Claus van Bebber

Born in 1949, German turntablist Claus van Bebber ranks among numerous avant-garde sound artists who simultaneously maintain careers in the visual arts, sharing ground with Martin Tétreault, Christian Marclay, and Philip Jeck. During solo concerts he typically employs five or six antiquated turntables to play prepared records acquired from inexpensive second-hand outlets. His dense layering of sonic materials differs from Marclay’s skipping quotations and from Tétreault’s early humorous narratives as well as later no-vinyl experiments, yet parallels Jeck’s soundscapes. As a visual artist he concentrates chiefly on landscape art that returns natural materials—primarily wood and stone—to nature in abstract forms.

After finishing basic education, Bebber trained as an office clerk at his father’s urging. Following military service he abandoned that goal, earning a living arranging window displays while attending evening painting classes. He first entered Germany’s music history in the late 1970s as drummer in a free jazz trio that also featured Ron Schmidt and issued the 1977 LP Stück für Stück. Trombonist Paul Hubweber became another early associate, and their collaboration persists to the present. In 1982 Bebber co-founded the artists’ collective Heinrich Mucken, an intermedia platform driven by a small circle of experimental musicians together with visual and performance artists that included Dieter Schlensog, Michael Vorfeld, and Helmut Lemke, all of whom later became familiar names on the NURNICHTNUR label.

Heinrich Mucken disbanded in 1990 after leaving behind a trail of cassettes and a single. Bebber used the occasion to withdraw to his longstanding cottage on the Lower Rhine and concentrate on his art practice. At the same time he set aside all percussion, and, inspired by Czech conceptual artist Milan Knizak, developed the concept of the “schallplattenkonzert,” a record concert in which mismatched discs are played simultaneously. These events, part sound installation and part musical performance, have been presented throughout Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, often alongside exhibitions of his artwork. A first solo EP, simply titled Schallplattenkonzert, appeared in 1993, followed two years later by Herz Mit. Bebber has taken part in several CD projects assembled by NURNICHTNUR yet has otherwise kept a low profile. His appearance with Philip Jeck at the Intermedium 2 festival in March 2002 was released as Viny'l'isten.