Stephan Mathieu

For his Chicago debut, Stephan Mathieu will present the U.S. premiere of Radioland, a suite of computer-processed live AM radio, accompanied by a fast, random video flicker of 256 colors.

Stephan Mathieu (b.1967, Saarbrücken, Germany) spent the ’90s in Berlin as an improviser playing drums, working with Andrea Neumann, Axel Dörner and Toshimaru Nakamura, and in the ensembles of Butch Morris and Wolfgang Fuchs. In 1998 he made a radical switch to the digital domain. His music is based on recordings of acoustic instruments and esoteric software processes. A composer, performer and installation artist, Mathieu has created sound installation works for the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site at the Völklingen Ironworks and elsewhere, and he has released more than 10 albums for labels such as Orthlorng Musork, Ritornell, Lucky Kitchen, Häpna and Fällt. He also teaches Digital Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design HBKSaar, Saarbrücken, and has worked as a guest lecturer at the Royal Academy of Arts, Göteborg, the Bauhaus University, Weimar and the Merz Akademie, Stuttgart.