video + performance + installation

Katinka Kleijn + Lia Kohl
Yucca Valley Material Lab + Design Museum Chicago
2023

Augmented Geology is a body of work created while in residence in Joshua Tree, California. Drawing inspiration from the harsh and beautiful landscape, Kohl and Kleijn experimented with rock, rain, sand, fire, and wide open space, testing and capturing their effects on fragile cellos. Made in a landscape uniquely formed by time, erosion, and cataclysmic changes, the work is rooted in both patience and play.

Some explorations explore the visual and tactile– a cello filled with concrete, burned by the sun, or balanced on rock formations- others focus on sound. Beyond being odd and arresting juxtapositions, these small performances accumulate into larger questions about time and ephemerality, material and transformation.

Four of these works (video and performance ephemera) were on view at the Chicago Design Museum from November 2023 -January 2024

Nick Meryhew + Lia Kohl
Experimental Sound Studio Audible Gallery
2022

A small train going a long way is a work of abstract sonic interventions in public spaces, documented through videos, sounds, maps, scores, and performance ephemera. It unfolds in collaboration with the unpredictable sounds of its environment, facilitating transient experiences of familiar places. 

Small Train was on view at ESS audible gallery, April 1 - May 14, 2022.

Photos by Ricardo Adame from the opening performance at ESS.

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Measures of Distance

Nick Meryhew + Lia Kohl
Roman Susan Art Foundation
2020

Intimacy and alienation do not constitute a binary, but rather operate as simultaneous phenomena; expanding and contracting distances requiring fluid performances of vulnerability, support, propriety, and separation. For Measures of Distance, Lia and Nick navigate this matrix, exploring alternative intimacies, physical proximities, and ambiguous distances through video, performance ephemera, and sculptural objects.

Measures of Distance was a street-view exhibition on view 24 hours a day, with projections after dark.

stills from Bread Piece

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Katinka Kleijn and Lia Kohl
Eckhart Park Natatorium
2019

Water on the Bridge is a surreal and playful exploration of tenderness, violence and letting go through the unlikely pairing of cellos and water. An ongoing project now with three iterations, Katinka Kleijn and Lia Kohl create site specific work exploring the possibilities of cellos in and around bodies of water. Each iteration incorporates elements of theatre, movement, and improvisation, as well as a rich sonic landscape drawn from both water and cellos. 

The project’s first full scale performance took place in March 2019, and was performed with 30 cellos in and out of the swimming pool in the Eckhart Park Natatorium. The pair played, floated and moved around the cellos accompanied by live electronics and recordings.

photos by Todd Rosenberg

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Corey Smith + Jasmine Mendoza + Lia Kohl
2019-ongoing

An ongoing exploration of space, architecture, and relationships.

photos by Kioto Aoki