Marcus Maeder

Marcus Maeder (born 7 December 1971, Zurich, Switzerland) is a sound artist, acoustic ecologist and composer of electronic music.

Career Maeder co-runs the music label domizil, which he co-founded in 1996 with Bernd Schurer. Maeder was an editor and producer for the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) and a lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) at the Zurich University of the Arts. He is professor in the Knowledge To Society degree programme at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts Maeder works periodically as a visiting scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) since 2016. He was a Humboldt Research Fellow in the Rillig research group of the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität Berlin from 2023 until 2025 and continues his research in Ecoacoustics at FU as a guest scientist.

Science In his research at the HSLU and Freie Universität Berlin, Maeder is working on acoustic ecology, ecoacoustics and data sonification of processes and phenomena related to climate change and environmental issues. In these disciplines, Maeder has developed methods of data sonification, field recording, physical acoustics and artistic research that have earned him international recognition. Maeder also reflects on his projects theoretically and philosophically, and has published a number of writings on the topics of art and science, artistic research, as well as sonic relationships in and with the environment.

Selected exhibitions and projects 2025: Spreepark Multispezies Bau, Museum Giersch, Frankfurt, Germany 2025: Voces de la quebrada/voices of the ravine, Tsonami festival, Valparaiso, Chile 2024: Treelab, Denn in den Wäldern sind Dinge, KunstZeugHaus, Rapperswil, Switzerland 2024: Growth Model/Forest Voices, Yoshino Art Festival 20, Japan 2024: Perimeter Pfynwald V1, Valais Wallis Sound System, Musée d’Art du Valais, Sion 2024: Edaphon Toggenburg, Klangweg Toggenburg, Unterwasser 2024: Perimeter Pfynwald V2, Horizonte y limite. Visiones del paisaje, Caixa Forum, Barcelona 2024: Spreepark Multispezies Bau, Park Einsichten.Vier Positionen aus der künstlerischen Forschung. Spreepark Art Space, Berlin 2024: Edaphon Acla, Wälder. Von der Romantik in die Zukunft, Romantikmuseum, Frankfurt 2024: Imeall an chosta, Disquiet Frequencies, Goethe Institute, Dublin 2023: Growth Model, Tokyo Biennal 2023, Japan 2023: treelab, Examples to follow/zur Nachahmnung empfohlen, Uferhallen Berlin 2023: Speculative Botany, Art and about. Artistic Research at Spreepark, Spreepark Art Space, Berlin 2023: Espirito da floresta, A bruit secret. über das Hören in der Kunst, Museum Tinguely, Basel 2022: Edaphon Braggio, Earthbound, HEK Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel 2022: Acla, Art Safiental, Versam/Tenna 2022: Growth Model, Touch Wood, ZAZ Museum Bellerive, Zurich 2022: Edaphon Braggio, Earthbound, Esch 2022/Möllerei, Luxembourg 2022: Nephoscope, Kunst forscht, Kunstverein Mannheim 2021: Silva, Estonian National Museum, Tartu 2021: Earth Beats, Kunsthaus Zürich 2021: Landliebe, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur 2020: Critical Zones, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien ZKM, Karlsruhe 2019: Perimeter Pfynwald, Eco-Visionaries, Laboral Centro de Arte y Creation Industrial, Gijon 2019: treelab, Of plants and People, Deutsches Hygienemuseum, Dresden 2018: treelab, Eco-Visionaries, Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel 2018: Sounding Soil, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern 2018: Espirito da floresta/Forest spirit, Bosque da Sciencia, Manaus 2017: Espirito da floresta/Forest spirit, Inter-American Development Bank IDB, Washington DC 2017: treelab, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz; BOZAR, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles 2015: trees: Pinus sylvestris, UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, Paris 2014: trees: Pinus sylvestris, SoundReasons Festival, Outset India, New Delhi 2014: trees: Downy Oak 2, Baum/Klang/Kunst/Mensch, Alpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt, with Ch. Kubisch, B. Traubeck, W. Ritsch 2012: trees: Downy Oak, swissnex San Francisco, Workshop in Muir Woods 2011: The left-hand path, A topographical radio play with Jan Schacher/Jasch, Musikprotokoll Graz and Shedhalle Zürich 2010: Milieux Sonores, Grey Area Foundation, San Francisco und Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich 2008: Sonifications and Music for theNova-Light object at Hauptbahnhof Zürich, a project by ETH Zürich 2008: Die Wunschmaschinen, Surround radio play after Deleuze/Guattari's Anti-Oedipus, 40 Jahre 1968, Frankfurt und Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich 2007: Davos Soundscape, a topographic composition with Jan Schacher/Jasch, Davos Festival 2007 2004: Transient Travels, Installation and compositions, World New Music Days 2004 2003: Electronic Music Archive, an exhibition by Gianni Jetzer and Norbert Möslang (Voice Crack), Kunsthalle St. Gallen 2002: Music and sounddesign for Expo.02, Expoagricole, Murten 1998: We Are Somewhere Else Already – Swiss Institute, New York

Discography 2025: The Contingency Tapes, domizil 52 2025: Dissipative Structures, domizil 2025: The Tree Temple, domizil n 2024: Drifts, Online, domizil 51 2020: crepuscule, cassette, domizil 48 2017: non-human, CD, domizil 45 2015: Progeny, CD, domizil 41 2013: topographie sinusoïdale, CD, domizil 38 2010: annex, Mini CD, domizil 33 2009: Wire Tapper, CD/The Wire(Compilation) 2009: subsegmental, CD, domizil 32 2008: Opera Calling, CD (Compilation) 2008: Die Wunschmaschinen, DVD, domizil 30/ZHdK Records 2007: This ship in trouble, CD/online, domizil 24 2005: Transient Travels, VA, CD, domizil 23 (Compilation) 2004: domizil vs. Antifrost life, - Live CD, domizil 19 (Compilation) 2004: Club Transmediale, CD, Data Error (Compilation) 2004: La Suisse, CD, SME (Compilation) 2003: Bees & Honey, Andrey Kiritchenko, CD, Zeromoon (Remix) 2002: Quiconque, CD, domizil 17 2001: Poisonhats, CD, Arts Centre Dublin (Compilation) 2001: Substrat CD, CD, Stattmusik (Compilation) 2000: Institut für Feinmotorik: Verschiedene, CD, IFFM (Compilation) 1999: solipsistic_motion, LP, domizil 10