Paul Kolling

Paul Kolling is an artist based in Berlin, and a founding member of terra0. His solo practice examines the social and spatial politics of infrastructure. In his work, Kolling conjures new perspectives and ways of reading the visual field, cultivating questions about the very nature of mediated perception. Often fusing analog and digital technologies, he works across film, video, installation, and sculpture to explore how particular perspectives and realms of possibility are foregrounded or obscured through the functioning of complex infrastructure. What is made visible via the ways of seeing afforded by new — or old — technology? What imaginaries are made real through depictions of the world? These considerations touch on both natural and man-made environments, emphasizing the ways in which perception, recording, and classification are sites where the struggle of power and agency can unfold.

Kolling's work have been presented at the 58th Carnegie International, the 17th International Architecture Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia, Canadian Centre for Architecture Montreal, The Shed New York City, Kunstverein Hamburg, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Weltmuseum Wien, Kunsthalle Zürich, Francisco Carolinum Linz, Chronus Art Center Shanghai, Furtherfield Gallery London, and Schinkel Pavillon Berlin among others.
For a full CV, portfolio requests and available works, please get in contact via mail. For incomplete, erratic content follow twitter and instagram.

Current events

Survival in the 21st Century | group show
18.05 — 05.11.2024
Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Upcoming events

terra0: Autonomous Forests 3-day workshop | workshop
19.10 — 21.10.2024
Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Solo exhibitions & permanent installations

2024
Nadir
Kunstverein München
2022
Westwärts
Kunsthalle Memmingen
A tree; a corporation; a person (public sculpture)
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Strukturversagen
Galerie 14a
2020
WB190621 (permanent installation)
The Palace and Maritime Silk Road Museum, Fujian
Break of Gauge
Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof
2018
Flowertokens
Trust, Berlin

Group exhibitions

2024
Survival in the 21st Century
Deichtorhallen Hamburg
2023
Cryptomania. Promises of the Blockchain
Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
Schöne Neue Arbeitswelt
Galerie Alte Schule Adlershof
Holy. Energy. Masters. ars viva 2023
Haus der Kunst München
The Educational Web
Kunstverein Hamburg
The Accursed Share
Talbot Rice Gallery Edinburgh
2022
BPA// Exhibition 2022
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
How is Life?
Toto Gallery・MA
DYOR
Kunsthalle Zürich
58th Carnegie International
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Beijing Art and Technology Biennale (BATB)
CAFA Art Museum (Beijing)
ars viva 2023
Goethe Institut Paris
Soft Machines
Hua International (Berlin)
Spoiler Alert
BPA// Raum
Unfished Camp@Pivô
Pivô, São Paulo, Brasil
Seeing Stones and Spaces Beyond the Valley
Biennale Warszawa 2022
Seed Capital #1 curated by Fingerprints DAO
Art Dubai 2022
2021
Staub & Seide. Steppen- und Seidenstraße
Weltmuseum Wien
The Ethereal Aether. An Exhibition of Digital Art
The State Hermitage Museum
A Section of Now
Canadian Centre for Architecture
Unfinished Camp
The Shed NYC and HEK Basel
Proof of Stake
Kunstverein Hamburg
Proof of Art
Francisco Carolinum Linz
Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale
Sotheby's New York, Hong Kong and London
Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale
Sotheby's Decentraland
2038, German pavilion
17th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia
SynchroniCities
B-Part, Berlin
Klasse Denny Group Show 2021
the-engine.space
2020
Mein Vater, meine Nachbarn, meine Freunde, und deren Freunde
haubrok foundation FAHRBEREITSCHAFT
Steppen & Seidenstraßen
MARKK Hamburg
Graduate Show 2020
HFBK Hamburg
加密_流形 (crypto_manifold)
Chronus Art Center (新时线媒体艺术中心), Shanghai
Survival of the Fittest
Kunstpalais Erlangen
2019
Goodbye Cruel World, It's Over
Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf
25th International Festival of Computer Arts (IFCA) 
Maribor, Slovenia
Open Studios
Art School Alliance Studios, Hamburg
Sovereign Nature Exhibition
Kraftwerk, Berlin
Blocumenta 
Artspace, Sydney
VIENNA BIENNALE
MAK – Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Wien
Romantic Limits 
Galerie der HFBK Hamburg
Digital Dilemma - The Architecture of Trust 
Bureau Europa, Maastricht
ME YOU NOU – Créons un terrain d’entente 
Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne
Befriending Hyperobjects 
NAVEL, Los Angeles
2018
Forest. Enter. Exist.
MEWO Kunsthalle Memmingen
{PERFECT & PRICELESS} - VALUE SYSTEMS ON THE BLOCKCHAIN 
Kate Vass Galerie, Zürich
Proof of Work
Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin
Crypto-economics: Infrastructures & Artefacts 
Ars Electronica, Linz
Crypto-economics: Infrastructures & Artefacts 
Festival Alpbach
Gray Area Festival 
San Francisco
Exhibition #11: Dark Habitats Dark Ecology 
Spektrum, Berlin
New World Order 
Furtherfield Gallery, London
New World Order 
Drugo More, Rijeka
New World Order 
Aksioma, Ljubljana
2017
PROOF-OF-BURN: Burning Money. Burning Value. Burning Trust.
Future of Demonstration Festival, Wien
Fiber Festival 2017
Amsterdam
2016
State of DESIGN
designtransfer:, Berlin
Vorspiel
Transmediale 2016, Berlin

