These artists have musical careers too!

This week we dedicate an article to some of the artists that we love and who, one day, out of self-irony, for making fun of the contemporary art world or just for fun, decided to go beyond their medium and try a musical career. Martin Kippernberger, Joseph Beuys, Pipilotti Rist and Marcel Duchamp have made some nice sounds for you.

Martin Kippernberger

It is safe to say that he is a troublemaker in the contemporary art scene. He actually defines himself as being “an exhibitionist and a provocateur”. We all know his blasphemous piece that provoked a scandal in Italy, showing a crucified frog holding a beer in its hand.
Martin Kippenberger has more hidden talents though. He was actually the manager of a concert venue, the SO.36, that hosted names such as Iggy Pop or Lydia Lynch, and he has recorded nine records in collaboration with some German artists (W.Büttner, Albert Oehlen, Günther Förg…). Unfortunately, he wanted to make music himself, so he recorded some 20 titles between 1979 and 1995.Here is his song Yuppi du, from 1987.

Joseph Beuys

As we all know, he is a German artist, at the same time controversial and acclaimed, and he was part of the Fluxus movement. Having realized numerous works close to sociology and the environment, he is considered to be one of the major contemporary artists.
But why this audio torture then?

So why the auditory carnage?

Pipilotti Rist

Her real name is Elisabeth Charlotte Rist and she is almost as famous as the previous artists on our list. She is a Swiss video artist. Her work revolves around the image flaws, such as blurry image or image distortion. Her themes are often sentimental, she deals with issues such as the body or identity. In a video realized in 1997, Ever is over all, we can see her running on a sidewalk, in slow motion, pretending to break rear-view mirrors with a flower. Some kind of sweet violence.
On the other hand, her cover version of this Beatles song from 1968 is not so sweet. All the elements of her aesthetic style are there/ She has also founded an all-female orchestra, “Les Reines Prochaines”… (The Next Queens)…

Marcel Duchamp

Of course, Marcel Duchamp doesn’t need any introduction, he is the most important artist of the 20th century, and has intersected all the art movements without belonging to just one of them. He inspired the great composer John Cage, who realized in 1947 Music for Marcel Duchamp, but he “wrote” music himself too; this piece called Erratum Musical and written in 1913 is composed of just a few soporific notes. His intention was to make music that doesn’t have any perceivable qualities.
And that’s what he managed to achieve through this title.