About me
HOMEI think of my work as Future Lofi.
It exists in the collision between rap videos and the cinema of everyday life: drifting through remix culture, long walks and social practice.
I love the idea of making films where our attention can wander away from the image and into the space of listening. Instead of elevating what we see, the audio can anchor the visuals.
On the surface, I want something alluring, something that draws you in like a good hook or a warm fireplace: rivers of smooth, astral minimalism carrying you into another world.
I’m based in Berlin. I work primarily with music, film and installation, and as a teacher, I draw equally from visual art and music. I teach musicians, filmmakers, DJs, sound artists, visual artists, and students who never studied art at all.
There’s something frightening and beautiful about how quickly newcomers can catch up with trained artists. All they need is an internet connection, a sense of purpose and a few weeks.
I see it happen every semester.
We’re surrounded by stunning images and incredible sounds all day long, and we have a million shortcuts for making them ourselves. Sometimes the shortcuts don’t even need us.
It’s hard to be impressed by good-looking or good-sounding work, and it’s hard to stay ahead.
But I don’t think the answer is being smarter, working longer or having fancy plugins.
I think artists need to know more about people than about art.
Most audiences don’t know what a Buchla is or what Drill means but they fully understand greatness and adventure.
How do we position ourselves there?
Where is the sense of mystery?
I have a background as a producer, working with holograms, robots, VR, AI and digital assets for films, video games, music videos and fashion. We made hi-tech work for some of the most famous artists and brands in the world: Marina Ambramović, Kanye West, Jeff Koons, League of Legends, etc.
There’s a lot to learn from commercial work and from new technology, whether those are lessons to emulate or limitations to avoid, and as a teacher, I’m here to help my students make their own decisions.
What’s worth considering is that global brands see the best work on the planet, but they don’t release everything they see. They have to wrap it in a strategy.
Designing a strategy doesn’t mean planning things to death or staying locked into a single niche, but it does mean having a deeper understanding of what speaks to you and what forms the DNA of your artistic universe.
That way, you can be more fluid in moving between genres and across various media. Your practice can build up long-term momentum and this can snowball into something meaningful for you and for your audience.
Education
2011 - 2013 University of Art Berlin (UdK) Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Certificate, Post-graduate Artistic Research
2008 - 2010 California Institute of the Arts
(MFA) Master of Fine Arts in Experimental Sound Practices
2000 - 2005 University of Michigan
(B.Mus) Bachelor of Music Composition
University Teaching
June 2023 - current
Program Lead (Dept. Head)
"Music and Sound Design for Visual Media"
- Interdisciplinary bachelor's program for sound, image and space
Catalyst Institute of Creative Arts and Technology, Berlin
January 2019 - current
Instructor and Advisor, undergraduate and graduate programs in Film, Creative Audio Production and Electronic Music Production
Catalyst Institute of Creative Arts and Technology, Berlin (formerly dBs)
"Composition for Visual Media"
"Post Studio"
"Artistic Development"
"Music and Society"
"Ethnomusicology II"
"Creative Practitioner"
"Creative Professional"
"Dissertation Colloquium"
"Entrepreneurship"
"Performance Workshop"
April 2019 - current
University of Art Berlin (UdK), Sound Studies and Sonic Arts
Guest Faculty, Master's Thesis Supervisor, Master's Project Supervisor
"Curatorial Sound Practices"
"Artist Statements"
"Strategy of and through Practice"
"The Strategist: from Artist DNA to the Public Mind"
March 2019 - current
CIEE Global Institute Berlin
Instructor, Undergraduate study abroad program
"Music and Society"
"Music, Media and the Public Sphere"
"Radio Production and Digital Storytelling in Berlin"
Sept. 2014 - Jan. 2015
Vienna University of Economics (WU)
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Undergraduate Business and Innovation program
Oct. 2011 - Feb. 2014
University of Art Berlin (UdK)
Guest Faculty, Department of Fine Art and Department of Experimental Music
"Audience Today"
"Proposing Constellations for the Everyday"
"Spaces of Appearance"
April - June 2011
Art Institute of California, Hollywood
Instructor, Undergraduate Film, Video and Web program
"Interactive Media"
"Intro to Web Programming"
Industry Experience
