Photo credits: Nahmlos

ABOUT

PLEUN VAN DIJK - is a speculative artist and designer fascinated by the ever-evolving world around her. The exponential speed at which science and technology are developing provides us with new opportunities and confronts us with complex ethical questions. These questions often stay abstract due to the complexity of scientific research papers. The limitations of text and spoken language make it almost impossible to envision the future impact of these inventions and how they could be influenced by the decisions we make today.

In her work, Pleun visualises and translates these futures into tangible speculative scenarios to contribute to the ethical debate. By triggering the viewer's imagination through multiple senses. Her works show the possible, impossible, utopian and dystopian outcomes of our seemingly insignificant decisions today. Through her artistic research, projects, lectures, and workshops Pleun aims to provide viewers with newfound perspectives that force us to reconsider the now.

Speculative artist. Curator and co-creator of the Future Materials Bank at the Jan van Eyck Academie. Digital curator with Jaap Knevel of the Living Library at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design.

Education

2018-2019, 2020-2021 MASTER with distinction, Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London, Material Futures
2011–2016 BACHELOR, Design Academy Eindhoven, Man & Leisure
2013–2014 EXCHANGE, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, Textile department


Upcoming/Current exhibitions

23 September 2023 - June 2025, Space farming - Next Nature, at Evoluon, Eindhoven, NL
2 September - 27 October 2024 - Body heat at Droog Design, Amsterdam, NL
11-13 October 2024 - Materializing the Future with Future Materials at Festiwal Przemiany, Warsaw, PL

Selected exhibitions

  • PEECH x Pleun van Dijk, Copenhagen, DK, 2024

  • Super power design at Center of Innovation and Design, Boussu, BE, 2024

  • Body heat at North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, NL, 2024

  • ENJOY: in quest of pleasures at Maison & Objet, Paris, FR, 2023

  • Clair-Obscure with Morph Collective at Les Moulin, Paris, FR, 2023

  • Beftival at Mediamatic (Museum night), Amsterdam, NL, 2021

  • United Matters at Microlab - Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, NL, 2021

  • Surface Tension(online) at London Design Week, London, UK, 2021

  • The Unknown Mine Zone at Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam, NL, 2021

  • My Mothers’s Daughter at SEA Foundation, Tilburg, NL, 2021

  • Anatomies of the Future at Design Museum Den Bosch, Den Bosch, NL, 2020

  • The Age of Entanglement at Stockholm Design Week, Stockholm, SE, 2020

  • Morph’ at Fey Arts, Paris, FR, 2019

  • Extended views: From dusk to dawn at K11, Guangzhou, CN, 2019

  • The Age of …?’ at Form/Design Center, Malmö, SE, 2019

  • Dissolving views’ at Salone del Mobile, Milano, IT, 2019

  • In:Bodied at Arnold and Sheila Aronson Gallery, Parsons School of Design part of The New School, New York, US, 2019

  • Reshape bioart expo at MU Artspace, Eindhoven, NL, 2018

  • Morph’ at Microlab - DDW, Eindhoven, NL, 2018

  • La Totale’ at Les Moulins - Studio Orta, FR, 2018

  • Human/Non-human - Today’s robots are tomorrow’s dinosaurs at Roskilde Festival, DK, 2018

  • Nothing but flowers’ at Lodz Design Festival, Lodz, PL, 2018

  • EXPOSED x Jesper Just at EYE museum, Amsterdam, NL, 2017

  • Theater Festival Boulevard, Den Bosch, NL, 2017

  • Future Generation’ at Amsterdam Fashionweek, Amsterdam, NL, 2017

  • Fashion makes sense at Fashionclash Festival, Maastricht, NL, 2017

  • #TVclerici with Design Academy Eindhoven at Salone del Mobile, Milano, IT, 2017

  • For Play at MU Artspace, Eindhoven, NL, 2016

  • Ruimtevullers’ at Rotterdam Art Week, Rotterdam, NL, 2016

Selected Publications

Selected Artist talks / Lectures / Teaching

  • Lecture ‘The Human Object’ at Material Activism conference at Elisava / Master in Design Through New Materials, Barcelona, ES, 2024

  • Lecture at IED / MA Design for Sustainable Fashion Technology | Barcelona, ES, 2024

  • Lecture ‘Speculative Futures’ at Material Activism conference at Elisava / Master in Design Through New Materials, Barcelona, ES, 2023

  • Future Materials live podcast recording at Dutch Design Week - Innovationlabs #1: The Living Archive in the Klokgebouw (Strijp-S), Eindhoven, NL, 2023

  • Lecture at Material Activism conference at Elisava / Master in Design Through New Materials, Barcelona, ES, 2022

  • Lecture at Universitetet i Agder, Kristiansand, NO, 2022

  • Jury at CHART Architecture, Copenhagen, DK, 2022

  • Teaching ‘New Moon of Moon World’ with Fred Erik at Fontys ArtCoDe, Tilburg, NL, 2022

  • Lecture at the 18th European Trend Day about the Future Materials Bank, Zürich, CH, 2022

  • Lecture at the Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, DE, 2022

  • Teaching ‘A Human Product’ at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie - DesignLab 3, Amsterdam, NL, 2021

  • Live interview: Designers Dialogues Pleun van Dijk & Hannah van Luttervelt for Blank Space Magazine at Dutch Design Week, NL, 2022

  • Q&A: ‘Human/Non-human - Today’s robots are tomorrow’s dinosaurs’ at Roskilde Festival, DK, 2018

  • Guest lecture: ‘Deconstructing truth’ together with Alice Wong at Stroom, Den Haag, NL, 2018

  • Design date: Body and Identity’ Design Academy Eindhoven #TVclerici at Salone del Mobile, Depot Basel, Milano, IT, 2017

  • Artist talk: ‘The future of procreation’ at Springhouse, Amsterdam, NL, 2017

  • Artist talk: ‘What’s up? #94 at Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam, NL, 2017