Timo Kahlen (born 1966 in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
) is a German sound sculptor and media artist who currently lives and works in Berlin.
Life and work
Timo Kahlen is known for his sound sculptures and site-specific
sound art
Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...
works, installations with steam, wind and light, as well as experimental net art, video and photography. His interdisciplinary and intermedia body of work, often employing ephemeral, elemental materials such as wind and steam, light and shade, sound and vibration,
noise and beauty, has been nominated for the German national ''Sound Art Prize'' 2006, the ''Kahnweiler Prize for Sculpture'' 2001 and the ''Prize for Young European Photographers'' 1989, as well as various scholarships in Washington D.C., Berlin, Paris and Guernsey. Kahlen's work is involved with the sculptural and conceptual aspects of immaterial phenomena and processes, and curators as Joanna Littlejohns have emphasized the ephemeral, "temporary and changeable nature" of his concentrated oeuvre. Kahlen's work has been presented in more than 140 exhibitions and retrospectives of contemporary media art since the mid-1980s, including ''Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of the Arts'' (ZKM Center for Arts and Media Technologies, Karlsruhe 2012–2013), the ''Mediations Biennale'' (Poland 2012), ''Tonspur_expanded: The Loudspeaker'' (Vienna, 2010–11), ''Noise & Beauty'' (Berlin 2010), ''60 × 60'' (New York 2010),
Manifesta
Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale.
History
Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of ...
7: ''Scenarios'' (Italy 2008),
[ ''Sound Art: German Sound Art Prize 2006'' (Marl and Cologne 2006), ''Wireless Experience'' (Helsinki 2004), ''Zeitskulptur: Volumen als Ereignis'' (Linz 1997) and the solo exhibition ''Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind'' (1991), inaugurating the Kunst-Werke in Berlin.
His installation at the Aviation Museum in ]Amberg
Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town.
History
The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...
in 2010 was disrupted when a cleaner mistakenly vacuumed up the two dead hornet
Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...
s he had placed on a loudspeaker: the installation was titled ''Tanz für Insekten'' (dance for insects) and the intention was for the dead insects to "dance" as a result of the vibrations. Rather than kill more hornets, he replaced them with dead houseflies
The housefly (''Musca domestica'') is a fly of the suborder Cyclorrhapha. It is believed to have evolved in the Cenozoic Era, possibly in the Middle East, and has spread all over the world as a commensal of humans. It is the most common f ...
.Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...
, where he studied under Professor Dieter Appelt and held a lectureship in Visual Media and Video Art from 1993 to 1998.
Exhibitions (selection)
*2013: ''Media Art Histories: Renew'', International Conference, Riga / Latvia
*2012: ''Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of the Arts'', ZKM Center for Art and Media Technologies, Karlsruhe / Germany
*2012: ''Mediations Biennale: The Unknown'', Poznan / Poland
*2012: '' Directors Lounge'', Berlin / Germany
*2011: ''Ruido de Fronteira: Eletronika Festival'', Belo Horizonte / Brazil
*2011: ''An Exchange with Sol LeWitt'', MASS MoCA, Massachusetts / USA
*2011: ''Luftkunst'', Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen / Germany
*2010: ''Tonspur_expanded: The Loudspeaker'', freiraum Quartier21, Vienna / Austria
*2010: ''SIGHT.SOUND (INTERACTION) 5'', Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore / USA
*2009: ''naturasnaturans'', Casello delle Polveri, Certosa, Venice / Italy
*2008: ''MANIFESTA 7'' Biennale, Fortezza / Italy
*2007: ''Sonic Image: Totally Huge New Music Festival'', Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth / Australia
