M+M
Exhibition "Techno Worlds"

Galerie Ultraschall

Installation at Club Ultraschall (1994-2003)

This work consists of an air-conditioning tube, approximately seven metres long, and integrated monitors. Galerie Ultraschall (1994) was permanently installed in the Ultraschall Club I and later in the Ultraschall Club II (Ultraschall Club was one of the first and most well-known techno clubs in Munich at the time). The air-conditioning tube, made of old sheet steel, was mounted overhead of the club's visitors and integrated into the club's pipe system. Two mirrors provided a view inside of the tube and the monitors situated within, which display sampled and rhythmically edited footage from medical educational videos and feature films.

In “Galerie Ultraschall”, the principle of sampling prevalent in techno gets transferred to video material and its dissection and recombination. The medical educational scenes mostly show ultrasound recordings. On one hand, these are characterised by close contact with the human body, but on the other hand, by an abstraction of the body. In ultrasound, the examined body – similar to the sound of techno – is not just fragmented, but also broken down into low resolution, splitting into visual de-individualised signals. Furthermore, ultrasound is an imaging technique based on the generation of electronic sound, sonic signal processing and representation. In this respect, like techno music, it originates from an electronic sound-based history. The feature film scenes, which only flash up briefly between the ultrasound images, provide a contrast to the party culture of “techno-capitalism” of the 1990s.

Biography

M+M stands for the artistic collaboration between Marc Weis and Martin De Mattia. The artist duo is based in Munich, Germany. M+M have received residency scholarships at locations such as Villa Massimo in Rome and Villa Aurora in Los Angeles. Solo exhibitions have taken place at the Sprengel Museum Hannover, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Galeria Helga de Alvear Madrid, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Bologna and Casino – Forum d'Art Contemporain, Luxembourg, among others. In addition, the duo have taken part in numerous international group exhibitions. M+M also realise collective art projects such as “A Batman's Trip”, “Pie Bible” and “The Scorpion’s Sting”. They forged a long-term collaborative relationship with Club Ultraschall in the early 1990s, and subsequently, with Harry Klein Club in Munich.