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monochrom

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Monochrom
Formation1993; 33 years ago (1993)
TypeInternational art-technology-philosophy group
Purpose
  • Arts
  • entertainment
  • movie production
  • publishing
  • education
  • activism
HeadquartersMuseumsquartier, Vienna, Austria
Staff9
Websitewww.monochrom.at Edit this at Wikidata

Monochrom (stylised as monochrom) is an art-technology-philosophy group, publishing house and film production company. It was founded in 1993,[1] Its main office is located at Museumsquartier in Vienna.[2]

History and philosophy

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In the early 1990s, Johannes Grenzfurthner was an active member of several BBS message boards.[3] He used his online connections to create a zine or alternative magazine that dealt with art, technology and subversive cultures, and was influenced by US magazines like Mondo 2000.[4][5] Grenzfurthner's motivations were to react to the emerging conservatism in cyber-cultures of the early 1990s[6] and to combine his political background in the Austrian punk and antifa movement with discussion of new technologies and the cultures they create.[7][8] Franz Ablinger joined Grenzfurthner and they became the publication's core team.[9]

In 1995 the group decided to cover new artistic practices[10][11][12] and started experimenting with different media.[8]

Community and projects

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Flyer for Monochrom's publication and community activity, 1996. Drawing by Gerhard Junker, flyer design by Michael Marrak.

The group defines itself as a movement, culture.[8][13]

Monochrom supports initiatives like the Radius Festival,[14] Play:Vienna,[15] the Buckminster Fuller Institute Austria,[16] RE/Search, the Semantic Web Company[17] and the Vienna hackerspace Metalab. For a couple of years, Monochrom ran the DIY project "Hackbus" in cooperation with David "Daddy D" Dempsey (of FM4)[18]

Since 2007, Monochrom is the European correspondent for Boing Boing Video.[19]

Johannes Grenzfurthner sees Monochrom as a community and social incubator of critical and subversive thinkers.[20] An example is Bre Pettis of MakerBot Industries, who got inspired to create 3d printers during his art residency with Monochrom in 2007.[21] Pettis wanted to create a robot that could print shot glasses for Monochrom's cocktail-robot event Roboexotica and did research about the RepRap project at Metalab.[22] Shot glasses remained a theme throughout the history of MakerBot.[23]

Rather than pursuing a stable form, monochrom has operated as a transdisciplinary platform combining satire, political critique, fiction, research, and participatory formats to examine cultural, social, and technological systems.[24] Its work has included manifestos and activist interventions, telepresence and robotics projects, conference and exhibition formats, television and theatre productions, software- and game-related works, participatory installations, publishing initiatives, and feature films.[24]

Among monochrom's best-known projects are Roboexotica, a Vienna-based festival for cocktail robotics founded in 1999, Arse Elektronika, a conference and festival series devoted to the relationship between sexuality and technology, the 2002 art hoax Georg Paul Thomann, and Soviet Unterzoegersdorf, a fictional Soviet enclave developed across games, theatre, performance, and film-related works.[25][26][27][28][29]

Taken together, these projects have led commentators to describe monochrom as an evolving laboratory for context hacking, experimental storytelling, and critical cultural production.[24]

monochrom film

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monochrom is a registered film production and distribution company. In recent years, film production has become a major focus of the group's work. Most of monochrom's genre and nerd-culture-related film projects have been produced under the label "monochrom propulsion system", a name chosen as a reference to Buckaroo Banzai.[30]

Filmography

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  • To Live and Survive (2025) – directed by Matthias Jaklitsch
  • Solvent (2024) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Hacking at Leaves (2024) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Razzennest (2022) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Transform! (2022) – directed by Marie-Christin Rissinger
  • Masking Threshold (2021) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Avenues (2021) - directed by Sushant Chaudhary
  • Glossary of Broken Dreams (2018) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Traceroute (2016) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Die Gstettensaga: The Rise of Echsenfriedl (2014) – directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner
  • Kiki and Bubu: Rated R Us (2011) - directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner

Exhibitions and festivals

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  • Arad-II, Art Basel Miami Beach / USA (2005)[31]
  • Die waren früher auch mal besser: monochrom (1993-2013) / Austria (2013)[32]
  • Junge Szene 98. Vereinigung Bildender Künstler, Wiener Secession, Vienna / Austria (1998)[33]
  • Roboexotica (Festival for Cocktail Robotics, Vienna, 1999-)[34][35]
  • Robotronika. Public Netbase t0 Media~Space!, Institut für neue Kulturtechnologien, Vienna / Austria (1998)[36]
  • Seriell Produziertes. Diagonale (Austrian Film Festival), Graz / Austria (2000)[37]
  • techno(sexual) bodies / videotage / Hong Kong / China (2010)[38]
  • The Influencers, Center for Contemporary Culture / Barcelona / Spain (2008)[39]
  • Unterspiel, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver / Canada (2005)[40]
  • world-information.org. Museum of Contemporary Art, Brussels / Belgium (2000) and Belgrad / Serbia (2003)[41]

