Sounding Out

Running through the book like a bassline is a twelve-hour conversation between the musician FM Einheit (FME) and media archaeologist Siegfried Zielinski. The volume is an exploration of the world of sound in the form of a playful dialogue. In his responses, FME uses language to create the characteristic echo that constitutes his universe of sounds, tones, noises, and music. At the same time his expatiations also resonate in the echo chamber of the statements, poetic texts, quotations, and essays of fellow artists, musicians, critics, and media and cultural researchers. The book's numerous images and graphic gestures make it clear that the bands FME has developed his musical identity with are always involved too with artistic, sculptural, architectural, and scenographic projects. FM Einheit is a musician, composer, and sound researcher and the drummer with the band Ein- stü rzende Neubauten, which he also co-founded. Siegfried Zielinski helped devise the concept of media archaeology and is passionate about researching the dynamic relationships between art, science, and technology. Daniel Irrgang is a scholar of media, art, and culture, currently based at the University of Copenhagen.