About Media Art Nexus (MAN)
Media Art Nexus (MAN) is an initiative that transforms urban spaces into dynamic digital canvases, fostering a dialogue between art, technology, and public engagement. Co-founded by Ina Conradi and Mark Chavez, the project is dedicated to curating, producing, and exhibiting media art at the intersection of innovation, storytelling, and cutting-edge visual aesthetics.
OUR VISION
We believe in the power of large-scale media art to reshape public interactions, disrupt traditional gallery constraints, and create immersive experiences that blend artistic expression with technological advancements. Through collaborative projects, we provide a platform for emerging and established artists to experiment with digital narratives, spatial storytelling, and generative AI techniques.
THE FOUNDERS
Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi (Los Angeles – Singapore)
Ina, of Slavic heritage, and Mark of Native American-Indian descent, are based in Singapore and Los Angeles. Founding faculty at Nanyang Technological University Singapore’s School of Art, Design, and Media (2005-till present), they create short films and immersive art blending cultural archetypes with experimental interpretations of existence. Their work incorporates a decolonial, multidisciplinary approach, leveraging Indigenous design elements to explore the intersection of quantum mechanics and abstract animated imagery. By challenging conventional perceptions of reality, they articulate intricate quantum principles through a symbolic artistic lens, uncovering metaphysical insights.
Mark, an animation veteran (DreamWorks SG, Rhythm and Hues) with numerous award-winning Hollywood films, specializes in computer animation and visual effects, focusing on emergent techniques like synthetic sculpture and real-time storytelling
Ina, a trained weaver and painter turned digital media artist, approaches animation as a spatial, immersive experience—digitally choreographed like living canvases. Inspired by haute-lisse tapestry traditions, her work weaves tactile memory into visual storytelling, transforming screens into layered, temporal tapestries.
Together, they integrate art and science concepts in their projects. Their collaborations resonate with audiences through stylized, emotive designs, innovative storytelling, and profound interpretations of the universe.
Their collaboration “Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent),” created with science producers in Germany and Austria, premiered at the 40th Anniversary of the Ars Electronica Festival at Deep Space 8K and was later highlighted by CERN’s OriginPhysics and the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information. Another major work, “Moirai: Thread of Life” (2023), previsualized using AI, won Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia’s Computer Animation Festival (CAF) 2023, making them the first Singapore-based artists to receive the honor.
They have exhibited internationally at Ars Electronica (Austria), SIGGRAPH (Los Angeles, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia), ZKM (Germany), ISEA (Hong Kong, Korea, Colombia), and the Media Architecture Biennial (Beijing), among others. Their work has appeared in venues such as the UCLA Art | Sci Gallery, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Guizhou Provincial Museum, and has been featured in over 15 curated academic panels and forums bridging science and the arts.
Recent Research Highlights
ECHOES, WHISPERS, AND MEMORIES
(Experimental Animation, time-variable 3–20 min, 2024–2025)
Directed and animated by: Mark Chavez
Produced by: Ina Conradi
Original score by: Tate Egon Chavez
Excellent Work Award – Echoes, Whispers and Memories (Director, Producer), Luminous Flare Light and Tech Art Festival, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and Chongqing Artists Association, Chongqing, China, November 2025.
https://www.ichongqing.info/2025/11/11/light-tech-art-festival-illuminates-chongqing/ (Role: Echoes, Whispers and Memories, Director)
Echoes, Whispers, and Memories – CDSA 2024 Asia’s Iconic Screens (trailer 3 min)
Formatted and adapted for diverse exhibition environments, ranging from 4K–8K cinematic projection to large-scale LED façades and immersive rooms, including:
MOIRAI, THREAD OF LIFE
(Animated Short, 05:38, 2023)
Directed by Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez | Produced by Ina Conradi | Animation by Crave FX | Music & Sound by Tate Egon Chavez
Best in Show – Moirai, Thread of Life (Director, Producer), SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival (CAF), December 12–15, 2023. Selected from 382 entries by 595 artists from 14 countries. Curated by Rob Coleman (ILM), Joe Letteri (Wētā FX), and Herman Van Eyken (Griffith Film School), with partners including Nvidia and META.
Film Web Site: https://moirai.mediaartnexus.com/
Channel NewsAsia Feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yxqoQQd6Ro
The Catalogue published for occasion of the solo show in Los Angeles
#The Serpent and The Dragonfly, Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi, Solo Exhibition, Avenue 50 Studio, Los Angeles, CA, 7 June – 5 July 2025.
MEDIA ART NEXUS: A LIVING CANVAS
Since its inception, Media Art Nexus has evolved as an open-ended public art initiative, bridging research, education, and contemporary media practices. Our work spans:
- Site-specific media art exhibitions on urban LED screens
- Collaborations with global artists, designers, and researchers
- Innovations in AI-driven animation and interactive installations
- Curatorial projects that challenge traditional formats of media art
From the bustling streets of Singapore to expansive LED façades in Beijing and Hangzhou, MAN continues to push the boundaries of digital storytelling, engaging audiences in new and unexpected ways.
🎥 Join us in reshaping public space through the language of media art.
