In Gardens of Event, Geert Mul examines how time, place, and personal experience are shaped within a data-driven culture. His recent work explores the tension between unique, sensory experiences and the generic nature of digital content produced by AI. Mul’s art questions: How do time-bound, location-specific experiences hold up against the algorithmic, non-specific outputs of modern technology?

Drawing inspiration from early film pioneers, Mul references Dziga Vertov’s 1929 experimental film The Man with a Movie Camera, which used radical editing to challenge traditional narratives of space and time. As Lev Manovich noted, this film marked a shift towards “data-based” media, reshaping how we perceive reality. Similarly, Mul critiques the standardization imposed by AI, suggesting that art has the power to confront these limitations through creative and intuitive explorations of technology.

Mul’s perspective aligns with Viktor Shklovsky’s idea in his essay Art as Technique (1917): “The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique of art is to make objects ‘unfamiliar’… to increase the difficulty and length of perception.” By engaging viewers in this way, Gardens of Event highlights the vital role of art in deepening our sensory connection to place and time, reminding us that perception is an inherently human experience beyond the reach of digital replication.