Navid Nuur (b. Tehran, 1976, raised in the Netherlands, lives in The Hague) bases his work in the material or, more precisely, the transformations that materials can undergo as a result of natural or chemical processes. In his drawings, paintings, videos, installations, sculptures and interventions in existing architecture or the public space, he takes an original approach to exposing processes of change that often go unnoticed. Light and its effect play a major, recurring role. For example, he once made a painting of crushed vitamin D pills, as sunlight is difficult to capture in matter, and yet, for example, causes human skin to produce vitamin D.

Many of Nuur’s works exist only temporarily. What remains are photographs and memories. The artist is known for his surprising choice of materials, such as Play-Doh, gumballs, foam blocks, shoelaces, acid and soap powder. But he also uses many materials that have a naturally ephemeral character, such as fire, air and ice. And that ice could take the form of frozen water or ice cream.

Nuur does not call his works sculptures or installations but interim modules to indicate that they lie somewhere between the mental model and the final form. The focus is not on the object in the artistic space but on the process of creation. Although there is a lot of thinking involved, much of his work comes across as playful and light-hearted. Nuur investigates and experiments, manipulating and gently forcing spectators to look at the world in a different way, which is more associative yet also sharper, and to allow themselves to be surprised.

In 2011, Nuur made a remarkable work for Lustwarande, consisting of a monumental boulder, iron filings and an invisible internal magnet. If you looked very closely, you could see the iron filings dancing on the boulder. This literally produced a magical image.

Nuur made a new installation for STATIONS, based on an old watercolour. Everyone knows the image: a lone kite in a tree, entangled in the branches, leaving the kite flyer powerless and empty-handed. Nuur hung about one hundred of these among the branches of a red beech tree, kites in all colours of the rainbow. Nuur’s installation created a charming, poetic image that evoked associations with playing children and the great outdoors. Kite flying expresses the desire for a happy, healthy and spiritually rich life. The tradition of kite flying comes from the East. In China, the kite existed as early as the fifth century BC, not as a toy but as a way of conveying military messages. One hundred kites entangled in a tree represented collective misfortune but also shared sorrow and hope. With this installation, Nuur created a work that is located between flourishing and decay.