All About Tobias Gremmler

Tobias Gremmler is a creator of the latest video for Mylene Farmer song A tout jamais released on August 26, 2022 and the first single from the upcoming album L’emprise (November 25, 2022)

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The German-born artist has been hailed by designNET as one who “breaks the wall between virtuality and reality.” Blending his expertise in digital media, motion graphics, interface design and music with bold artistic exploration, Gremmler creates unique immersive experiences for theatre and dance productions, concerts and exhibitions.

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The video stirred quite a controversy among the fans. It is digital, it is dramatic and picturesque as it is disturbing and provocative. One thing for sure: there is a strong technical basis for this creation and my curiosity is seriously picked. I am on the mission to find out everything possible about this artist. He is the chosen one (by Mylene) and can no longer stay in the unknown list. 🙂

Tobias Gremmler is of my age. He was born 1970 born in Munich, Germany. Barely turned 20, he seems to discover his calling and already achieved recognition. In 1991 he started designing digital media, motion graphics and interface design for communication platforms and
media events for brands such as Apple, Adidas, BMW, Getty Images, NEC, O2, Phillips, Samsung, Siemens, Sony.
At the same time he becomes a pioneer of using digitalization for theatre compositions, interactive installations and media scenography (The Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin; Cultural Center Hong Kong).

From mid 90s up to this day he lectures, workshops and teaching at universities in China, Germany, Switzerland and USA (e.g. Art Center College of Design Pasadena; Shantou University, China; Hong Kong Design Institute).

At the same time he engages into Web design Digital communication platforms and Style-guides for a medical industry giant Siemens and and a large Swiss insurance company SwissRe.

All his accomplishments brought him to the fateful meeting with another digital genius of our time – Claudius Lazzeroni It was just a matter of time for those creative minds to meet and establish together an Atelier in Berlin.

As a trained photographer, graduated media designer, Claudius Lazzeroni advocates a new multimedia understanding at many companies. His own agency “im stall” was for some years a center of attraction for interesting personalities between art and commerce. Since 1999 he has been a professor of interface design at the Folkwang University of the Arts, exploring the dramaturgy of the space in between and the power of improvisation.

Only within a few years, Tobias was already responsible for a visual identity of major broadcasting stations (Deutsche Welle TV, RLT, Al Jazeera)

Currently Tobias Gremmler is a visiting Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong and Visiting Professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He artfully blends media art and design with traditional art forms like theatre, music and sculpture.

So what is so special about Tobias Gremmler for Mylene Farmer that she has selected him to become a creator of her latest single video A TOUT JAMAIS?

Well, for starters, he is one of the fist designers introduced principles of creating media for immersive environments. However, the content of an immersive environment is not restricted to mimicking real environments. The dynamic non-linear qualities of digital media offer a broader range of possible scenarios. A content in virtual space is no longer restricted to the physical limitations of real space. Geometry, perspective and motion shifting towards an abstract space, its architecture and dynamic evokes out of imagination. Creating media scenography means becoming an architect, director, choreographer, light designer all at the same time, by creating and manipulating virtual scenarios.

n an interview for Clot he explains:
“There is a lot of invisible information in movement, be it the motion of a human body or just clouds formed by the wind. It’s like looking at the tip of an iceberg, while the profound forces operating below the surface. I am interested in unveiling these forces and render them into digital visuals beyond physical restrictions. This requires to identify core aspects, extract and amplify them and avoid elements that are already sufficiently represented in reality. It’s like moving the subconscious into awareness by designing a cognitive shell for it.“

Whether dealing with visualizing motion and music for the London Symphony Orchestra, creating a motion visualization for Kung Fu, exploring the Water and Wind dynamics, setting up an immersive experience for Nike based on Cristiano Ronaldo’s soccer movements or channeling the boundaries of body and face in Bjork’s music video Tabula Rasa, Tobias Grummler is constantly striving to grasp the invisible.

In Tobias Gremmler own words: “Motion becomes music becomes image! I created dynamic visuals based on the movements of the conductor and music, and extracted high resolution stills for the visual identity of the orchestra.
It starts with the arms of the conductor forming a hexagonal shape that propagates like sonic waves in linear space. When the music becomes louder, the linearity gets bended by the motion of the baton, which results more complex visual arrangements. Textures, colors, materials and lights are inspired by classical instruments (wood, brass, wind, strings) and the atmosphere and architecture of classic concert halls. In the last sequence, the conductors motion turns into strings. The waveform of the sound adds to the form of motion, like mixing audio waves.”

An artist like no other, Björk is known for pushing boundaries, rethinking audio-visual synesthesia and constantly striving for innovative artistry in her music videos. For her promos she has collaborated with Andrew Thomas Huang, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham among others.

For Tabula Rasa she chose to collaborate with Tobias Gremmler, a trailblazer in its own right, known for the spectacular ways in which he can make the invisible of motion, visible.

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“Back in the early 1990s, I composed music for several theatre pieces. The methods of creating music are very similar to those I use now for creating a visual composition.

Both media including aspects of rhythm and patters, contrast, variation, etc. There is an inherent coherence between both disciplines that I try to express. Through that expression, the boundaries between the disciplines starting to dissolve. It is actually this process of dissolving rather than merging that interests me. It unveils a certain structure that exist beyond the media that carries”

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“It is actually this process of dissolving rather than merging that interests me.” Tobias says in an interview. “It unveils a certain structure that exist beyond the media that carries.” This perspective seems to be perfectly fitting with what Björk wanted to expose through her song

“When creating the video, I was deeply inspired by the music and lyrics of Tabula Rasa.” Gremmler says. “The visual transformation of Björk into faun-like flowers and mountainous landscapes embodies the utopian concept of a harmonious coexistence between nature and human based on empathy.”

So all of this would sound very appealing to me if was like Mylene planning on creating a mind blowing design for the final tour of a lifetime – NEVERMORE. Please forgive me for jumping ahead of myself ( I simply can’t wait to see NEVERMORE!!) , by doesn’t Tobias’ portfolio sounds like a perfect fit for creating stadium scale immersive backdrops or should we call them dynamic non-linear design for theatrical scale music productions? Smart move on Mylene’s part – one-stop-shop kind of a guy – this Tobias Gremmler!

And that was my impression from the first time seeing video for A tout Jamais – perfect design for a large show. Especially for stadiums where Mylene plans to perform, there is a possibility of multiple projections (not limited to the conventional monitors) – the whole technology is capable of creating a virtual reality experience and shape around Mylene’s moves as well as sounds- which (let’s face it) Mylene was aiming for all along. And finally – the big dream has a chance to materialize!..

TOBIAS GREMMLER, morphing the visual uniqueness of movement and rhythm

SOURCES:

Homepage: www.syncon-d.com
Teaching and Research: www.syncon-d.com/hk

https://weareplaygrounds.nl/artist/tobias-gremmler/
https://weareplaygrounds.nl/bjork-tabula-rasa-directed-by-tobias-gremmler/
https://www.annamonteverdi.it/digital/interview-to-tobias-gremmler-digital-artist/

For more news on the upcoming 12th L’Emprise album visit HERE

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lyrics with translation

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