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Prof. Georg F. Klein

short vita

Program Director | Sound Studies and Sonic Arts (M.A.) 

 

With a background in composition, sound and media artist Georg Klein has developed a multi-faceted artistic practice since 2001, in which he explores sound as a medium of art. In his installations and interventions - especially in public space - he condenses acoustic and visual, situational and political aspects into a 'space of tension' in which visitors are often involved interactively or participatively.

 

The starting point of his work is artistic research, the investigation of places, situations and themes, whose inherent conflict situations he elaborates and gives voice to in an aesthetic transformation. With his site-specific installations, concert pieces and radio play-like soundwalks, he challenges the perception of his audience, leads them into uncertain terrain, questions identities and evokes reflection, sometimes triggering fierce reactions from public and press alike. He has received numerous national and international awards (including the first German Sound Art Prize in 2002, the Media-Space-Award 2006, the European Media Art Festival Prize EMAF 2015, the Audio Walk Award 2020) scholarships and residencies (including Villa Massimo/Casa Baldi Rome, BM Contemporary Arts Istanbul, Villa Aurora Los Angeles). Research trips have taken him to Israel/Palestine, South and North Korea, USA and Iran, among other places. He also worked for several years as musical director at the theatre (Berliner Ensemble / Peter Zadek) and in multiple collaborations with the German national radio DeutschlandFunk Kultur.

Besides his artistic work, Georg Klein is a producer and curator (bgnm - Berlin Society for New Music 2001-2004, KlangQuadrat GbR 2003-2013, MuseumsQuartier Vienna 2014, Errant Sound Project Space Berlin - since 2013) as well as the artistic director of the DYSTOPIA sound art biennial Berlin 2018-2026). Since 1998 he has taught as a lecturer at various universities in Germany and abroad and has published numerous lectures, essays and interviews on sound art (Organised Sound Cambridge, KUNSTFORUM International, MusikTexte, positionen, Zeitschrift für Neue Musik et al.). Since fall 2022 he is sound art professor and director of Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at the UdK Berlin.

Office: Lietzenburger Straße 45, 10789 Berlin