'Oftentimes when you see digital art, it feels unrooted. It feels like it’s hard to place, especially if you’re coming out of the tradition. And what I always say is—if you want to be a part of the tradition, you have to have a conversation with the tradition. And the most simplest way of having a conversation with the tradition is actually bringing up some of those works.'

—Adrian Pocobelli

For the 21st episode of Dutch Art & Design Today, I spoke with Adrian Pocobelli, a Berlin-based artist, editor, and curator whose work straddles the borders between digital art, art history, visual culture, and blockchain art experimentation. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and shaped by years spent in Montreal, Toronto, and now Berlin, Adrian’s trajectory moves from stamp collecting, from comics and trading cards, to Tezos, and bitcoin, and the evolving pixelated poetics of web3. With a background in English literature and studio art, and an early encounter with Italian painting in the Vatican, Adrian’s work charts a long arc across visual language, medium, and memory. Most importantly for this show, one of Adrian’s works from 2022 repurposes Raphael’s portrait of Castiglone. The work was sketched by Rembrandt while it was up for auction in 1639, in Amsterdam.

In this sweeping and layered conversation, we trace Adrian’s evolution from painting with inkjet printers and screen prints in Berlin to finding expressive liberation through his phone, his finger, and the emergence of blockchain-based platforms for digital art. We discuss his long-standing influence from figures as J.G. Ballard and William Burroughs; and his methodological use of randomness, repetition, and philosophical appropriation. Adrian recounts the development of his major series, including Screen Memories, The Peloponnesian War, Dante’s Inferno, and AI Girlfriend, each offering a different lens through which to view art history, contemporary systems, and visual culture.

We also dive into the world of art on the blockchain: Tezos, Ethereum, and Bitcoin as ecosystems for distribution, experimentation, and visual curation. Adrian offers a deeply articulate and practical framework for understanding these platforms, and reflects on his creation of The Artist Journal, his long-running YouTube series that blends curation, commentary, and community into what he calls a “newspaper of the imagination.” From glitch aesthetics to the spiritual politics of pixel art, and from contemporary appropriation to classical citation, this conversation unpacks the logic and poetics of digital art’s second generation—one rooted in tradition but carried on-chain.

You can find Adrian on X ⁠@pocobelli⁠ and at his website ⁠pocobelli.net.

You can find John on X ⁠@johnbezold⁠ and at his website ⁠johnbezold.com⁠.

'Dutch Art & Design Today' is published by ⁠Semicolon-Press⁠.

ISSN: 3050-6662

‘I think it’s our duty as a museum to address social issues, whether they’re in the past, or whether they’re happening now, because we have a societal role. We’re here for society… Art is about people. It’s about working together. It’s about how we look at each other, how we understand the world, and how we open our minds to what is unfamiliar. That’s what a museum should do.’

—Lidewij de Koekkoek

For the twentieth episode of Dutch Art & Design Today, I sat down with Lidewij de Koekkoek, who is the director of the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. Lidewij has had a long and storied career in the Dutch cultural heritage world, shaped by her international upbringing in Belgium and the United States, her art historical studies at Leiden University, and a leadership style grounded in collaboration, curiosity, and care. From her early role in journalism and public art to senior roles at institutions including the Netherlands Architecture Institute, the Textile Museum in Tilburg, and the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam, Lidewij has built a career at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, and public value of the arts.

In this hour long conversation, we trace Lidewij’s path through the Dutch cultural landscape—from the formative years of studying contemporary art and architecture through, to her later rediscovery of seventeenth-century painting, and deep belief in the relevance of historical collections today. Her career is marked by several directorial roles at Dutch museums, which have all informed her current outlook on what it means to be a museum director. We talk about her first directorship at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, where she led a bold rebranding focused on the city’s Old Masters and modern art collections, and how both could be utilized to better communicate the importance of the city’s collection to the city’s citizens and their civic heritage. Alongside her time as director of the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, where she helped reposition the museum around his studio, social networks, and contemporary relevance.

