silvan laan

art in co-creation

mail silvan.laan[at]xs4all.nl

2024—2025 work in progress 'Song Lines'

2023 urban yard, design and production, Amsterdam

2022 'Lapis Resurgens;, site specific performance, Yellow Bird, Woodbury, Tennessee

2021 visit to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

2021 assistant to Emily C. Thomas, South Point grocery porch mural, Memphis, Tennessee

2020 'Scrying Session #1', collaborative art, Bridging the Distance, UrbanArtsCommission, Memphis, Tennessee (with Emily C. Thomas, Terri Phillips, Lauren Cain, Mary K. VanGieson, Melissa Dunn, Lindsey Donnelly-Bullington)

2019 northern spotted owl surveyor, Turnstone Environmental Consultants, Portland, Oregon

2019 natural building workshop, Sustainable U, Bandon, Oregon

2018 'Basalt', Art of the South group show , Crosstown Arts, Memphis, Tennessee (curated by Brian R. Jobe for Number: Inc magazine)

2018 Fall migration counter, HawkWatch International, Cut Bank, Montana

2017 Fall migration counter, Bedford Audubon Society, Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, New York

2017 'Inverted Bird Blind', site specific installation, Yellow Bird, Woodbury, Tennessee (curated by David Wood)

2016 'Virgo Rising', site specific installation, Yellow Bird, Woodbury, Tennessee (with Emily C. Thomas)

2015 participant (with Emily C. Thomas, Jesus Landin-Torres III, Sophia Wang), speculative documentary 'The Future According to NATURA*' by Floris Schönfeld

2014—2016 MA diploma, thesis The Fifth Order (supervisors Nils van Beek, Theo Tegelaers, Martijn Engelbregt), graduation show installation 'Field Lines' at Aldo van Eyck's orphanage, Cure Master, Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam

2015 'Mount Zuidas', temporary public art in collaboration with TAAK and VU Hortus Botanicus, funded by City of Amsterdam, Stadsdeel Zuid

2014 bird blind, polder IJdoorn, nature conservancy Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, Amsterdam

2013—2014 preparatory year MArch, Academie van Bouwkunst, Amsterdam

2009—2012 furniture prototypes, funded by Sofa Fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, exhibited at Ontwerp op de Weg, Haarlem, DDay, Maastricht

2009 bird banding assistant, Thunder Cape Bird Observatory, Ontario, Canada

2009—2017 breeding bird surveyor, Van der Goes en Groot, Kwintsheul, the Netherlands

2009 'Willow Warbler', group show A Body Presented to Me and You, Souterrain, Amsterdam (curated by Philip T. Heide)

2008 artist in residence, solo exhibition 'Ant Trail', Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, funded by Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Japan

2007 assistant to visual artist Daniel Roth

2006 furniture prototype, exhibited at Meneer de Wit, Amsterdam

2001—2005 architectural intern, Amsterdam (architects Madeleine Maaskant, Victor van Velzen, Ira Koers, Jurjen Zeinstra, Mikel van Gelderen, John Lonsdale, Gianni Cito, Ludo Grooteman, Herman Zeinstra, Liesbeth van der Pol)

2004 'Birdwalk', installation, BDes graduation show, Architectural Design department, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (tutors Gianni Cito, Cees Nagelkerke, Sabien de Kleijn, Frans Bevers), funded by Berlagefonds

2003 site specific installation, Landjuweel, Ruigoord

2001 interior design, cinema Kriterion, Amsterdam

2000—2005 travels to Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Croatia

1999 exhibition design, nature conservancy Het Brabants Landschap, Bergen op Zoom

1998—1999 first psychedelic experiences

1996 basisjaar, Gerrit Rietveld Academie

1995 biology, Universiteit Leiden

1990s travels to Italy, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Poland

1991—1996 member, youth nature association, Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie (NJN)

1989—1995 Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem

1978 born Zandvoort, the Netherlands

recent incarnations

1817—1862 Albertus van der Vliet, limeburner, Enkhuizen

1682—1717 Dirks Jansz Laan, ship's carpenter, Middelie


Unless stated otherwise, text and images by Silvan Laan. All rights reserved. Last modified 10/24/2025