Ingmar König

My practice investigates the ways in which people interact with their constructed environment as an interface, interior or installation:

We tend to forget that we are animals, as we constructed walls and screens, distracting ourselves. Yet the first interior we created was not defined by its physical confinement, but rather by its epicenter: The Campfire. It gave us warmth, protection, a place to tell stories and to learn how to listen.

Today our global source of heat is The Cloud — not a soft puffy aerosol, but a dense hot beeping structure, hidden from sight and mind, yet interacted with on a daily basis through a multitude of interfaces. We have entangled ourselves with what we built. I make installations as an interior within an interior, a microhabitat not limited to the physical realm — to put that entanglement somewhere you can enter and interface with it.

In my work I try to tell stories about our shortcomings as human animals. Our tragic, comedic existence fascinates me. My own path has been nothing short of a detour: after years of working from exhibition to exhibition I took a deliberate break from making art, then went to broaden my perspective with a master in interior architecture, before finding my way by using game development tools to create my works.

Whereas I used to create mostly physical installations, I am increasingly drawn to working with the immaterial. Text and code. With the dawn of screenless computing upon us, I am looking forward to new ways of working — as an Animal, from The Campfire and The Cloud.


Apart from working on TWHBC, I am currently developing a proximity reaction game called Detourist, prototyping a limited edition wooden handheld device, and a motion-tracking screenless audio interactive fiction, writing a horror novelette and running throughout Hamburg.

Past

Master of Interior Architecture
Piet Zwart Institute
(cum laude)


Bachelor of Fine Arts
Utrecht University of the Arts
(with honours)


collaborations Jasmijn Visser | Jitivi Banthaisong | Yiyang Lui | Nest The Hague
teaching Willem de Kooning Academy - Lecturer - Bachelor students, year 1-4 of Advertising & Beyond '22-'25
skills 3D modelling and animation, game development, project management and building physical art installations and exhibitions with digital interfaces.
tools Blender, Unity, C#, Python, Kicad, Custom PCB design, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Arduino, EPS32, After Effects, Premiere, Davinci, Final Cut, Photoshop, Illustrator, Zbrush, Sketchup, VScode
languages Dutch (native), English (fluent), German (advanced)
awards Finalist Creative Hack Award - WIRED | Alumni Research Award - MIARD | Shortlist Piet Bakker Prijs - HKU
stipends PRO Invest - Stroom | Jong Talent + Opdrachtgever - MondriaanFonds | Jong Talent - MondriaanFonds | Contemporary Art Fund - Outset
solo Stroom Ondertussen - Stroom | Contraband - Galerie Gabriel Rolt | Detourist - P///akt
group Shifting Weathers — Villa Heike Kunstverein | Under Matters - Cookies HQ Rotterdam | Loophole - Roodkapje Rotterdam | Reading Picture - Chunart Museum Shanghai China| Happy Like Yesterday - Nest The Hague | Misfit Love - Galerie Gabriel Rolt Amsterdam | On Observation and Construction - Chongqin Air China | Concept Store - Nest The Hague | Piet Bakker Prijs - AcademieGalerie Utrecht | Oktoberfest - Hotel MariaKapel Hoorn | Let There Be Light - Nest The Hague
residencies Freizeit Normal - Ampelhaus | Oktoberfest - Hotel MariaKapel
fairs Art Brussels - 1 HOUR SOLO | Art Rotterdam - Represented by Galerie Gabriel Rolt | Art Rotterdam - Mondriaanfonds Prospects & Concepts | Unfair Amsterdam | Unfair x Christie's Auction
reviews Metropolis M - Nostalgie in een.. - George Vermeij | Metropolis M - Invest Week #5 - Bob van der Sterre | Metropolis M - Misfit Love - George Vermeij | Metropolis M - Spel/Buitenspel - Julia Steenhuisen | Metropolis M - Interne Logica - Tessa Verheul
Curriculum Vitae
Version march 2026
Download

Future


Either in development or upcoming:

The Weather Has Been Cancelled
Is a collaboration with Jasmijn Visser.


Botanist (working title)
A short story that is turning into a novelette. Horror. Contact me if you are interested in proofreading.


Wander
Unique handheld device with embedded interactive fiction that will only come out in a limited edition of 15. Narrative, Concept, Design, Development, Hardware, Electronics, Software all by Ingmar König. More information and pre-order soon available at irhk.games. Currently in development.


Detourist
proximity reaction game. In development, long term project. For more information and a trailer, visit the Steam page.


esC
immersive interactive device. nonvisual handheld with spatial-audio.

Contact


Reach out via email if you are interested in collaborating or if you need help with the creation of an interactive work, or just to say hi.



Ingmar decided to stop using major social media platforms, but can sometimes be found at:




Other links include Detourist on Steam, please wishlist it to support the development. Coming soon: irhk.games and currently on view is TWHBC to be beta tested at Villa Heike Kunstverein in Berlin.