Finally, we discuss her current role at the Frans Hals Museum, and how its unique bifocal identity—combining a world-class collection of early modern painting with a cutting-edge contemporary programming and collection of works—makes it a deeply human institution. But also one with challenges due to its current location, and the limited amount of space it currently allows for display, as its ambitions outsize its current capacity, concerning the depth of the museum's collection. Ultimately, Lidewij makes clear that she sees the museum’s future as grounded in Haarlem, its civic pride, and the power of visual art to reflect and reshape society. From leadership philosophy to renovation plans, and from drag performances to Dutch Impressionism, this wide-ranging conversation explores what it means to shape a museum’s future—while staying anchored in its past.

Learn more about the Frans Hals Museum.

Cover: Esiri Erheriene-Essi, Having Your Cake and Eating it Too, 2019, 200 x 165 cm., oil, ink and xerox transfer on linen, Frans Hals Museum, Acquired in 2024

You can find John on X ⁠@johnbezold⁠ and at his website ⁠johnbezold.com⁠.

'Dutch Art & Design Today' is published by ⁠Semicolon-Press⁠.

ISSN: 3050-6662

'When I think about Rembrandt, I think of Rembrandt as dramatic. There's a drama. An emotional something's going on; the dark colors; a three-dimensional pull into it. And that three-dimensional pull, pulls me as a person into what is going on. And I have an emotional response to being in that scene—whatever it is. So there's something about Rembrandt that is guttural; you know? I don't just look at Rembrandt and say, oh, isn't that interesting. I dive into a Rembrandt.'

—Jill Bolte Taylor

For the 19th episode of 'Dutch Art & Design Today', I sat down with Jill Bolte Taylor—an author, scientist, and speaker whose groundbreaking work has left an profound mark on how we understand the human brain, and ourselves. Jill is best known for her 2008 TED Talk, 'My Stroke of Insight', where she recounted her experience of surviving a life-threatening stroke in 1996 and her subsequent eight-year recovery. That talk, viewed by over 30 million people, catapulted her into the global spotlight and laid the foundation for her most recent book, Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life (2021). Jill and I explore art through the lens of Whole Brain Living (WBL), discussing how her cellular anatomical framework can enrich the way we create, think about and interpret, and experience art—in all its forms. Jill's framework explores the brain’s four distinct 'characters'—left-brain thinking and feeling, and right-brain thinking and feeling. The 'we' inside of 'me'.

Jill explains how these characters shape our emotions, thoughts, and interactions, providing a practical guide for cultivating balance and harmony within ourselves. What makes this conversation unique, however, is that our focus on how these insights apply to the world of art. From the analytical precision of 'Character 1' to the raw, present-moment engagement of Character 3, and the universal connection offered by Character 4, Jill reveals how art involves a holistic brain experience. We touch on iconic Dutch artists such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals, as well as the sensory and emotional power of museums, illustrating how WBL can deepen our connection to creativity, and ourselves, and art.

WBL is most often used as a tool for personal growth, or having better relationship; and it’s a life philosophy that has transformed how I see and experience the world. By applying Jill’s framework to art, we turn it into a powerful lens for appreciating art as full-bodied, whole-brain experience. As the art historian Esther Pasztory once said, while we all think we understand art, but true essence often eludes us. With Jill’s insights, we move closer to unraveling its mysteries; intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. This conversation also ventures into philosophy, drawing parallels between Jill’s work and thinkers like Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty—the last of whom emphasized the embodied nature of human experience. WBL applied to art, bridges intellectual and emotional experiences of life, offering a way to connect with ourselves and the (art) world around us. And of course, we also discuss Van Gogh, Hals, and Rembrandt.

Watch 2008's 'My Stroke of Insight'

Watch Jill's talk on the teenage brain

Purchase the book Whole Brain Living

Watch an interview with Jill about WBL

You can find John on X ⁠@johnbezold⁠ and at his website ⁠johnbezold.com⁠.

'Dutch Art & Design Today' is published by ⁠Semicolon-Press⁠.

ISSN: 3050-6662