Marc Schmitz + Dolgor Ser-Od

Marc Schmitz and Dolgor Ser-Od, Siren, commissioned by the Creative Foundation for Folkestone Triennial 2017. Image by Thierry Bal.

Marc Schmitz + Dolgor Ser-Od
Siren, 2017

The artists have separate practices, but have collaborated on Siren. They were intrigued both by the beauty and the redundancy of the technology of the 'listening ears' (early warning acoustic mirrors) at nearby Denge (Dungeness). Siren is intended to evoke an unfamiliar technology, as if it has ‘landed from space’. It amplifies sound coming from far away, but adds the possibility of 'speaking back' by becoming a megaphone. Sited overlooking Folkestone Harbour, it gathers the noise of the waves (like a sea shell) and is a reminder of the fog horn that until recently sounded from the lighthouse on the Harbour Arm.

Marc Schmitz’s art is concerned with the openness of space, and he uses a variety of media and materials (painting, installation, video). Recent projects have focused on finding and interpreting unclaimed or contested public space(s), and the importance of the spatial relationship to both personal and shared-cultural memory. The stories told in these spaces reveal alternate possibilities for human experience – and particularly for urban zones. His work is oriented toward the public realm, is collaborative more than ‘interactive,’ relies on ethnographic and art-historical research, and utilises both contemporary and historical forms.

Among other awards, he has received the first prize for Art For Expo 2000 World Expo in Hannover, Germany, the special prize of the jury at the 10th Cairo Biennial and the Turgut Pura Art Prize at the Museum of Sculpture Izmir 2012. Marc Schmitz studied philosophy in Munich and Berlin and multimedia at the Media Academy in Berlin. He lives in Berlin and Ulan Bator.

Dolgor Ser-Od works both in the traditional Mongolian style of miniature painting, and other painting styles, as well as installation and land art.  Her work has been recognised by several Awards.

Dolgor Ser-Od studied traditional painting at Soyol College in Ulaanbaatar and at the Fine Art University in Ulaanbaatar until 2005. Since 2008 she has lived in Berlin and Ulan Bator.

In 2006, Schmitz and Ser-Od initiated the Land Art Mongolia biennial, LAM 360° and Marc has been artistic director since 2010 while Ser-Od is CEO.  LAM is based in Ulan Bator, and is an independent, non-profit, contemporary art organisation with the purpose of raising awareness about sustainability, nomadic culture, ecological decentralisation and democracy by means of contemporary art.

Find more of Marc Schmitz's work.
Find more of Dolgor Ser-Od work