References

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  1. ↑ "monochrom | fanzineindex.de". fanzineindex.de.
  2. ↑ "Q21 Backstage Tour – monochrom". 13 November 2020 – via youtube.com.
  3. ↑ Kaestle, Thomas (14 April 2016). "The story of Traceroute, about a Leitnerd's quest". Boing Boing.
  4. ↑ "monochrom: "Das Hacken treibt uns an"". futurezone.at. 20 February 2013.[permanent dead link]
  5. ↑ Husslein, Uwe; Bornowski, Ralf (1995). Fandom Research (Reader und Index zu deutschsprachigen Fanzines. Ventil-Verlag. p. 70.
  6. ↑ "CRE062 by Tim Pritlove: "Monochrom: Das etwas andere Künstlerkollektiv aus Wien", January 2, 2008
  7. ↑ "Johannes Grenzfurthner". dkritik.de.
  8. 1 2 3 Marc Da Costa, "Interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner of monochrom, Part 3 Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine", Furtherfield.
  9. ↑ ""Das Schockmoment ist nur noch Selbstmarketing"". jungle.world.
  10. ↑ "Simulacrum Fisticuffs (interview with Johannes Grenzfurthner), Rhysophocles, March 16, 2011". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
  11. ↑ Erin Kobayashi, "How to be buried alive", Toronto Star, 6 February 2007
  12. ↑ Marie Lechner, "", Libération, 4 March 2008.
  13. ↑ "monochrom". monochrom.at.
  14. ↑ "VIENNA – Radius Festival A Celebration Of Games". 26 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "play:vienna". playvienna.com.
  16. ↑ "home". Monochrom Shop.
  17. ↑ ""Linked Open Data: The Essentials", edition mono/monochrom, Bauer, F., & Kaltenböck, M. (2011)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Hackbus, A Community Wiki For Mobile Hack Vehicles". 17 July 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "Monochrom: Bye Bye (a short film) - Boing Boing Video". Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  20. ↑ "monochrom: Context Hacking – Essay". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  21. ↑ "MakerBot hat seinen Ursprung in Wien und würde sich an HP verkaufen". 3druck. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  22. ↑ "MADE IN MY BACKYARD / BRE PETTIS | Open Design Now".
  23. ↑ Griggs, Brandon (9 March 2013). "Startup unveils 3-D scanner at SXSW". CNN.
  24. 1 2 3 "The Digital and Analogue Subversion of monochrom". Furtherfield. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  25. ↑ "Cocktail robots mix mojitos in Vienna". Reuters. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Roboter servieren Cocktails". ORF Wien. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "Roboexotica: Roboter mixen Cocktails". ORF Wien. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "monochrom's ARSE ELEKTRONIKA 2023: Sexponential". Ars Electronica Festival. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  29. ↑ Edgley, Charles (2010). "The Anarchy of Desire". Symbolic Interaction. 33 (2): 319–332.
  30. ↑ Heller, Ramsey (10 April 2012). "Sierra Zulu Draws Attention to Soviet Austria". futurezone. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
  31. ↑ Hofer, Sebastian (27 June 2023). "Out of Unterzögersdorf". profil (in German).
  32. ↑ "MUSA homepage: "Die waren früher auch mal besser: monochrom (1993-2013)"". Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  33. ↑ wien, basis. "basis wien - Junge Szene Wien '98". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  34. ↑ "Cocktail". vienna.at. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  35. ↑ Sagan, Sonja. "OTS0037, 20. Nov. 2018, 09:30 drucken als pdf als Text Roboexotica 2018 - Das Festival für Cocktailrobotik mit Star Trek Ehrengast Chase Masterson". ots.at. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  36. ↑ "Robotronika". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  37. ↑ diagonale (9 February 2000). "Diagonale 2000". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  38. ↑ "Techno (Sexual) Bodies - Asia Art Archive". Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  39. ↑ "The Influencers Festival in Barcelona". 18 February 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  40. ↑ "Unterspiel". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  41. ↑ "World-Information.Org". Retrieved 11 June 2016.
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