About

I am an artist and creative technologist whose work investigates how digital infrastructures shape society.

I build software, bots, and automated systems and I am interested in exploiting systems and using technologies, tools, datasets, and platforms in ways they were not originally intended to be used. Through this process I try to understand what these systems prioritise, how they influence our behaviour, and which narratives remain hidden within them. In Would Not Recommend, I created a bot that moves through Google Street View and constantly complains by reading negative reviews of nearby places. Next to it being an absurd endless scroll of negative comments, it explores how technology platforms and recommendation systems influence our perception of place.

I like to work between documentary and fiction. Oftentimes I begin with material that I have recorded, collected, or found, which I then reorganise and reframe, allowing for new meanings and narratives to emerge. This approach is what connects my work across all the different mediums I move between. For example, in InBetween I use 3D scans of the Nida forest, while in Texture Map I transform satellite imagery into photographic images, and currently I am working on KarmaGo, an experimental livestream performance where an audience is controlling a video game character on the streets. For me there is no clear boundary between reality and fiction, as there is already something magical to be found in everyday life.

Outside my artistic practice, I am a big music lover. I collect records, DJ here and there, and run a YouTube channel where I upload vinyls and CDs that were previously unavailable online. I also founded mber, a worldwide collective of music enthusiasts where we similarly share rare and overlooked records that we find together. I also enjoy street photography and field recording, and occasionally work with graphic design.

Short Bio

Ilja Kolosovs is an artist working with technology. He holds a BA in Moving Image from AKI ArtEZ and an MA in ArtScience from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. Before entering the arts, he studied Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. His practice combines artistic research, custom software, moving image, and documentary methods to examine digital culture, data, and society.

Exhibitions

Upcoming

  • NAP+ Amsterdam, Amsterdam (NL) – 2026
  • OYO-10, Haagse Kunstkring, The Hague (NL) – 2026
  • Manifestations, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven (NL) – 2026
  • GOGBOT, Enschede (NL) – 2026

Past Exhibitions

  • KABK Graduation Show, The Hague (NL) – 2026
  • Pre-Grad Show ArtScience, Stadswacht, The Hague (NL) – 2026
  • Language(s), Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam (NL) – 2025
  • Fotomanifestatie Enschede, Enschede (NL) – 2023
  • Museum of the Future, Enschede (NL) – 2022
  • GOGBOT, Enschede (NL) – 2022
  • Museumsnacht, Enschede (NL) – 2022
  • GOGBOT, Enschede (NL) – 2021
  • AKI Finals, Enschede (NL) – 2021

Press

coming soon