contact

© Clara Wildberger
© Clara Wildberger
© MONOCOLOR
© MONOCOLOR
© Johannes Hucek
© Johannes Hucek
Awards
2023: Best Of Earth Award – Honorary Mention for Entangled Structures
2022: Hybrid Vision - Digital Art Competition – Nominations: Special-Shaped Projection for Latent Space (won) CN
2019: Golden Wire Award for Latent Space (nominated) AT
2019: Jena Fulldome Festival Student Award for Latent Space (2018) (nominated) DE

Press
2022: Entrevue avec MONOCOLOR / Interview with MONOCOLOR – Interview with Hakeem Lapointe of SAT Montréal about Entangled Structures (french / english)
2021: In virtuelle Welten tauchen mit MONOCOLOR – Interview with Franz Magazine (german)
2021: Monochromer Ruhepol – Article about DISARRAY (german)
2020: Raumfänger – Artist Portait by morgen (german)
2020: MONOCOLOR, Latent Space and the fulldome environment – Interview with Isabelle Rousset for Derivative / TouchDesigner (english)
2019: Video Interview with Alain Brunet – iX Symposium 2019, SAT Montréal (english)

Speaking
2024: WeSA Festival Seoul – Artist Talk / Lecture
2023: PRECTXE Pohang / Seoul – Artist Talks / Lectures
2023: DA Z Zurich – Artist Talk
2023: TouchDesigner Event Berlin – Artist Talk / Q&A
2022: SAT Montréal – Artist Talk / Q&A
2022: CULTVR – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: DA Z Zurich – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: Astra Brixen – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: Diagonale. Film of Austrian Film – Artist Talk / Q&A
2021: V2 Lab for Unstable Media / CIVA – Artist Talk (online)

Teaching
2023 / 2024: University of Applied Sciences and Arts Bielefeld – Digital Media and Experiment