One of the highlights of Art Basel in Basel 2015 was German artist Julius von Bismarck's artwork Egocentric System in the Unlimited sector of the fair. Egocentric System is a live performance by Julius von Bismarck on a rotating paraboloid, spanning the entirety of the show. In this interview with the artist, Julius von Bismarck talks about how he got the idea for the work, how it feels "living" on such a rotating bowl for an extended period of time, the technical aspect of the piece and his future plans with the work.
Julius von Bismarck is known for a work that spans the fields of art, science and technology. Von Bismarck was born in 1983 in Breisach am Rhein, Germany. He has studied with Olafur Eliasson at the Institut für Raumexperimente. In 2008 he won the Golden Nica of the Prix Ars Electronica with his work Image Fulgurator. For the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale Julius von Bismarck collaborated with Julian Charrière for the site specific performance Some pigeons are more equal than others, a work that incorporates a pigeon dyeing device designed by Julian Charrière and von Bismarck. For Punishment I, he went on a journey through Switzerland, South America and the U.S. armed with a whip, whipping nature. In collaboration with Benjamin Maus and Richard Wilhelmer, von Bismarck developed the interactive art installation Fuehlometer (Feel-o-meter), a system that shows the mood of a city by displaying it in the form of a monumental Smiley (the system allows to read emotions out of random people's faces). Following numerous exhibitions at internationally renowned locations, he became the first artist to receive the Prix Ars Electronica from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The artist lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
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