2016 - 2019
Mimic Productions, Berlin
Producer / Business Manager (2016-2019)
- 3d assets for digital fashion, VR, AI, robotics, holograms, video games and film
2012 - 2019
Care Of Editions
Director, music label and international concert series
2012 - 2016
Production Manager: Peter Hoffer, Ebon Heath, Gisela Krohn, Claude Mangold, Fellini Gallery
- Film, painting, installation, sculpture and mixed media
2010 - 2011
The Wulf, Los Angeles
Co-Director, venue for performing arts
Recent Shows
2023 John and Alice (installation), 24’
The Other Side of Water (2), Group Show, “Künstlerhaus Bethanien”, Berlin
2023 Behind the Scenes (film), 64’
Everything that Sees Me, Group Show, “Späti Kapitalismus”, Berlin
2022 Those Are Clouds (two-channel edit), 150’
Beyond the Vertical Horizon, Group Show, “Stable Gallery”, Camplong, d’Aude, France
2022 Wherever I Am, the Sky Is Mine (installation),
in collaboration with Roshanak Amini, 17'
Signals Festivals, Funkhaus, Berlin
2022 Those Are Clouds, Solo exhibition, 6-channel Video and Sound Installation, Lobe Block, Berlin
2022 Wherever I Am, the Sky Is Mine, Solo Show, Installation in collaboration with Roshanak Amini, 17'
Vierte Welt, Berlin
2022 Staring at the Sun, Video- and Music installation, in collaboration with Roshanak Amini, 26'
The Other Side of Water, Group Show
The Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB), Serbia
2022 Wherever I Am, the Sky Is Mine, Installation in collaboration with Roshanak Amini, 17'
The Other Side of Water, Group Show
The Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB), Serbia
2021 Walking the Drone, in Collaboration with Charlemagne Palestine (4-hour sound piece)
2021 Producer / Curator, Maybe Here, album by Julia Holter and Marc Sabat
2021 Producer / Curator, Solo for Two Tambura, installation/album by Catherine Christer Hennix
2021 Curator, Bella Trays, album by Adam Asnan
2021 Curator, Scrub, album by Mari Matsutoya
2021 Original music in collaboration with Leila Hassan, commissioned by Anna Franceschini, 45'
Triennale Milano, Italy
2021 Behind the Scenes, film and original soundtrack, 64'
Festival Ecrã (Premiere), Museum of Modern Art Cinematheque, Rio de Janeiro
2021 Artist-Curator, Grid for the Modern World, exhibition of mixes and animations
Online Premiere: Palais des Beaux Arts, Wien, AT
Gallery Premiere: Hunt Gallery, St. Louis, MO, USA
Collection: MUSA - Sammlung der Stadt Wien
Selected Talks
2022 Guest, Broken English Podcast, hosted by Mila Panić
2022 Guest, The Path to Perception Podcast, hosted by Freya Algiz
2022 'From Individualism to Cooperativism' CTM Festival Panel, Berlin.
2018 'The Evolution of Real-Time Facial Motion Capture,' G-Star, Busan, South Korea.
2018 'Performative Distribution,' Interfaces, Q-O2/Royal Conservatory of Art (KASK), Gent, BE.
2018 Artist Talk, Shrinking Cinema, Belvedere / 21er Haus, Vienna. Curated by Claudia Slanar.
2017 'Streaming as a Musical Form,' UdK, Berlin.
2014 Antonia Hirsch in conversation with Gerhard Schultz, White Chapel Gallery, London.
2013 Artist Talk, Central Saint Martins, London.
2013 'Trail of Soft Matter: Digital Distribution,' Experimental Aesthetics, York University, Toronto.
2012 'Negative Money: Care Of Editions,' Amber Conference, Istanbul, Turkey.
2011 Falling Walls Lab, Conference for Interdisciplinary Breakthroughs, Berlin.
Selected Reviews
Cascella, Daniela. "Review of Behind the Scenes" Various, Social Media, 2021.
Davachi, Sarah. "Review of Maybe Here, by Marc Sabat and Julia Holter." Various, Social Media, 2021.
Obici, Giuliano. "Taking Care Of Editions - Interview with Gary Schultz." Positionen #119 (2019). 38-43.
Kraus, Chris. "Lost Properties." Essay. In Social Practices, 136-62, South Pasadena, CA: Semiotext(e), 2018.
Gebert, Peter. "Antworten sind einfach. Fragen sind schwierig. Mit klingender Münze: Das Label „Care Of Editions“ bezahlt seine Fans für
Downloads." Das Filter. January 2016. https://tinyurl.com/yyqxc76g
Andersen, Henry. “Dear Gerhard.” Essay. Un Magazine 8.2 (2015).1-6.
Nosnitsky, Andrew. "2013 Rewind" The Wire Issue Issue 349 (2014). 25.
Holter, Julia. "Music: Best of 2013" Art Forum Volume 52, No. 4 (2013). 73.
Awards
2022 Initiative Musik, Berlin
2022 GVL/Neustart Artist Grant, Berlin
2016 Creative Pioneer Grant, Departure, Vienna.
2014 Entrepreneur-in-Residence Grant, Vienna University of Economics.
2013 Career Springboard Grant, Musicboard, Berlin.
2011-13 Research Fellow, Graduate School for Arts and Sciences, UdK Berlin.
2009 Artist-in-Residence, Museum of Time / Camp Talganie, Okinawa.
2009 Interdisciplinary Collaboration Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia.
2005-06 Stan Brakhage Scholarship, Center for the Creation of Music: Iannis Xenakis, Paris.
