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Daan Couzijn (NL) is an interdisciplinary, conceptual artist currently based in Amsterdam and Paris. After having studied singing at the Conservatory of Music in Rotterdam, he continued his studies at the Institute of Performative Arts in Maastricht where he graduated with a BA degree in Performance Art. Concluding his education, Couzijn graduated in June 2019 from the postgraduate program Radical Cut-Up at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam (master program of Gerrit Rietveld Acadamy), where he received an MA degree in Fine Art and Design.

With a very strong eye for visual aesthetics and musically skilled, Couzijn is a creative all-rounder. He focuses on topics such as authenticity, existentialism and (behavioral) psychology. The fascination for the complexity of the human psyche is fundamentally grounded in his background as an actor/performer. As a creative, he believes that every idea, every creation, is a combined effort of everything we've ever witnessed and experienced. Couzijn doesn't regard the artwork as an end point, but as a simple moment in an infinite network of contributions, refusing any form of "source-hypocrisy" and boldly accepting all ideas as second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources. He uses moving image, 3D software and artificial intelligence techniques as expressing tools, however, often resulting in physical outcomes. His practice was recognized by the Mondriaan Fund when he received the Stipendium for Emerging Artists in the beginning of 2021.

Due to his diverse background, Couzijn is broadly oriented and active within the creative field. Besides working as a visual artist, he is a trained actor/performer, a guest curator for Melkweg Expo, a member of the advisory committee at The Creative Industries Fund (Stimuleringsfonds), a lecturer at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, a guest-tutor at the Sandberg Institute (Gerrit Rietveld Academy) and he performs live with his music as Cousin. His electronic sounds dip into minimalistic trip-hop styles balanced out by catchy pop melodies, experimental key changes and a playful use of his background as a vocalist. With his music, he has supported artists like Bea1991, Lauren Auder and Le1f and recently performed at Musée du Louvre in Paris in the framework of the prestigious Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin festival.

CV (click to see full CV)
2017 - 2019: MA in Fine Art and Design at Sandberg Institute (Gerrit Rietveld Acadamy) in Amsterdam
2013 - 2017: BA in Theatre (performance art) at Institute of Performative Arts (Toneelacademie Maastricht) in Maastricht
2010 - 2013: FDA in Music (singing) at Codarts University of the Arts (Conservatory of Rotterdam) in Rotterdam

Press
Feature: Metropolis M
Feature: Numéro Netherlands
Feature: De Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender 2023
Feature: De Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender 2021
Feature: Turtlenek
Interview: Metal Magazine
Feature: Dazed & Confused Magazine
Interview: Kunst is lang (podcast series by Mister Motley)
Feature: It’s Nice That
Interview: Metal Magazine
Interview: i-D
Publication: Radical Cut-Up Reader
Publication: Nothing Is Original

Publication: Dit is een vertaling
Interview: DAMN Magazine
Interview: Mister Motley
Feature: Metropolis M
Feature: De Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender 2019
Feature: Lodown Magazine
Feature: Vogue Italia
Feature: Kaltblut Magazine
Feature: TEDx Amsterdam