MODERN DAY DADA
Provocative collage artist, Micosch Holland is joint winner of the KOD Prize
by Maria Raposo
German artist, Micosch Holland is joint winner of the KOD Prize. He pairs vintage materials with digital tools to recreate Dada for the modern world. Influenced by the likes of Marcel Duchamp and Kurt Schwitters, his collage featured in the UP&COMING exhibition layers abstract forms beneath sprinting soldiers. Entitled ‘Bank (Zuerich)’, the work tackles dangerous connections between money and war.
Micosch Holland, 'Bank (Zuerich)', 2012
KOD: What’s the inspiration behind your piece in UP&COMING?
Micosch Holland: 3 hours in Zuerich; walking between mountains of bloody money.
KOD: Does art have power over politics?
Micosch Holland: No, I’m living 50 km from the place were the Nazis organized "entartete kunst".
KOD: How do you make your work?
Micosch Holland: I always work with vintage paper material. I look, take, find, search, change and always try to be open-minded. Sometimes my work is political, sometimes puerly aesthetic, sometimes non-conformist, sometimes repeated.
KOD: Who are you influenced by?
Micosch Holland: Schwitters, Duchamp, Beuys, Rauchenberg, Raoul Hausmann and the Bauhaus.
KOD: Why is collage becoming more popular?
Micosch Holland: Maybe because our times are very similar to the last period when collage was big, between 1910 and 1930.
KOD: Would you describe collage as an accessible art form?
Micosch Holland: Yes, especially in Germany.
Micosch Holland, 2014
KOD: How are you different from other artists?
Micosch Holland: I have a feeling that a lot of artists do the same, feel the same and have the same problems. Everything has been done before.
KOD: Why do you combine vintage materials with digital techniques?
Micosch Holland: Digital techniques can be a good instrument to achieve what you want but I always try do work in analog when I can.
KOD: As an emerging artist, did you struggle to get noticed?
Micosch Holland: Thank god for the internet, really.
KOD: Do you share the Dada movement’s ethos?
Micosch Holland: YES!
KOD: What do you when you’re not making art?
Micosch Holland: I spend time with my wife and child
KOD: Why is collage becoming more popular?
Micosch Holland: Maybe because our times are very similar to the last period when collage was big, between 1910 and 1930.
Micosch Holland, 'Minister', 2012
KOD: Would you describe collage as an accessible art form?
Micosch Holland: Yes, especially in Germany.
KOD: How are you different from other artists?
Micosch Holland: I have a feeling that a lot of artists do the same, feel the same and have the same problems. Everything has been done before.
KOD: Why do you combine vintage materials with digital techniques?
Micosch Holland: Digital techniques can be a good instrument to achieve what you want but I always try do work in analog when I can.
KOD: As an emerging artist, did you struggle to get noticed?
Micosch Holland: Thank god for the internet, really.
KOD: Do you share the Dada movement’s ethos?
Micosch Holland: YES!
KOD: What do you when you’re not making art?
Micosch Holland: I spend time with my wife and child.
See more of Micosch Holland's work here