Talks & workshops

2024
jour fixe
Akademie der Bildenden Künste München
Künstlergespräch mit Paul Kolling
Kunstverein München
2022
Refractions: terra0 & Sohrab Mohebbi
Carnegie Museum of Art
An Introduction to Autonomous Ecological Agents
Biennale Warszawa 2022
Artist talk with Paul Kolling and Maria-Katharina Lang about 'Staub & Seide. Steppen- und Seidenstraße'
Weltmuseum Wien
2020
Artist talk
Class of Angela Bulloch, HFBK Hamburg
Break of Gauge presentation
Conditions of a Necessity at Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
Break of Gauge: Research trip presentation
Floating Projects, Hong Kong
2018
NFTs and the blockchain collectible paradigm
CrCC at BlueYard, Berlin
Deodands, AI DAOS and Natural System Users 
BigchainDB Meetup at BlueYard, Berlin
Natural resources take control 
Pre-Work-Talk, IXDS, Berlin
Money: Matters of Life 
Moneylab #5, State University New York, Buffalo NY
Extrapolate Nature – (Nonhuman) Governance for Ecosystems 
Moneylab #5, State University New York, Buffalo NY
Art & Blockchain 
Drugo more, Rijeka
Headless organisation and nonhuman governance
TRUST space, Berlin
2017
The Autonomous Forest: How nature can govern 
Impact Startup Fest, Den Haag
Diagrams of Friction #2: observing algorithms
super filme, Berlin
extrapolate everything - Design für eine post-humane Welt 
Medien/Zukünfte, TU Braunschweig
Creating Speculative Scenario's 
Apart festival K3 and Arkadi Zaides, Hamburg
Becoming Earth: Engineering Symbiotic Futures
Transmediale 2017, Berlin

