Music video
1997
A broken High8 camera and a few weeks on the US west coast. Some scenes were taken at the breathtaking Monterey Bay Aquarium. A no-budget production. Marcus Schmickler and me edited the video at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne.
Music by Pluramon. The track was release on Pick Up Canyon.
Diva (1981) Wave Machine and Blue Man Group
1997
KolleRebbe create the text idea based on a scene from the Blue Man Group in NYC. They hired me to visualize it for movie theaters. It became my very first After FX production in 2K in collaboration with Kris Krois at Cutup in Cologne. We were inspired by the wave motion machine used in th French movie Diva.
The Gauloises Textfilm won many awards, amongst others a Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
Music by Ralf Denker, Hamburg.
Two commercials for the launch of a new movie theater
1996
The concept and production of two commercials for the CinemaxX movie theatres in Germany was my first job for the noted Hamburg advertising agency KolleRebbe. For the two commercials we used slides and 16mm film.
From that moment Stefan Kolle stayed my No. 1 advertiser of all times until he passed in 2017. Humble, most witty, and brave.
Music by Marcus Schmickler, Piethopraxis.
Three commercials for the launch of a new lemonades
1996
Jörg Follert and I came up with the concept and directed three commercials for the German music television broadcasting company VIVA. We shot with many Super8 cameras. The soft drinks actually tasted weird and looking at the twins had a hallucinogen quality.
Music by Marcus Schmickler, Piethopraxis.
Published by a-musik, Cologne
September 1996
Marcus Schmickler's first release on a-musik became a classic.
Via a-musik: "Wabi Sabi is a staggering sounding, beautifully packaged and simply significant contemporary electronic album by Marcus Schmickler out of the thriving German underground music scene. Schmickler has one release under his own name on the Odd Size label in France, and was a contributing member of POL and Kontakta on the same label. Most recently he released the exceptional Pluramon Pick Up Canyon album on the Mille Plateaux label (which featured the guest drumming of Jaki Liebezeit). This CD consists of two pieces: "Wabi Sabi" -- a devastating 33 minute 2-channel spatial composition that mixes gorgeous flowing electronics ala Francois Bayle with moments radio-static density and transcending sound waves. Param is a shorter work of 2-channel, powerfully droning electronics. "The pair of terms wabi and sabi are expressions of an attitude towards life that draw the power of artistic creation from silence and decay."
RTL II title sequence
1996
The show introduced international commercials to a broader audience on RTL II, a commercial, privately owned, general-interest German television channel. For the opener I sampled from various sources. Two weeks of compositing. Sampling, remixing, one my favourite occupation.
Music by Marcus Schmickler, Piethopraxis.
Published by Mille Plateaux, Frankfurt
May 1996
Pluramon is the collaboration project of Marcus Schmickler. He asked Jan St. Werner and me to design the cover artwork for the debut album Pick up canyon. We basically cut from old books and used printing sets for children.
Via Mille Plateaux: "The first Pluramon release on Mille Plateaux, Pick Up Canyon focused on the guitar as an instrument to produce electronic sounds, dealing with the transition from structure and tune (as he calls it). Schmickler says 'I feel it's very microscopic and gives the listener the opportunity to listen into an instrument, like hearing through 3-D glasses into the space between the instruments.' "
"Inspired by..."
1995
The national TV broadcasting company PRO7 hired me to develop an idea for a series ad bumpers – station identifications shown before the commercial break. We produced a series of seven jingles on 16mm film, inspired by different contemporary artists. They won several awards, amongst others a Silver Award at PromaxBDA International.
My first collaboration with composer Marcus Schmickler. The take-off of a long story and friendship.
RTL II title sequence
1995
The TV program Hotzspotz on RTL II, a commercial, privately owned, general-interest German television channel, introduced international commercials to a broader audience.
I shot the scenes for the title sequence on Hi8 video at home, including intense use of my bathtub and the tpyeface of that decade: Template Gothic.
Music by Andi Thoma and Jan St. Werner.
Freelancer for HotWired, San Francisco
1995-1996
In January 1995 I moved to San Francisco. What was meant to be indefinite turned out to last a year. Lived in the Lower Haight district and started to freelance for HotWired. One of the world's first few websites with original content.
A year earlier I had heard an exciting talk by Howard Rheingold at the Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria about how Wired Magazine was to go online. This talk made me wanting to work with them and be part of the next step. HotWired was the first commercial web magazine, launched on October 27, 1994. Although it was part of Wired Ventures, HotWired was a separate entity from Wired, the print magazine, and had original content.
Coming from a motion design background the speed or more precisely the slowness of the web back then made it very difficult for me to adapt. No more motion graphics but silent slide shows - nothing audiovisual.
But it was tremendously inspiring to be in the HotWired offices, and to meet all their incredibly brilliant staff. Thanks to Barbara Kuhr for all her awesome inspiration!