Stefan Goldmann is an electronic music artist, based in Berlin, Germany. Merging elements of techno, conceptualism and electroacoustic composition, he has created his uniquely own variety of contemporary art music. Neither constrained by the pitfalls of academism nor by those of electronic club music functionality, his work topics range from micro details to macro concepts of exposing terminal points of entire musical genres or technical formats. His investigation into remixing might serve as an example here, including both, a remix that does not change the score at all while cutting up dozens of recordings (Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps), and one that replaces every sound bit until the original work is no longer present except for a ghostly structural shadow (Fennesz: Remiksz).
Goldmann’s choice and handling of topics, methods and material have been compared to an occupational force that takes strategic positions others misevaluated or couldn’t capture. These positions may be structural (such as specific rhythmical concepts) or technological (such as “branding” the sound of a piece of gear by excessively exposing its specific qualities in an unusual context). The unifying features are relevance and idiosyncrasy, so that seemingly disparate outings actually form a cohesive body of work. For this reason DJing sets of house music is an activity pursued with the same rigor as scoring a ballet (as with choreographer Kevin O’Day) or conceiving performance formats such as Berghain’s Elektroakustischer Salon. The desire to reach beyond the obvious is as important as the need to move on rather than to dwell on the same subject repetitively.
His label Macro, founded in 2007, built a group of peers rather than gathering artistic followers. Macro artists include Elektro Guzzi, Raudive and Peter Kruder. Showcasing the work of individuals covering different areas of a greater whole at benchmark levels is the beauty of Macro’s label concept. Live, these constellations have been presented at label events in Berlin, London, Paris, Washington DC and Tokyo. With Macro, Stefan Goldmann has created a context and outlet for his ever moving targets. For the 2012 season, he currently works on commissions by the BASF Kulturprogramm, C3 Festival and others and will be artist in residence at Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto, Japan.