Press & features

2024
Paul Kolling: Nadir | Ausstellungsbesprechung von Katrin Bauer, Camera Austria, 01.06.2024 (magazine)
Eye in the Sky: Aerial politics with Henrietta Williams and Paul Kolling, koozArch, 01.04.2024 (web)
Paul Kolling at Kunstverein München e.V. / Munich, Daily Lazy, 14.03.2024 (web)
Paul Kolling at Kunstverein München, Contemporary Art Library, 07.03.2024 (web)
Nadir, KUBAPARIS, 06.03.2024 (web)
Was läuft in der Kunst?, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 05.03.2024 (magazine)
Paul Kolling, Nadir: Die Vermessung der Welt von oben, artline>, 29.02.2024 (magazine)
Paul Kolling “Nadir” at Kunstverein München, Mousse Magazine, 26.02.2024 (web)
Paul Kolling's ‘Nadir’ Unlocks a Bird's Eye View, Frieze, 16.02.2024 (web)
Im Zenit — Paul Kolling im Kunstverein München, gallerytalk.net, 02.02.2024 (web)
2023
The Work of Artists by Linda Rocco, ART Monthly, 01.09.2023 (magazine)
Simon Denny & terra0 in conversation, Outland Magazine, 23.02.2023 (web)
A tree is one of the most important works in the Carnegie International, NEXT Pittsburgh, 12.01.2023 (web)
Out on a limb: Carnegie International project seeks legal personhood for a tree, WESA NPR, 11.01.2023 (radio)
2022
terra0’s Self-Owning Forests, FRIEZE, 12.12.2022 (magazine)
Paul Kolling at 14a / Hamburg, Daily Lazy, 26.10.2022 (web)
This tree owns itself—and is fighting for its own survival, Fast Company, 23.09.2022 (web)
The Carnegie International takes on the era of US superpower, The Art Newspaper, 23.09.2022 (web)
Paul Kolling: Strukturversagen, Arts of the Working Class, 20.09.2022 (magazine)
Everything You Need to Know About NFTs, GQ Magazine, 25.05.2022 (web)
Proof of What？三檔區塊鏈主題展覽在歐洲, CLABO, 19.05.2022 (web)
Kunst-Auszeichnung des BDI: Ars-Viva-Preis 2023 verliehen, Monopol, 03.05.2022 (magazine)
VCA Curatorial Picks – Week 25th April, 2022, VerticalCrypto Art, 25.04.2022 (web)
Francesco Garutti speaks with Paul Kolling and Paul Seidler about the new notion of ownership in relation to nature, and especially the forest, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 06.04.2022 (web)
Forest Governmentality and the Struggle for More-Than-Human Sovereignty by Daniel Jacobs & Brittany Utting, The Avery Review, 01.04.2022 (web)
Art Dubai mit neuer Sektion für digitale Kunst, Tagesspiegel, 12.03.2022 (magazine)
Insider look at Carnegie Museum of Art’s prestigious 58th Carnegie International, NEXT Pittsburgh, 10.03.2022 (web)
What Are Nfts Anyway?, Right Click Safe, 18.02.2022 (web)
2021
Jahresgaben 2021 Kunstverein Hamburg: Nord, Ost, Süd und West, Kunstverein Hamburg, 03.12.2021 (web)
The Green Room Exhibition, V.O Curations London, 15.10.2021 (event)
Bettina Steinbrügge on New Forms of Coexistence, The New Institute, 09.10.2021 (web)
SCHLOSSMUSEUM LINZ PROOF OF ART – A short history of NFTs, from the beginning of digital art to the metaverse, Distanz Verlag, 01.09.2021 (book)
Episode 28 - Two Degrees by Terra0, NFTs Are 4 Ever Podcast, Spotify, 21.06.2021 (radio)
Plant(e)tecture: Towards a Multispecies Media Architecture Framework for amplifying Plant Agencies, QUT Design Lab, Queensland, 10.06.2021 (magazine)
terra0, enabling the forest to become an autonomous economic agent, CLOT Magazine, 07.06.2021 (web)
気温上昇により自動焼却されるNFT「Two Degrees」、サザビーズにて出品 by 呉心怡, あたらしい経済 / neweconomy, 31.05.2021 (web)
苏富比拍卖NFT“Two Degrees”，将在全球气温升高2°C后自行销毁, 8BTC, 30.05.2021 (web)
Ce NFT s’autodétruit si les températures globales augmentent de 2 ° C, BlockBlog, 30.05.2021 (web)
This NFT Self-Destructs If Global Temperatures Rise 2°C, Ekin Genç, Decrypt, 29.05.2021 (web)
Этот Nft Самоуничтожится, Если Глобальная Температура Поднимется На 2° C, block-chain24, 29.05.2021 (web)
从即将上拍苏富比的28件NFT艺术品中，我们看到了加密艺术的过去、现在与未来, Zhuanlan Zhihu, 26.05.2021 (web)
從即將上拍蘇富比的28件NFT藝術品中，我們看到了加密藝術的過去、現在與未來, BlockBeats, 26.05.2021 (web)
2038.xyz: terra0, A model for nature to regulate and govern itself, Google Arts & Culture, 25.05.2021 (web)
Two Degrees (2021) by terra0 in Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale, Sotheby's, 20.05.2021 (web)
Hinter Scheiben, Die Kunst ist da - wir dürfen sie aber nicht besuchen , Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 04.04.2021 (magazine)
Paul Kolling, Break of Gauge, rundgang.io, 28.01.2021 (web)
Zug und Trug: Über Paul Kollings Filminstallation Break of Gauge, Raphael Dillhof, Springering, Heft 4/2020, 14.01.2021 (magazine)
2020
Jahresgaben edition 'Clouds over WB190621 No. 1-21', Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, 15.12.2020 (web)
HFBK Graduate Show 2020: Künstlerische Abschlussarbeiten von Leyla Yenirce und Paul Kolling, HFBK Hamburg, 08.12.2020 (web)
Decision Trees, Jason Rhys Parry, Real Life Magazine, 10.11.2020 (web)
