Profile
Byrke Lou is a physicist and trans-disciplinary artist, born in Berlin, Germany, in 1986.
She holds a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Bremen and a M.A. in Digital Media from the HfK Bremen (University of the Arts Bremen).
In her bachelor’s thesis in theoretical physics, Byrke Lou specialized in the field of complex systems theory. For her thesis, she numerically described a new mathematical model that was suspected to open up a new class of systems.
Subsequently, in her M.A. in Digital Media, she studied media informatics, media theory, media design, interaction design, fine art, and media art. Her master’s thesis was placed in the field of new media art. In a theoretical and practical part, Byrke Lou analyzed how culture and human-object relations are translated through virtual media, how humans generate knowledge, and which roles culture, economics, and technology play in the process. During her time studying, Byrke Lou completed additional extracurricular courses: philosophy of sciences [University Bremen], electroacoustic composition [HfK Bremen], photography [HfK Bremen], generative art [UdK Berlin], and sound art [UdK Berlin].
In 2015, she funded “movLab”, an open, interdisciplinary group where people discuss the impact of digitizing human bodies, build DIY electronics and motion capture systems, and produce works of (performance) art.
From 2017 to 2019, she created and held the first courses on VR and AR for music, performance art, space, and fine art at the University of Arts (UdK) Berlin, and maybe the first VR courses at an art university.
In 2017, she was social media manager for Michela Magas, European Woman Innovator 2017, and advisor on innovation for the G7. Byrke Lou codes in over ten programming languages and speaks four natural languages.
Byrke Lou’s work was shown at documenta 14 (Kassel), MMOMA (Moscow Museum of Modern Art), Museo Reina Sofia (Madrid), and the Venice Art Biennale. She spoke at SXSW (Austin, USA), TOA (Berlin, Germany), ISTF (Stuttgart, Germany), Sequencer Tour (L.A., USA), Summit (L.A., USA), and many more. Byrke Lou works in Berlin, the USA, Greater China, and internationally.
Background of Work's Names
When I studied physics, I was immediately fascinated by how letters and symbols were used to store meaning. We all know “c” as the symbol for the speed of light, and we know “∞” to symbolize infinity. These symbols are abbreviations, which make discussing scientific topics (by writing formulas) a lot faster.
In my work, I examine how an increasingly virtual world will impact our future lives. How will humans feel, think, and move in virtual worlds? In order to find answers to these questions, I analyzed the involved systems. Whatever happens in the virtual world needs to follow not the laws of physics but the laws of computation. My work’s names are the names of the coordinate systems and symbols that will create the virtual space in which future virtual worlds exist.
CV
Exhibitions in Physical Space (Selected)
2021/04-05 – “code_ctu {isbtm}{*}” – Superfluidity, MMOMA (Moscow Museum of Modern Art)
2020/10-2021/02 — “code_xi” — Audiosfera, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
2018/04 — “CODE” — RAW [0.3,y,0.75] , modular+ gallery, Berlin (exhibition with vinyl release)
2016/06 — “.ctu _ t” — Max Planck Institute (MPI-CBG) long night of sciences, Dresden, Germany
2013/06 — “TWTMG.Tank” — addicted to random festival, Händel-Haus, Halle, Germany
Exhibitions in Mixed Reality Space (Selected)
2020/11 — “ixi” — Transformation, CTM Festival online edition, Berlin, Germany
2013/02 — “TWTMG.Tank” — BWPWAP, Transmediale, Berlin Germany
2012/09 — “TWTMG.Tank” — Farbfest Bauhaus Dessau, Dessau, Germany
2012/09 — “TWTMG” — Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
Performances Physical Space (Selected)
2019/03 — “code_xi” — SXSW, official artist, opening night, Austin Texas
2018/09 — “code_xi” — Globe Theatre L.A.,From Germany to L.A.,Goethe-Institut, Los Angeles
2017/02 — “ffj” — FearAngerLove, CTM Festival opening night, Berlin Germany
2017/05/07 — “code_xox” — AI & Blockchain & Algorithms, SAVYY Funk, official radio of documenta 14
2016/01 — .“fa” — New Geographies, CTM Festival, Berlin Germany
2016/09 — “TWTMG.Tank” — There’s Nothing Left but the Future, 3hd festival, Berlin Germany
2014/09 — “Lamentoryke” — Afraid Of Falling, Studio Nihil Baxter, Berlin Germany
Performances in Mixed Reality Space (Selected)
2021/03 — code_ixj — SXSW, official artist, opening performance of SXSW XR space, Austin Texas
2018/01/13-26 — “nodes_x” — INTERNETFAME, The Wrong Biennale, online + Panke Gallery Berlin
2017/7 — “code_xi” — glitch, Byrke Lou’s virtual space
2017/07/05 — “code_xi” — AI & Blockchain & Algorithms – Live on air Interview and live music, documenta 14.
