{{short description|German sound sculptor and media artist (born 1966)}} '''Timo Kahlen''' (born 1966 in Berlin) 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 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,<ref>{{cite book |last=Flusser |first=Vilém |editor1-last=Ennokeit |editor1-first=Werner |editor2-last=Zwart |editor2-first=Leon |title=Timo Kahlen: Noise & Beauty. 25 Years of Media Art |publisher=Edition Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, 2010 |year=1991 |page=43 |chapter=Timo Kahlen: Works with Wind |isbn=978-3-927786-02-8 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Moll |first1=Frank-Thorsten |last2=Zeller |first2=Ursula |title=Luftkunst |publisher=Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen |year=2011 |page=32 |isbn=978-3-86136-146-6 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> light and shade, sound and vibration,<ref name=Manifesta>{{cite book |last1=Budak |first1=Adam |last2=Franke |first2=Anselm |last3=Collective |first3=Raqs Media |title=MANIFESTA 7: Index |publisher=Silvana Editoriale, Milano |year=2008 |page=44 |isbn=978-88-366-1128-7 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> noise and beauty,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ennokeit |first1=Werner |last2=Zwart |first2=Leon |title=Timo Kahlen: Noise & Beauty. 25 Years of Media Art |publisher=Edition Ruine der Kuenste Berlin |year=2010 |page=5 |isbn=978-3-927786-02-8 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> has been nominated for the German national ''Sound Art Prize'' 2006,<ref>{{cite web |title=Deutscher Klangkunst-Preis 2006 |url=http://www.klangkunstpreis.de/ |language=German |accessdate=24 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Julia |url=http://www.art-in-berlin.de/incbmeld.php?id=2214 |title=Timo Kahlen: Staubrauschen |date=4 August 2011 |publisher=art-in-berlin |language=German |accessdate=24 June 2013 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Littlejohns |first1=Joanna |last2=Snell |first2=Eric |title=Timo Kahlen: International Artist-in-Residence Programme, Guernsey 2001 |publisher=Guernsey College of Further Education, St Peter Port |year=2001 |page=10 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wendland |first1=Tomasz |last2=Nanjo |first2=Fumio |title=The Unknown: Mediations Biennale 2012 |publisher=Fundacja Mediations Biennale, Poznan |year=2012 |page=82 |isbn=978-83-935963-0-0 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>), ''Tonspur_expanded: The Loudspeaker'' (Vienna, 2010–11), ''Noise & Beauty'' (Berlin 2010), ''60 × 60'' (New York 2010), Manifesta 7: ''Scenarios'' (Italy 2008),<ref name=Manifesta/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manifesta7.it/artists/511?language=2 |title=Artists: Timo Kahlen: 1966, Berlin, DE: Lives in Berlin, DE: Swarm, 2008: Sound installation |publisher=Manifesta 7: The European Biennale of Contemporary Art |accessdate=24 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schreiber |first=Anne |url=http://www.artnet.de/magazine/manifesta-7-in-trentinosudtirol/ |title=Der Wunsch, zu Sehen |work=Artnet |date=4 August 2008 |accessdate=24 June 2013 |language=German}}</ref> ''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 in 2010 was disrupted when a cleaner mistakenly vacuumed up the two dead hornets 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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hägler |first=Max |url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/kuenstler-timo-kahlen-tanz-ohne-insekten-1.1021588 |title=Tanz ohne Insekten, ''Interview'' |newspaper=Süddeutsche Zeitung |date= 10 November 2010 |language=German |accessdate=24 June 2013}}</ref>
Kahlen received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Berlin University of the Arts, 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
==References== <references/>
== External links == *[http://www.staubrauschen.de 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 as [http://www.staubrauschen.de/audiodust audio dust], [http://www.staubrauschen.de/sounddrift sounddrift], [http://www.staubrauschen.de/delete undo/delete] und [http://www.staubrauschen.de/signal signal-to-noise] *[http://soundart.zkm.de/en/audio-dust-2011-timo-kahlen/ Collection of ZKM Center for Art and Media Technologies, Karlsruhe] *[http://soundart.zkm.de/en/tanz-fur-insekten-2010-timo-kahlen/ Sound Art: Sound as a Medium of the Arts, 2012–13] *[http://expanded.tonspur.at/doku/kahlen.html Tonspur_expanded: The Loudspeaker, Wien (German)] *[http://sip.newmediafest.org/?page_id=300 SoundLAB interview with the artist] *[https://archive.today/20130622121207/http://www.mediations.pl/en/biennale/artysci/346-timo-kahlen Mediations Biennale: the Unknown, Poznan 2012] *[http://neural.it/2012/06/timo-kahlen-noise-beauty/ Timo Kahlen, Noise & Beauty], ''Neural (magazine)'' for media art - hactivism - e-music, June 2012 *[http://theradius.us/episode17 Radius: Radio as Art, Episode # 17, Chicago / USA 2011] *[http://www.mediascape.info/2010/participants/part13.htm Media-Scape, Zagreb 2010] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100204030140/http://www.strictly-berlin.de/berlin07/seiten/Kuenstler_2007/Kahlen.htm Strictly Berlin 2007] *[http://home.snafu.de/ruine-kuenste.berlin/innen.htm Ruine der Kuenste Berlin, private space for material and immaterial arts] *[http://www.kw-berlin.de Kunst-Werke Berlin] *[http://www.artandislands.com/iairp-archives/iairp-artists/timo-kahlen/ Art and Islands Foundation: International Artist in Residence Programme, Guernsey 2001] *[http://www.art-in-berlin.de/incbmeld.php?id=2214 Review of Timo Kahlen's net art works, Julia Schmidt 2011 (German)] *[http://www.luftmuseum.de/ja/ausstellungen/archiv/ Air Museum (Luftmuseum) Amberg, Germany] *[http://timokahlen.bildkunstnet.de/ Further documentation on website of VG Bild-Kunst, Germany] *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150713102457/http://www.abstrakte-fotografie.com/kuenstler3.html German Society for Abstract Photography]}} *[http://www.bbk-kulturwerk.de/con/kulturwerk/front_content.php?idart=869&artistId=183 Archive of public sculptures, BBK Berlin] *[http://www.kuenstlerbund.de/english/members/members/kahlen-timo.html?ch= Members of the Deutscher Kuenstlerbund : German Artist Association] *[http://visualartbeat.com/issue5.htm Visual Artbeat Magazine, Issue #5, November 2010] *[https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?query=Woe%3D123405505&method=simpleSearch Catalog of Deutsche National-Bibliothek (German National Library)] *[http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/7211/lang/1/ Exhibitions of Timo Kahlen on artfacts.net]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahlen, Timo}} Category:German sound artists Category:German new media artists Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Berlin University of the Arts alumni