Konrad Becker
Encyclopedia
Konrad Becker is a hypermedia researcher and interdisciplinary content developer, Director of the Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0
and initiator of Public Netbase
and World-Information.Org. Since 1979 he has been active in electronic media as an artist, writer, composer, curator, producer and organizer of numerous intermedia productions, exhibitions, and event designs for international festivals and cultural institutions. He has published media works, electronic audiovisuals and theoretical texts, lectured and held positions at various universities, and participated in conferences and symposia. He has been a member of various boards and committees on information and communication technologies and culture, and has worked as a consultant.
As a musician Konrad Becker created Monoton, the crucial Austrian electronic music act providing distinguished soundscapes. The Wire
magazine singled out Monoton’s record "Monotonprodukt07" as one of the 100 most important records of the 20th century. Konrad Becker has recently focused on notebook live jamming with minimalist rigor.
At the borderline between sound art, psychoacoustics and contemporary dance practices, Konrad Becker's project has crossed a variety of genres over the years and has gone through various mutations and side projects. Starting with meta-mathematical and performative multimedia installations, from industrial ambience noise to audio software art and a dance context in the early rave scene he also developed theatrical productions.
"Like other Germanic groups (Kraftwerk
, Neu, Cluster
, Conrad Schnitzler
), Monoton's products have turned out to be fine forerunners of certain trends in electronic music at the end of the twentieth century." (Eric Mattson, ORAL, 2002)
Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0
The Institute for New Culture Technologies/t0 was founded by Konrad Becker and Francisco de Sousa Webber in 1994 as an international competence platform for the critical use of information and communication technologies...
and initiator of Public Netbase
Public Netbase
Public Netbase was a cultural media initiative, open access internet platform, and advocate for the development of electronic art. Long a support of avant-garde, sometimes controversial, art and digital culture, the project increasingly came into conflict with the Austrian political establishment...
and World-Information.Org. Since 1979 he has been active in electronic media as an artist, writer, composer, curator, producer and organizer of numerous intermedia productions, exhibitions, and event designs for international festivals and cultural institutions. He has published media works, electronic audiovisuals and theoretical texts, lectured and held positions at various universities, and participated in conferences and symposia. He has been a member of various boards and committees on information and communication technologies and culture, and has worked as a consultant.
As a musician Konrad Becker created Monoton, the crucial Austrian electronic music act providing distinguished soundscapes. The Wire
The Wire (magazine)
The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
magazine singled out Monoton’s record "Monotonprodukt07" as one of the 100 most important records of the 20th century. Konrad Becker has recently focused on notebook live jamming with minimalist rigor.
At the borderline between sound art, psychoacoustics and contemporary dance practices, Konrad Becker's project has crossed a variety of genres over the years and has gone through various mutations and side projects. Starting with meta-mathematical and performative multimedia installations, from industrial ambience noise to audio software art and a dance context in the early rave scene he also developed theatrical productions.
"Like other Germanic groups (Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, Neu, Cluster
Cluster (band)
Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been...
, Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler
Conrad Schnitzler was a prolific German experimental musician.Schnitzler was born in Düsseldorf. He was an early member of Tangerine Dream and a founder of the band Kluster. He left Kluster in 1971, first working with his group Eruption and then focusing on solo works...
), Monoton's products have turned out to be fine forerunners of certain trends in electronic music at the end of the twentieth century." (Eric Mattson, ORAL, 2002)
Books by Konrad Becker
- Psychonautic, MonotonProdukt, Wien (1986)
- Die Politik der Infosphäre- World-Information.Org, VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft , BPB Berlin (2002)
- Tactical Reality Dictionary, Cultural Intelligence and Social Control, Selene Verlag Wien, Autonomedia New York (2002)
- Tactical Reality Dictionary, Russian translation and Foreword by Oleg Kireev, Ultraculture Publishing, Moscow (2004)
- Konrad Becker, Felix Stalder (eds.): Deep Search. The Politics of Search beyond Google, Studienverlag Innsbruck (2009)
- Strategic Reality Dictionary. Deep Infopolitics and Cultural Intelligence, Autonomedia New York (2009)
- Konrad Becker, Jim Fleming (eds.): Critical Strategies in Art and Media. Perspectives on New Cultural Practices, Autonomedia New York (2010)
External links
- Short biography of Konrad Becker
- Monoton's Entry at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Konrad Becker´s Filmography in Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Konrad Becker´s Entry in Austrian Music Database Skug Research Archive