Goodbye Cruel World, It’s Over Erdlings Geschichten, Janine Blöß, Hörner/Antlfinger, Verlag der Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, 01.11.2020 (book)
Pressemitteilung: Stipendium zur Förderung des künstlerisch-wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses , HFBK Hamburg, 21.09.2020 (web)
Encouraging New Talent Award , HFBK Hamburg, 20.09.2020 (web)
Paul Kolling at Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Contemporary Art Daily, 17.07.2020 (web)
Digitalisierte Reflexionen Zum Klimawandel, Roland Schöny, PARNASS Kunstmagazin, 16.07.2020 (web)
Salvare la natura: la tecnologia aiuta?, Niccolò Lucarelli, Artribune, 14.07.2020 (web)
Ein gerader Schnitt durch die Welt, Radek Krolczyk, taz am Wochenende, 11.07.2020 (magazine)
terra0 workwear jacket edition , left.gallery, 01.07.2020 (web)
Paul Kolling - Break of Gauge, art-in.de, 27.06.2020 (web)
Agency in the Age of Decentralization James Bridle in conversation with Michaela Friedberg and Olaf Grawert, ARCH+ The Property Issue: Politics of Space and Data, 07.06.2020 (magazine)
Survival of the fittest. Nature and high-tech in contemporary art, we make money not art, 16.03.2020 (web)
Salvare la natura: la tecnologia aiuta?, Artribune, 11.03.2020 (web)
"Survival of the Fittest" Ausstellung in Erlangen: Gespräch mit dem Künstler Paul Kolling, kulturLeben BR, 05.03.2020 (radio)
The Datafication of Forests? — From the Wood Wide Web to the Internet of Trees, chapter by Jonathan Gray in Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel, 01.01.2020 (book)
2019
Rise of Blockchain Companies with Hidden Owners – A Horizon Scan of Emerging Global Biological Conservation Issues for 2020, Cell Press Review, 01.10.2019 (magazine)
Handlungsmacht im Zeitalter der Dezentralisierung, ARCH+ 236: Posthumane Architektur, 28.09.2019 (magazine)
Terra0: Giving DAO agency to natural resource, P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival, P2P:Foundation, M. Bauwens, A. Pazaitis, 01.06.2019 (web)
terra0 – Autonomy of Ecosystems, REALTY-V by T. Zolghadr, C. Roth, Space Time TV, 10.04.2019 (web)
legislating architecture: architecting after politics’, A. Brandlhuber, C. Roth, aut. architektur und tirol, 14.03.2019 (event)
An Essay on the German Forest: In the Open with terra0, En plein air – Ethnographies of the Digital’ by P. Karambeigi, A. Ostertag, T. Rossol, P. Schwarzer, L. Stolz, Spector Books, 01.01.2019 (book)
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations nd the Corporate Form, Nathan Tse, 01.01.2019 (book)
2018
Proof of Work, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, esse.ca, 15.11.2018 (web)
Art and AI: Can AI ever be the Artist? by Devika Thapar, medium, 11.10.2018 (web)
In der Kryptowelt, Philipp Hindahl, SCHIRN MAG, 07.10.2018 (web)
Terraforming via the digital twin of everything’, Comrade Animal, The habitat beyond anthropocentrism - Parasite 2.0, 06.10.2018 (magazine)
Ethereum’s Walled Garden: Flower Tokens and Terra0, BTCManager.com, 17.08.2018 (web)
‘Innovationstreiber Blockchain’ in ‘Bitcoin und Blockchain – Vom Scheitern einer Ideologie und dem Erfolg einer revolutionären Technik’ by P. Rosenberg, Springer-Verlag GmbH, 01.07.2018 (book)
Digitalisierte Natur: Ein Wald, der sich selbst abholzt - und verkauft, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 18.06.2018 (magazine)
What Blockchain Means for Contemporary Art, Michael Eby, Hyperallergic.com, 11.05.2018 (web)
Jahrespublikation, Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel, 01.05.2018 (book)
Informality In Times Of Blockchain, Volume #52: The End of Informality, Volume Magazine, May, 01.05.2018 (magazine)
Agenda Setter’, Communication Director, 15.03.2018 (magazine)
Unlimited Editions, Real Life Magazine, February 26, 26.02.2018 (web)
Blockchain. La prospettiva degli artisti, Artribune, 30.01.2018 (web)
BitchCoin and terra0: Tokenization as an Art Form, MoneyLab Reader 2: Overcoming the Hype, 20.01.2018 (book)
Decentralized Artificial Intelligence Is Coming: Here's What You Need To Know, Forbes, 11.01.2018 (web)
2017
Art and Finance Report 2017, Deloitte, 31.12.2017 (web)
Why Decentralized Artificial Intelligence Will Reinvent The Industry As We Know It, Forbes, 26.11.2017 (web)
The Possibility Of A Forest: Unsound 2017, The Quietus, 30.10.2017 (web)
To be Frank’ 3/2017, WIRED Germany (now GQ), 29.09.2017 (magazine)
How Science Revolutionises Democracy Work and Nature Using Blockchain, re:pulica 17, 05.08.2017 (event)
An Essay on the German Forest by Tabea Rossol & Pujan Karambeigi, translated by Pierre Schwarzer, warehouse.industries, 26.07.2017 (web)
2016
The Self-Owning Augmented Forest, Institute of Network Cultures, 29.09.2016 (web)
terra0: art project, self-owned forest, l’editie, 03.09.2016 (web)