about
Navid Razavi / v.rtx_void
I create environments that insist on existing outside the terms imposed on them.
Across interactive installation, kinetic sculpture, live performance, and expanded cinema, my work consistently returns to one question:
What does it mean to create spaces where existence refuses to be reduced, categorized, or erased?
Each work begins with what a space already holds. Grounded in an artistic practice spanning Germany, the UK, the UAE, and Colombia, my work is now entering a formal research framework, deepening the questions it has always been asking.
Bio
I am a transdisciplinary media artist and artistic researcher based in Cologne, working across interactive installation, kinetic sculpture, live performance and expanded cinema. Work has been shown at Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum, wildpalms Düsseldorf, Galerie Seippel, COLLUMINA, IKLECTIK London and Hambach Castle, with support from Stiftung Kunstfonds, NEUSTART KULTUR and Kunststiftung NRW. Since 2018 I have worked with Ali Chakav and Joel Jaffe as urbanrecall. Alongside my own work I design video for the stage, most recently at Staatstheater Kassel and Theater Bielefeld. I graduated with distinction from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne in 2020, and I am currently at the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund, with a research affiliation at the New Centre for Research & Practice.
also written vrtx_void
EDUCATION
The New Centre for Research & Practice, Incoming Researcher in Transdisciplinary Studies (current)
Academy for Theatre and Digitality / FH Dortmund, Master of Arts in Theater and Digitality (current, expected 2027)
Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Diploma with Distinction in Media & Fine Arts (2012 to 2020)
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Semester Abroad, DAAD Scholar (2016)
SELECTED INSTALLATIONS & PERFORMANCES
APHASIA (2026), Academy for Theatre and Digitality Dortmund, Environmental Installation (prototype)
ALGORITHMIC GAZE (2026), Cables of Resistance Berlin / Hambach Castle, Interactive AV Installation
TALK TO THE MACHINE (2025), Academy for Theatre and Digitality Dortmund, with Jan Thierhoff
SURFACE II / Ghost in the Machine (2025), COLLUMINA V, KulturKubus Cologne
MANUFACTURING ANTIMONUMENT (2023), Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum / wildpalms Gallery Düsseldorf, Interactive AV Performance
SURFACE (2022), Galerie Seippel Cologne, Immersive Kinetic AV Installation
BLACK SEA (2022), Ebertplatz Cologne, Interactive AV Installation
MEMORIES_OF_THE_NEARBY:FUTURE (2021), St. Gertrud Cologne, Interactive Installation
TETRAHEDRON (2020), Academy of Media Arts Cologne, with Joel Jaffe
GROUND_ZEROES (2018), Kunsthaus Rhenania Cologne, Expanded Cinema Installation
SELECTED STAGE PRODUCTIONS
SECHZEHN WÖRTER (2025), Staatstheater Kassel, Video Design, Director: Dariusch Yazdkhasti
MOBY DICK (2023), Bühnen und Orchester Bielefeld, Video Design / Light Effects, Director: Michael Heicks
ULTIMA RATIO (2023), Sommerblut Festival, Interaction, Video, Light & Sound Design, Director: Christoph Steć
LAND IM LAND (2023), Bühnen und Orchester Bielefeld / École des Sables, Video Design / Holographic Projection, Director: Stephanie Thiersch
WERT.SCHÄTZEN.LERNEN (2020), contour Bergisch Gladbach, Interactive Dance Performance, with Marcel Haupt, Björn Weber
AWARDS, GRANTS & RESIDENCIES
2024: MUTEK.AE Performance Lab, Residency, Dubai
2022: NEUSTART KULTUR, Grant, BBK Bundesverband
2022: NEUSTART KULTUR, Grant, Stiftung Kunstfonds, 2nd Edition
2020: MGZ, Media Start-Up Grant
2020: MKW NRW Kulturfonds, Corona Artist Promotion
2020: Kunststiftung NRW, Corona Special Fund
2015: DAAD, Scholarship, Colombia
2015: Montepulciano College for Music and Dance, Residency
TALKS, WORKSHOPS & JURY WORK
2026: LightLab Democracy, Workshop Facilitation, Democracy International, Cologne
2026: InterLause #17, Panel Talk, Lause Berlin
2024: DIWAN, Was machen wir noch hier?!, Panel Talk, Stadtgarten Cologne
2021: Head of Jury, NEUSTART Kultur, Scholarship Modul D
MEMBERSHIPS
Multichrom e.V., Board Member
Garagelab e.V., Member
Timcheh e.V., Artist / Collaborator