Berndnaut Smilde on Nimbus, Clouds, and the Festival Ō in Rome

Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde (born 1978 in Groningen) discusses his ephemeral cloud installations, Nimbus, ahead of his participation in Festival Ō, a cultural series dedicated to dance and music organized by Electa in collaboration with the Museo Nazionale Romano, directed by Daniela Porro. The festival runs until December 16 and features forty international artists. Smilde's Nimbus works involve a nebulizer and a machine that emits aerogel smoke, creating indoor clouds that last only moments before dissipating. He emphasizes the role of photography and video in capturing these transient forms, noting that for the Armory Show he automated cloud creation every fifteen minutes via computer. Smilde draws inspiration from Dutch and Flemish painting, Romanticism, and the cultural symbolism of clouds, which he sees as metaphors for change. He contrasts his work with Olafur Eliasson's scientific approach, focusing instead on temporality and cultural references. Smilde references Bruno Latour's 'Iconoclash' and the idea that images can hold truth. He acknowledges the viral spread of his cloud images on social media, which he finds fascinating but does not actively engage with. The interview was conducted by Giorgia Basili.