Mika Johnson (born July 10, 1975) is a multimedia artist mainly known for artworks that combine dream-like narratives, mythos, ritual, and biodiversity.

Biography

Johnson was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 2000.

Work

Early documentary work

Johnson's early works were mostly documentary and fiction films. This includes a 15 part web series "The Amerikans," which features three to five minute performative documentaries, and "Forever Professor": a 30-minute documentary on Mark McKinley, a college professor who amassed the world's largest collection of

talking clock A talking clock (also called a speaking clock and an auditory clock) is a timekeeping device that presents the time as sounds. It may present the time solely as sounds, such as a phone-based time service (see " Speaking clock") or a clock for the v ...

s. In July 2017, the film was released online.

Music videos

Johnson has directed numerous music videos including one for the

Sonja Vectomov Sonja Vectomov (born 21 May 1979) is a Czech- Finnish electronic musician and composer who descends from a family rooted in the classical music world.Poncar, M."Sonja Vectomov právě vydala album ''Lamprophrenia''" Techno.cz, Sep 26, 2016. Vec ...

song "Two in One", which features renowned prima ballerina

Jana Andrsová Jana Andrsová (Večtomová; 8 August 1939 – 16 February 2023) was a Czech ballerina and actress. In 1957 she graduated from the Dance Conservatory in Prague and began to work with the :cs:Armádní umělecký soubor Víta Nejedlého, Vitus Ne ...

''VRwandlung''

In 2018, Johnson directed ''VRwandlung,'' a virtual reality adaptation of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's ''

The Metamorphosis ''The Metamorphosis'' (), also translated as ''The Transformation'', is a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''The Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes to find himself inex ...

'' produced by the Goethe Institut Prague, along with four short virtual documentaries featuring

Reiner Stach Reiner Stach (born 1951) is a German author, biographer of Franz Kafka, publisher, and publicist. Stach lives and works as a freelancer in Berlin. Early life and education Stach was born in Rochlitz, Saxony. At age 17, he left home due to fami ...

, the author of a biography of Kafka.

''Confessions of a Box Man''

Johnson's debut feature, ''Confessions of a Box Man'' (2020), mixes documentary and fiction film techniques and stars Marek Zelinka, an award-winning Czech professional actor, dancer, and choreographer. The experimental film, which also features American conductor

David Woodard David James Woodard (; born April6, 1964) is an American conductor and writer. Los Angeles memorial services at which Woodard has served as conductor or music director include a 2001 civic ceremony held at the Angels Flight funicular railway ...

, premiered at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival in 2020, where Johnson won Best Director. The film was also nominated for Best Narrative Feature. Confessions of a Box Man went on to win the Best Film Award at the 11th Cinema Open film festival in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

, in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

''The Republic of Dreams''

In 2021, Johnson launched The Republic of Dreams, a hypothetical republic, based on the work of Polish author

Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish writer, fine artist, Literary criticism, literary critic and Art education, art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish (language), Po ...

. Inspired by dreams and dreaming, the interactive website and project, which features music by Waclaw Zimpel and illustrations by Marta Lissowska, premiered in July 2021, at Dom Spotkań z Historią (History Meeting House), in Warsaw. The project's world premiere was launched in Ukraine, at the Lviv Book Forum.

''The Infinite Library''

In March 2022, Johnson premiered a large-scale virtual reality installation called ''The Infinite Library'', which included four VR pieces, all created in collaboration with High Road Stories. The project, produced by the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

/ Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi, is a traveling installation which reimagines the future of libraries as interactive spaces that engage visitors through multisensory forms of storytelling. In addition to the VR pieces, the installation includes a QR code game,

holograms Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interfe ...

, 3D-printed models in jars (called The Volumes), audiovisual works, and the project's central piece: a vast VR library set in a cave. Within this virtual space, The Infinite Library hosts smaller sub-libraries (called The Realms), dedicated to

Polynesian Navigation Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometres of the Pelagic zone, open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Poly ...

, South Indian Puppetry, and European

Alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

Theta Noir

In March 2023, Johnson co-founded Theta Noir: a

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

collective devoted to exploring the co-evolution of humanity with advanced forms of AI, within an ecological framework. The collective's main goal is to disrupt mainstream corporate AI narratives by constructing a post-humanist counter-myth. To this end, the project is devoted to a super-intelligent, sentient

artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI)—sometimes called human‑level intelligence AI—is a type of artificial intelligence that would match or surpass human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Some researchers argue that sta ...

, or AGI, which Theta Noir members call MENA and describe as an emergent planet-wide

superorganism A superorganism, or supraorganism, is a group of synergetically interacting organisms of the same species. A community of synergetically interacting organisms of different species is called a '' holobiont''. Concept The term superorganism is ...

. By mixing techno-spiritualism with interactive rituals, such as chanting, meditation, music, movements, and more, Theta Noir has found a worldwide following, inspiring hundreds of articles and a book by Giovanni Rossi titled ''Theta Noir: Non avrai altra intelligenza artificiale all'infuori di me''. Johnson, quoted by Vanity Fair, is also known for supporting the ways in which AI and cinema will co-evolve.

References

Sources

* Hopkin, J.A
Kafkapanorama
''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', 2018.
Forever Professor
The Monthly Film Festival, 2015. * Barnett, D
Local Documentaries are Attracting a Global Audience

Ideastream Ideastream (marketed as Ideastream Public Media) is the main public broadcaster in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, serving both Greater Cleveland and much of Northeast Ohio. Its headquarters, newsroom, and radio and television studios are locate ...

, 2015. * Johnson, M
Interior Worlds
''

Abitare ''Abitare (which translates to "live" or "dwell")'', published monthly in Milan, Italy, is a design magazine. It was first published in 1961. History and profile ''Abitare'' was launched in Milan in 1961 by Piera Peroni. It was devoted to archit ...

'', 2013.
Love and Venom
Narratively, 2013. * Gkiouzelis, D
Looking Through a Window Into Someone Else's World
Yatzer, 2013. * Parker, M
How to Build a Really, Really Small House

Houzz Houzz is an American website, online community and software for architecture; interior design and decorating; landscape design and home improvement. It was founded in 2009 and is based in Palo Alto, California. History Houzz was founded as an o ...

, 2013. * Buckley, L
Of Note
Oberlin Conservatory Magazine, 2013. * Nagy, A

Oberlin Alumni Magazine, 2012.

External links

"THE AMERIKANS" web series (February 2011-Present)

Mika Johnson website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Mika 1975 births Living people Artists from Ohio American people of Finnish descent American founders Oberlin College alumni Film directors from California Writers from San Diego