Sjoerd van Acker was born in 1997 in the south of the Netherlands. Soon after his birth he moved to Africa where he grew up in Uganda, Lesotho and Zambia. His mother worked as a doctor and his father did local art projects.
This nomadic life stopped when the family moved back to the Netherlands in 2009. In high school Sjoerd liked to be creative and among other things he made a 3 meter high sculpture made out of cardboard.
After high school Sjoerd studied Image and Media Technology at the University of the Arts Utrecht (HKU). In his third year he did his internship at PIPS:lab, a theater group that has done pioneering work with AR. There he started experimenting with creating his own VR experiences.
For his graduation project in 2020 he created rLung, a VR experience in which you explore your surroundings with your breath.
Following his graduation, Sjoerd started working under the name NO FISH as a Creative Technologist, collaborating with museums and artists to create virtual exhibitions and immersive VR experiences. His work continued to evolve, blending interactive storytelling with cutting-edge technology.
In 2022, Sjoerd debuted as a director with ELELE, an immersive VR experience developed at Biennale College Cinema VR. The project won the prestigious Crystal Owl Award for Best Interaction, with its innovative approach to transforming the hands of strangers into a kaleidoscopic dance.
His most recent work, Lingering Echoes (2024), invites visitors to interact with traces of the past, revealing how our actions in the present echo into the future.
Through his projects, Sjoerd creates experiences that foster new ways of perceiving and interacting with the world. His works explore the unseen connections between people, time, and place, offering a space for reflection and connection in an increasingly virtual world.
Sjoerd van Acker
New Media Artist //
Creative Technologist//
XR Developer
Contact:
3D modelling AR Breath Climate Change Coding Custom Tools Director Embodiement Exhibition Experimental Hand Tracking Interaction Design Motion Capture Multiplayer Optimisation Shaders SparkAR Unity VR Web