Marcus Maeder (born 7 December 1971, Zurich, Switzerland) is a sound artist, acoustic ecologist and composer of electronic music.

Education
Maeder studied Fine Arts at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Philosophy at the FernUniversität in Hagen and completed his PhD in Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zürich.

Career
Maeder co-runs the music label domizil, which he co-founded in 1996 with Bernd Schurer. Maeder has worked as an editor and producer for the Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) and has been working as a curator and researcher at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) since 2005. Maeder works periodically as a visiting scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) since 2016. Since 2021, Maeder has been a research fellow in the Rillig research group of the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität Berlin.

Science
In his research at the ICST and Freie Universität Berlin, Maeder is working on acoustic ecology, ecoacoustics and data sonification of processes and phenomena related to climate change and environmental issues. In these disciplines, Maeder has developed methods of data sonification, field recording, physical acoustics and artistic research that have earned him international recognition. Maeder also reflects on his projects theoretically and philosophically, and has published a number of writings on the topics of art and science, artistic research, and sonic relationships in and with the environment.

Art
On an invitation by French President François Hollande, Maeder presented his sound art installation treelab at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21.

In 2017 Maeder presented his installation AmazonFACE: Ocotea at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington. Also in 2017  Maeder and Roman Zweifel received an honorable mention from the STARTS Prize by the European Commission at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz/Austria for their works under the moniker treelab.

In 2021, Maeder showed his installation Silva - a commission by the Goethe Institute Tallinn - at the Estonian National Museum. Estonia's President Alar Karis visited the exhibition and held the opening speech.

Selected exhibitions and projects 
2023: treelab, Examples to follow/zur Nachahmnung empfohlen, Uferhallen Berlin
2023: Speculative Botany, Art and about. Artistic Research at Spreepark, Spreepark Art Space, Berlin
2023: Espirito da floresta, A bruit secret. über das Hören in der Kunst, Museum Tinguely, Basel
2022: Edaphon Braggio, Earthbound, HEK Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel
2022: Acla, Art Safiental, Versam/Tenna
2022: Growth Model, Touch Wood, ZAZ Museum Bellerive, Zurich
2022: Edaphon Braggio, Earthbound, Esch 2022/Möllerei, Luxembourg
2022: Nephoscope, Kunst forscht, Kunstverein Mannheim
2021: Silva, Estonian National Museum, Tartu
2021: Earth Beats, Kunsthaus Zürich
2021: Landliebe, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur
2020: Critical Zones, Zentrum für Kunst und Medien ZKM, Karlsruhe
2019: Perimeter Pfynwald, Eco-Visionaries, Laboral Centro de Arte y Creation Industrial, Gijon
2019: treelab, Of plants and People, Deutsches Hygienemuseum, Dresden
2018: treelab, Eco-Visionaries, Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel
2018: Sounding Soil, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern
2018: Espirito da floresta/Forest spirit, Bosque da Sciencia, Manaus
2017: Espirito da floresta/Forest spirit, Inter-American Development Bank IDB, Washington DC
2017: treelab, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz; BOZAR, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles
2015: trees: Pinus sylvestris, UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, Paris
2014: trees: Pinus sylvestris, SoundReasons Festival, Outset India, New Delhi
2014: trees: Downy Oak 2, Baum/Klang/Kunst/Mensch, Alpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt, with Ch. Kubisch, B. Traubeck, W. Ritsch
2012: trees: Downy Oak, swissnex San Francisco, Workshop in Muir Woods
2011: The left-hand path, A topographical radio play with Jan Schacher/Jasch, Musikprotokoll Graz and Shedhalle Zürich
2010:  Milieux Sonores, Grey Area Foundation, San Francisco und Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich
2008: Sonifications and Music for theNova-Light object at Hauptbahnhof Zürich, a project by ETH Zürich
2008: Die Wunschmaschinen, Surround radio play after Deleuze/Guattari's Anti-Oedipus, 40 Jahre 1968, Frankfurt und Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zürich
2007: Davos Soundscape, a topographic composition with Jan Schacher/Jasch, Davos Festival 2007
2004: Transient Travels, Installation and compositions, World New Music Days 2004
2003: Electronic Music Archive, an exhibition by Gianni Jetzer and Norbert Möslang (Voice Crack), Kunsthalle St. Gallen
2002: Music and sounddesign for Expo.02, Expoagricole, Murten
1998: We Are Somewhere Else Already – Swiss Institute, New York

Discography
2020: crepuscule, cassette, domizil 48
2017: non-human, CD, domizil 45
2015: Progeny, CD, domizil 41
2013: topographie sinusoïdale, CD, domizil 38
2010: annex, Mini CD, domizil 33
2009: Wire Tapper, CD/The Wire(Compilation)
2009: subsegmental, CD, domizil 32
2008: Opera Calling, CD (Compilation) 
2008: Die Wunschmaschinen, DVD, domizil 30/ZHdK Records
2007: This ship in trouble, CD/online, domizil 24
2005: Transient Travels, VA, CD, domizil 23 (Compilation)
2004: domizil vs. Antifrost life, - Live CD, domizil 19 (Compilation)
2004: Club Transmediale, CD, Data Error (Compilation)
2004: La Suisse, CD, SME (Compilation)
2003: Bees & Honey, Andrey Kiritchenko, CD, Zeromoon (Remix)
2002: Quiconque, CD, domizil 17
2001: Poisonhats, CD, Arts Centre Dublin (Compilation)
2001: Substrat CD, CD, Stattmusik (Compilation)
2000: Institut für Feinmotorik: Verschiedene, CD, IFFM (Compilation)
1999: solipsistic_motion, LP, domizil 10

Bibliography
 Marcus Maeder (Hg.): Kunst, Wissenschaft, Natur. Zur Ästhetik und Epistemologie der künstlerisch-wissenschaftlichen Naturbeobachtung. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2017, 
 Marcus Maeder & Roman Zweifel: trees: Pinus sylvestris'', an artistic-scientific observation system at the COP 21. Zurich: domizil; 
Marcus Maeder (Hg.): Milieux Sonores - Klangliche Milieus. Klang, Raum und Virtualität. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2010; 
Bruno Spoerri (Hg.): Musik aus dem Nichts. Die Geschichte der Elektroakustischen Musik in der Schweiz. Zürich: Chronos Verlag, 2010,

References

External links
 Official website
Discogs entry
Homepage
Music label domizil
Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology

1971 births
Living people
21st-century Swiss musicians