Brummbaer is, like the Greek Phidias, the
Italian Giotto,
the Dutch Rembrandt, one of the first masters
of this new art medium.
He is one of the first Wizard Fabricators of
the cybernetic
realities of the 21st century.
– Timothy Leary
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| In Memoriam: Brummbaer 1945 - 2016 |
From a chalk wielding pavement artist to a master computer wizard, Brummbaer’s artistic journey encompassed in similar ways the history of artmaking that began with simple animal paintings on cave walls to dizzying wonders of technology-driven highly complex art shimmering on the electronic screens of the 21st century. Born in 1945 and raised in post-war Germany, he made the move to Los Angeles, California which served as his artistic home base since the mid-1980s.
Raised by a single mom and in poverty, he recalled the growing up experience in post-war Germany with a sense of grimness. He found meaning and refuge early on in art. At age 15, he climbed into an empty picture frame at an art happening and saw himself as entering the world of art. Thus began his art-fueled life as a self-taught vagabond pavement artist in post-war Germany. Akin to itinerant Italian maddonari artists of olden days, he travelled all over Europe, painting with colored chalk the famous European paintings - of Rubens, Rembrandt, Raphael, El Greco and others.
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| The Circus At The End Of Time |
Unable to afford and attend art school, he taught himself. Learning from his art school peers and from books and museums, the street was his canvas. Attracted to the peace- and-love hippie culture of the 1960s emerging in London and elsewhere, he led an adventurous life, living on the road for several years in search of a life of utopian ideals where drugs, rock-n-roll and adventure were a big part of.
The carefree life collided with the law at times resulting in imprisonments in the infamous Stadelheim prison in Munich and Wormwoods Scrubs in London and destitute street living. But it was also wild, heady times - creating psychedelic art and crafting immersive light shows at concerts for bands such as Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Frank Zappa and many more and travelling to many places where artful life was brewing - listening to Allen Ginsberg where beat poets congregated, falling in love with jazz music, marveling at late night flamenco dancers in Amsterdam, communal living and creative collaborations with other artists.
His career was wide-ranging - as illustrator, light show designer, political agitprop creator, introducing Robert Crumb to German audience, launching Brumm comix, launching underground art magazine Germania, creating experimental radio plays, working as a TV set designer, actor, filmmaker and graphic artist. The introduction of the computers in the late 1970s decisively shaped his path as he wholeheartedly embraced the use of the computer as a new medium of art.
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| The Machinery of Night |
An early practitioner and pioneer in the digital art, he was invited to Los Angeles, California in 1985 to work on the first ever graphics computer, the Fairlight CVI. He also worked with Timothy Leary and science fiction writer William Gibson. He continued expanding his digital skills and worked in special effects for Hollywood movies, creating digital art for the video game industry and in the later years obsessively exploring fractal-based art and animation.
The onset of
cancer in his mid-fifties brought challenges and change of focus. The double
bouts of cancer had ended his commercial career, creating an opportunity to
work on his artistic vision. After writing two memoirs to shed light on his
coming of age in the 1960s, he embarked on his work with full gusto. Though in the sunset of his age, he was
unstoppable as an artist.
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| Homage A Joseph Beuys et Moebius |
The Tralfamadore
Series started in 2010, inspired by the writer Kurt Vonnegut, are a bold and
imaginative flight of visionary art. At
age 65, his focus turned towards combining the fractal-based art with animation, rendered
with mastery of color and masterful techniques. With the newly developed fractal-based Mandelbulb
3D software, he delved into a new world of possibility. More than eye popping and heretofore unseen visions, his art
invites one to see beyond the fantastic sights and to ponder whether art can serve
as a portal to a metaphysical dimension. Ever humble and wildly
talented, Brummbaer likened the role of
artist to a window washer, shining the thick dust off the windows of reality so
humanity can see what has always been there.
From works in film, print and animation, he contributed in groundbreaking ways to the field of new media art, boldly transforming it with new tools of computer and software which he compared to a philosopher’s stone and the magic carpet. And boldly he contributed to the new media art canon the stunning visions flickering before our eyes.
Contributor: Jennifer Hyong Un Cho is currently working on an artist book on Brummbaer. She organized The Everchanging Infinite Bliss exhibit featuring his work at Irisphere Visual Arts in 2012.
To support the artist book project: Brummbaer Artist Book Project
Brummbaer Artist Book Project
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| The Splendour Of The Heart |
From works in film, print and animation, he contributed in groundbreaking ways to the field of new media art, boldly transforming it with new tools of computer and software which he compared to a philosopher’s stone and the magic carpet. And boldly he contributed to the new media art canon the stunning visions flickering before our eyes.
Contributor: Jennifer Hyong Un Cho is currently working on an artist book on Brummbaer. She organized The Everchanging Infinite Bliss exhibit featuring his work at Irisphere Visual Arts in 2012.
To support the artist book project: Brummbaer Artist Book Project
Brummbaer Artist Book Project