16 May 2012 – SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND – PERFORMANCE – Walcheturm – Zurich (CH)
17 May 2012 – SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND – PERFORMANCE – Palace – St. Gallen (CH)
18 May 2012 – SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND – PERFORMANCE – Kino in der Reitschule – Bern (CH)
20 May 2012 – SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND – PERFORMANCE – Haus für elektronische Künste – Basel (CH)
31 August – 2 September 2012 – SONIC TRACES – FESTIVAL AND PERFORMANCE – Theaterspektakel – Zurich (CH)
28-29 September 2012 – SONIC TRACES – FESTIVAL AND PERFORMANCE – Schlachthaus Theater – Bern (CH)
19 October 2012 – SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND – Sound in Media Culture – Turin (I)
10 – 13 January 2013 – 4th NORIENT MUSIKFILM FESTIVAL – Kino in der Reitschule – Bern (CH)

Michael Spahr is part of the independent culture network NORIENT. With Thomas Burkhalter (music scientist and journalist) and Simon Grab (music producer) he has created the scientific audio-visual performance SONIC TRACES: FROM THE ARAB WORLD, in which he is performing as video turntableist. In May 2012 norient presents a new edition of the performance called SONIC TRACES: FROM SWITZERLAND.

At the moment he and NORIENT Founder Thomas Burkhalter curate and organize the fourth NORIENT MUSIKFILM FESTIVAL, which will happen in January 2013. Here are the links to the official website and the FACEBOOK page.

11 April – 7 July 2012 – Pimpolis – videokunst.ch - Bienzgut – Bern (CH)
12 April – 7 July 2012 – Pimpolis – videokunst.ch - Progr – Bern (CH)

A sample of PIMPOLIS:

Bümpliz, a wonderful and notorious neighbourhoood in Switzerland’s capital Bern, is an important source of inspiration for Michael Spahr. At the moment his video installation PIMPOLIS is shown daily at Bienzgut, Bern-Bümpliz (10 am – 10 pm), and from Wednesday until Saturday at Progr, Bern (afternoon). PIMPOLIS has been created by animating 200 photos shot in Bern-West (Bümpliz-Bethlehem-Bottigen). Some press and a radio story (in German).

In 2005 Michael Spahr directed the film "Bümpliz – A Day In Urban Switzerland" (Optickle GmbH). The documentary ist still available on DVD (with English subtitles). Order the movie here.

The Blues Horror Brigade is an alien rock’n'roll performance group. They are attacking the planet Earth with weird artistic and non-violent actions. Michael Spahr has produced and directed several documentaries about that group and is responsible for the extraterrestrial live video art. The whole mockumentary web series CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE BLUES HORROR BRIGADE can be watched on troesenbeck.com.

On 1-11-11 the Blues Horror Brigade has released its new CD-DVD-Album “Live on Titan”:

All videos can be watched on Youtube. More info about the performance group can be found here: blueshorrorbriga.de. There is a rumour that the aliens wil reappear on Earth during the Buskers Festival 2012 in Bern, Switzerland.