📩 Contact us for collaborations or inquiries.
The Living Screen – https://www.canva.com/design/DAG47Q7Skpo/J74mucbbq_LDBmJyUS5Seg/edit?utm_content=DAG47Q7Skpo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
Worlding the Digital Skin – https://www.canva.com/design/DAG3biIkDog/b6DjrK6te3ZEzGniYu4nUw/edit?utm_content=DAG3biIkDog&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
Echoes, Whispers & Memories – https://www.canva.com/design/DAG3nuK3hnE/gwB8Z1uDs2bUsPh05pTxxQ/edit?utm_content=DAG3nuK3hnE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
CDSA: City Digital Skin Art – https://www.canva.com/design/DAG7omliV0s/YjkQHxkDSAQm2uaFU9VCOw/edit?utm_content=DAG7omliV0s&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
About Media Art Nexus
A curatorial + educational + public + urban media art platform, MAN is a living interface—a screen-based ecosystem that adapts and responds.
The Media Art Nexus (MAN) at NTU Singapore is more than an urban media platform—it is a conduit through which moving images travel, transform, and re-emerge across borders and contexts.
Founded at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), the Media Art Nexus (MAN) is an experimental media arts initiative bridging academic research, immersive technologies, and public engagement. Conceived in 2016 and formally launched in 2018 as part of NTU Museum’s Campus Art Trail public art initiative, MAN operates at the intersection of education, curation, and technological exploration. It supports and presents works by emerging and established local and international artists—activating new modes of storytelling and urban interaction.
At its core, MAN is a living interface—a screen-based ecosystem that adapts and responds. Situated in Singapore, it provides artists a platform to engage with large-scale public screens, while also serving as a springboard for cross-border dialogue through international collaborations.
A Network of Global Collaboration
Over the years, MAN has partnered with key institutions including Ars Electronica Centre and Festival, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Fraunhofer MEVIS, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Science Visualization Lab at Die Angewandte, Urban Screens Production Australia, and the China Academy of Art (CAA), among many others. These exchanges have created a vital circuit of artistic and academic sharing across continents—from Singapore to Berlin, Hangzhou to Paris.
In 2024, MAN co-curated the City Digital Skin Art (CDSA) Festival—a media art competition transforming LED facades across 11 screens in 9 cities, including Milan, Paris, Hangzhou, and Beijing. This traveling festival presented immersive public artworks alongside academic panels in collaboration with CAFA, CAA, and the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Echoes Across Platforms
Media Art Nexus is both a site and a concept—constantly reconfiguring itself through time, format, and geography. Most recently, works originally conceived for MAN’s large-scale LED façade in Singapore—such as Echoes, Whispers, and Memories—have been reimagined as immersive audio-visual performances and shown at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA). The current exhibition The Serpent and the Dragonfly at Avenue 50 Studio continues this evolution, migrating seamlessly from public media architecture into intimate gallery cinema.
Like the “poor image” described by Hito Steyerl—compressed, reformatted, and circulating outside flagship spaces—these works resist fixity. They dissolve the boundaries between platform and content, gaining velocity, agency, and new audiences in the process.
This remediation—across resolution, speed, media, and geography—embodies what theorist Hito Steyerl calls “the poor image”: an image that travels not for its pristine resolution but for its affective resonance, remix potential, and power to circulate. At MAN, we recognize that images are not fixed—they are “compressed, reproduced, ripped, remixed, as well as copied and pasted into other channels of distribution.” Through our curatorial approach, we embrace this flexibility as a political, poetic, and communal gesture, one that mirrors the shifting cultural terrain of contemporary media art.
Our platform continues to champion this ethos, expanding into new territories and modalities, with upcoming plans for a 6K upgrade in 2025 to support richer curatorial dialogues and transnational collaborations. With renewed connections to Los Angeles, and future editions of the CDSA Festival on the horizon, MAN invites artists and publics alike to join in shaping visual bonds that transcend origin, format, and expectation.
In Singapore 24 March 2025
Reference Inspired in part by: Hito Steyerl, “In Defense of the Poor Image,” e-flux journal #10, November 2009.
Ina Conradi
A multidisciplinary artist and professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Ina Conradi has pioneered research in immersive media, experimental animation, and large-scale digital installations. Her work, showcased at prestigious venues like Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, and international biennales, explores the intersections of cinematic arts, visual effects, and interactive environments. She has played a pivotal role in integrating media arts into public spaces, championing the Media Art Nexus NTU as a collaborative hub for students, researchers, and international artists.
🔗 More about her: Personal Site | NTU Profile
Mark Chavez
A media artist, filmmaker, and AI researcher, Mark Chavez specializes in decolonial approaches to generative media, quantum aesthetics, and post-industrial collage. His award-winning films and digital art installations have been recognized globally, with selections at SIGGRAPH Asia, Raw Science Film Festival, and large-scale LED exhibitions across Asia. His expertise in generative AI, fine arts, and experimental animation fuels Media Art Nexus, expanding its role in curatorial practices, digital interventions, and cinematic storytelling.
🔗 More about his work: GiantMonster.co | ResearchGate | Google Scholar