2013/6 — “xXz”— The Louvre Museum, Intervention
Scholarships and Distinctions
2022 – Mentor – Mentor for the university course „Integrated Design“, University of Arts Bremen
2021-22 Jury for the “Art Prize NRW 2022”, which in 2022 for the first time was awarded to artists working in the field of Digital Art
2020/10 – Selected Artist – “Listen to Berlin: Compilation”, Berlin Music Commission
2020/12 — Residency — Virtual Partner Residency, Goethe-Institut
2020/3 — Mentor — Mentor of the Official SXSW Tech Hackathon
2019/10-’20/01 — Residency — Artist in residence at Factory Berlin
2018 – Mentor – Talk on Professionalisation and career entry for graduates of the University of Arts Bremen
2015/10 — Winner — Art and Science Award, Hackathon Berlin Germany
2013/14 — Scholarship holder — Mentoring Program HfK Bremen
2013/05 — In closer consideration – xXz for Ars Electronica Exhibition
Releases
2020 / 03 — bayes, digital release + audio cassette, Detroit Underground and x_ByrkeLou
2018/04 — CODE, Vinyl record, Research & Waves and ZCKR records
Lecturer for University Post-Graduate Courses
SS 2019 — “Exploring AI – Artificial Intelligence and Ethics” — UdK Berlin
WS 2018 — “Alien Habitats – Virtual Reality Performance” — UdK Berlin
SS 2018 — “Artificial Intelligence Music” — UdK Berlin
WS 2017 — “Virtual Reality Club Experiences” — UdK Berlin
SS 2017 — “Music Performance in Virtual Reality” — UdK Berlin
SS 2016 — “Sound and Space for Fashion Performance” — HfK Bremen
Talks
2020/03 — “AI and Music” — SXSW Austin Texas – (cancelled due to Corona)
2019/05 — “The impact of Pop culture on VR” — ITFS, Stuttgart Germany — (Panel)
2018/09 — “The Future of Entertainment” — Sequencer Tour re:publica, Los Angeles (Panel)
2019/06 — “AI for Music Creation” — Musik und Technologie 2019, Stuttgart Germany
2019/05 — “VR, AR and XR for Musicians and the Music Business Eco System” — ITFS, Stuttgart
2019/03 — “AI for Music Creation” — SXSW Interactive Festival, Austin Texas
2018/06 — “Music and Emotion in Immersive VR” — EmoJam2 event by Melodrive Berlin Germany
2017/11 — “The Virtual Club” — Stadt nach 8 conference, Berlin Germany
2017/06 — “VR Music Technology Lab” — Hybrid Music Lab + Tech Open Air, Berlin Germany
2016/10 — “MovLab: Reinventing Human Sensing for Virtual Realities, DIY” — ECSA (European Citicen Science Association) Berlin Germany
Jury
2021-22 Jury for the “Art Prize NRW 2022”, which in 2022 for the first time was awarded to artists working in the field of Digital Art
2017 Hybrid Music Lab – select participants for the Lab / Hackathon of Hybrid Music Lab as part of TOA Berlin 2017
2017 CTM Hacklab – select participants for the Lab / Hackathon of CTM Festival 2017
Curating
2017/11 — VR Exhibition — “The Virtual Club”, Most Wanted: Music conference, Berlin Germany
2016/07 — Performance art festival — “ReSense Festival”, SPEKTRUM, Berlin Germany
Research
2015 – ongoing — movLab community founder — Research Lab, Berlin Germany
2020/03 — SXSW Hackathon Mentor –Mentor for art x tech projects, SXSW, Austin Texas
2017/06 — VR Music Technology Lab — Host, organizer, Tech Open Air, Berlin Germany
2017/02 — CTM Music Makers Hacklab — co-host,CTM Festival FearAngerLove, Berlin Germany
2016/04 — Transhumanism Performance Lab, Fellow, Music Tech Fest, Berlin Germany
2016/02 — MusicMakers Hacklab — Fellow, CTM Festival New Geographies, Berlin Germany
2015 – Master Thesis in Media Theory on the new and tech
2010 – 2010 Bachelor Thesis Complex Systems new model numeric analysis
2009/09 — IFISC (Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems) — Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2010/03-06 — MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences – Bremen Germany
Bibliography
Byrke Lou (20.12.2021): Imagining Space. https://digitalart.kuenstlerinnenpreis.nrw/blog.
Weaver, Rick (14.03.2019): SXSW Music Review – German physicist scans for life and structure with digital soul. Austin Chronicle.
Weaver, Rick (15.03.2019): 16 Experimentalists to Help You Get Weird at SXSW. Austin Chronicle.
Kastrup, Dennis (06.03.2019): Mit dem Plattenspieler kreierte Gedankenwelten. Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
weiz (06.2019): I’m Super Happy to See Our Art Influence Technology. Modernsky Magazine, 2019.6, p.210.
Dennis Kastrup (22.05.2018): Byrke Lou – Strom und Drang. Radio Eins.
Poemproducer (05.07.2017): AI & Blockchain & Algorithms – Live on air Interview and live music by Byrke Lou. SAVYY Funk, the radio of documenta 14.
Byrke Lou (04.09.2015): Physics and Aesthetics of Digital Archiving. Blog of “Intangible Cultural Heritage and Innovation”, Berlin.
Byrke Lou (20.04.2015): On Modelling the Milky Way. Master Thesis on the history of explanations of the Milky Way.
Byrke Lou (25.10.2011): Coarsening Dynamics in a Model of Immunity Spreading, Bachelor Thesis, University Bremen.
Byrke Lou (28.12.2008): Mathematics in Biology – a short introduction to the use of mathematics for biological research.
Byrke Lou (31.01.2008): Der Begriff vom Sinn [German], Applying Gilbert Ryle’s methods of language analysis from “The Concept of Mind” on the word “sense”.
Work Index
2022
code_xit
ixi{‘}
2021
ixi{*}
CODE_ctu_isbtm{*}
2020
ixi
bayes
2019
code_xi{*}
2018
CODE
2017
omega{*}
.fa
2016
xoxoxo_{*}
2015
.ctu_r
2014
.ctu_isbtm
.ctu_cr
2013
xXz
.crc
2012
.UL
2011
sxb{*}
2010
2009
Skills
C, C++, Python, Fortran, Java Script, MaxMSP, HTML, Latex, Matlab, Autodesk, Rhino, Solidworks, Adobe Creative Suite etc.
English (fluent), German (native), Spanish (fluent), French (solid)