Apr. 27, 2026
During Gallery Weekend, Berlin Art Link, alongside Studio 1111 and Flipping the Coin, will present artist Simon Mullan’s ‘Chronos,’ a spatial, multi-channel video installation staged inside the club setting of Studio 1111 on Potsdamer Straße. What unfolds across the venue’s walls is not just a projection, but a dense flow of images, sounds and memories, driven by techno culture and its facilitation of a collective experience.
Blending raw MiniDV aesthetics with fragmented storytelling and a soundscape by Ed Davenport, ‘Chronos’ becomes something bodily and immediate. It pulses like a club set: loud, compressed and immersive. We spoke to Mullan about ‘Chronos,’ as well as his video ‘Intermorior’ (2011), which will be exhibited at Gallery Gudmundsdottir until June 16th.
Simon Mullan: ‘Chronos,’ 2025, video still // Courtesy of the artist
Berlin Art Link: You showed ‘Chronos’ last year in a solo exhibition at Dittrich & Schlechtriem, across 25 screens and monitors in the gallery. Can you tell us about how it will be shown in the club at Studio 1111? How might this set up change the immersive nature of the piece compared to the gallery space and its formal constraints?
Simon Mullan: The idea behind using so many screens—especially these old 4:3 monitors—was that nothing is synchronized. Each video runs on its own duration, so every visitor ends up seeing a different version of the work. You can think of the videos as scenes in a film, but a film that never fully lines up. In the gallery, that created a very fragmented experience—you had to move through it, almost like navigating a space rather than watching something.
At Studio 1111, it shifts a bit. The screens are arranged more linearly, from left to right, so it feels more like a film unfolding. And with the soundtrack by Ed Davenport, there’s a stronger sense of shared time. So it becomes less about fragmentation and more about a collective immersion—without losing that open structure.
Simon Mullan: ‘Chronos,’ 2025, video still // Courtesy of the artist
BAL: What are some of the memories or events collected in these videos, and why did you choose the format of MiniDV to capture them?
SM: The videos show what I’d call my early beginnings as an artist, ranging from first performances to more documentary moments, like working with refugees or people with disabilities. MiniDV was simply the technology I started with: it marked the beginning of the digital video era. And now that it’s having a bit of a revival, it also becomes a way of reflecting on and celebrating that specific moment in media history.
Simon Mullan: ‘Chronos,’ 2025, video still // Courtesy of the artist
BAL: The installation is described as “a physical experience that feels like a club set.” What role does sound and music play in this work?
SM: Music has always played a central role in my life, and also in my work. I think visual content actually works a lot through sound—maybe 70%—to create a sense of fiction or atmosphere. My diploma at the University of Applied Arts was about boredom, and around that time I also started a club called Club Spezial with my younger brother. What always interested me about club spaces is this temporary sense of equality—a kind of “Gleichheit des Blicks”—where, for a moment, it feels like everyone is on the same level.
Of course, that illusion disappears as soon as the lights come on and reality returns. In a way, cinema works similarly. And in this installation, sound helps create that shared, immersive space—something between a club, a film and a collective experience.
Simon Mullan: ‘Intermorior,’ 2011, 2-channel video, video still // Courtesy of the artist
BAL: Your two-channel video work ‘Intermorior’ (2011) will also be shown during Gallery Weekend at Gallery Gudmundsdottir. The film, which is about a knife thrower, is described as part of your ongoing research into “the point of no return.” Can you say what this means to you and how it manifests in your art practice?
SM: The main idea behind ‘Intermorior’ was to place the figure of the circus artist next to myself as a performance artist. In many ways, the two are quite close—we both work with presence, timing, risk and the attention of an audience. The difference is that circus artists often put their lives on the line as part of their daily practice.
What interested me was entering a situation of vulnerability, even powerlessness—letting go of control and placing complete trust in the person standing opposite me. For me, that is where the “point of no return” begins: the moment you commit to something and cannot step back.
This idea appears often in my work, sometimes in the content, sometimes in the process itself—through situations that involve trust, uncertainty or real emotional and physical stakes. In that sense, ‘Intermorior’ is also a kind of homage to the circus artist.
Event Info
Studio IIII
‘Berlin Art Link × Flipping The Coin present Simon Mullan’
Event: Saturday, May 2, 2026; 7pm, RSVP here
DJ sets by Natalia Escobar, Aliar, Horkheimer: Saturday, May 2; 10:30pm
Admission: € 10 from 10:30pm onwards
Potsdamer Straße 96, 10785 Berlin, click here for map
Exhibition Info
Gallery Gudmundsdottir
Simon Mullan: ‘Intermorior’
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 2; 11am–4pm
Exhibition: May 2-June 16, 2026
gallerygudmundsdottir.com
Linienstrasse 230A, 10178 Berlin, click here for map
