Mark Aitken's art work takes place through collaborative documentary encounters. His recent work evidences memory defined by 'emotional truths' and ineffable experiences with non-human forms.

 

Mark works with mixed-media - including film, photography, writing, sound works, installations and radio. Mark's practice spans over 20 years and is unified yet diverse - at home in galleries, cinemas, site-specific installations, television and radio. Born in New Zealand and raised in South Africa, he has lived in London for many years and presently works between there and Helsinki.

 

Currently supported by the Niilo Helander Foundation in Finland to explore contrasts between Nordic conspiracy theories and lived experiences, Mark is also affiliated to the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

 

Mark completed the mixed-media series, 'Sisu' in 2025 with two exhibitions in London. Outputs include films, a photo series and an upcoming book. His photo installation 'Sanctum Ephemeral' and book about his own community losing their homes won the UK National Open Art 2017, Portrait of Britain 2017 and was published in national press, magazines and exhibited in group shows in London, Glasgow and a solo show in Catalonia.

 

Mark’s award-winning films include 'Neighbourhood of Infinity' (2021) about confinement and freedoms during the pandemic, 'Dead when I got here' (2015) about a Mexican psychiatric hospital run by its own patients; 'Forest of Crocodiles' (2010) about a white South African rural community negotiating fear; 'Until when you die' (2007) tracing a Vietnamese refugee’s perilous journey home and 'This was Forever' (2007) about the loss of a community allotment in London. 

 

Teaching since 1990, Mark currently lectures photography, film and scriptwriting at Central St Martins, London. He was awarded his doctorate, 'Emotional truths in documentary making' from Goldsmiths in 2019. Mark also sourced funding and facilitated over fifty films with students through a non-profit between 2003-19.

 

He's produced radio programmes on London’s Resonance fm since 2004.

 

Photo: Katri Alatalo