*2007: ''Strictly Berlin'', Berlin / Germany
*2006: ''Sound Art: Deutscher Klangkunst-Preis 2006", Art Cologne, Cologne / Germany
*2006: ''Timo Kahlen: Earcatcher'', Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, Berlin / Germany
*2006: ''Deutscher Klangkunst-Preis 2006'', Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl / Germany
*2006: ''40jahrevideokunst.de – was fehlt?'', Deutscher Kuenstlerbund, Berlin / Germany
*2005: ''Media Dirt'', Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, Berlin / Germany
*2004: ''Wireless Experience'', ISEA 2004 at Kiasma National Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki / Finland
*2002: ''Zewidewit Zizidaeh'', Galerie im Saalbau, Berlin /Germany
*2001: ''Timo Kahlen'', the gallery, International Artist in Residence Programme, Guernsey / GB
*2001: ''Staubrauschen'', Galerie Pankow, Berlin / Germany
*2000: ''Licht. Zeit. Klang. Raum'', Schwartzsche Villa, Berlin / Germany
*2000: ''Liquid Light'', Galerie im Parkhaus, Berlin / Germany
*1997: ''Zeitskulptur: Volumen als Ereignis'', Oberoesterreichische Landesgalerie, Linz / Austria
*1997: ''Stroemung'', Soma Projektgalerie, Berlin / Germany
*1995: ''Stipendiaten der Karl-Hofer-Gesellschaft'', Berlin / Germany
*1995: ''Leerraum'', Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, Berlin / Germany
*1995: ''Lichtstaub'', Galerie Voges + Deisen, Frankfurt am Main / Germany
*1994: ''3 Deutschland'', DC Arts Center, Washington D.C. / USA
*1994: ''Art(s) d'Europe: Emerging Artists in Europe Today'', Goethe-Institut Paris / France
*1993: ''Immaterialien'', Galerie Voges + Deisen, Frankfurt am Main / Germany
*1992: ''(ueber Zeit) am Bauhaus'', Bauhaus Dessau / Germany
*1992: ''Kunststudenten stellen aus'', Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn / Germany
*1992: ''Deutscher Kuenstlerbund'', Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen / Germany
*1991: ''Die Ruine der Kuenste Berlin'', Kunsthalle Palazzo, Basel / Switzerland
*1991: ''Photography as Object'', Galerie Ghislave, Paris / France
*1991: ''Objekte in Originalgroeße'', Hochschule der Künste Berlin, Berlin / Germany
*1991: ''Timo Kahlen: Arbeiten mit Wind'', KUNST-WERKE Berlin / Germany
*1989: ''Prize for Young European Photographers'', Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main / Germany
*1989: ''Timo Kahlen: Erste Arbeiten'', Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, Berlin / Germany
External links
Timo Kahlen
official website, contains documentation of sound sculptures and installations, of works with wind and steam, of experimental media and net art works such a
audio dustsounddriftundo/delete
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signal-to-noiseCollection of ZKM Center for Art and Media Technologies, KarlsruheSound Art: Sound as a Medium of the Arts, 2012–13SoundLAB interview with the artistMediations Biennale: the Unknown, Poznan 2012Timo_Kahlen,_Noise_&_Beauty,_Neural_(magazine)
_for_media_art_-_hactivism_-_e-music,_June_2012.html" ;"title="Neural (magazine)">Timo Kahlen, Noise & Beauty, Neural (magazine)
for media art - hactivism - e-music, June 2012">Neural (magazine)">Timo Kahlen, Noise & Beauty, Neural (magazine)
for media art - hactivism - e-music, June 2012br>Radius: Radio as Art, Episode # 17, Chicago / USA 2011
*[http://www.kw-berlin.de Kunst-Werke Berlin]
Art and Islands Foundation: International Artist in Residence Programme, Guernsey 2001Review of Timo Kahlen's net art works, Julia Schmidt 2011 (German)Air Museum (Luftmuseum) Amberg, GermanyFurther documentation on website of VG Bild-Kunst, GermanyArchive of public sculptures, BBK Berlin
* ttp://visualartbeat.com/issue5.htm Visual Artbeat Magazine, Issue #5, November 2010br>Catalog of Deutsche National-Bibliothek (German National Library)Exhibitions of Timo Kahlen on artfacts.net
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahlen, Timo
German sound artists
New media artists
German contemporary artists
1966 births
Living people