Florian Kaufmann (B. 1973) lives and works in Solothurn, Switzerland as an artist, sound engineer and vinyl cutter. In the late 80s, calling himself either "bricoleur universal" or "Universalbastler," Kaufmann began DJing and experimenting with turntables, and also exploring sound with various electronic components and Piezo pick-ups.
Vinyl remained an obsession and he began cutting dubplates in 1993 on a homemade cutting lathe using mediums like X-ray film. He gradually built up a studio, and after a year went into professional mastering with his own 12” record press.
Kaufmann founded Vinylium GmbH in 1997, one of the few vinyl-pressing plants in Switzerland and one of the last cutting-lathe engineering companies in the world, establishing Kaufmann as an important lynch pin in the vinyl scene. He left the company in 2005 to pursue other projects.
Kaufmann followed his long-standing interest in electronic instruments – weird organs and analog synthesizers – and started building his own. He now works with primarily with technologically obsolete objects such as typewriters, modified vacuum cleaners and old IBM computers with homemade instruments, presenting video and sound installations and concerts. He also began incorporating live vinyl recording using cutting-lathes into performances.
Among the performances Kaufmann developed that incorporated cutting lathes was Rolling Beer. During the concert, Kaufmann uses empty beer cans as a medium to engrave recordings of the ambient room sounds. The noises made by the audience chatting and drinking is preserved on their discarded cans with a cutting stylus made from a hand sharpened steel nail, and a hand-cranked cutter.
After meeting
Christian Marclay at the 2003 "la batie" festival in Geneva, the two teamed up for
Tabula Rasa, a vinyl-cutting sound performance. Kaufmann has also collaborated with artists
David Grubbs, Ronald Lippok, and Joseph Suchy.
> Flo Kaufmanns own Website
> Flo Kaufmann on Vinylium
Appearances:
> CTM.08 > ANTICIPATING UNPREDICTABILITY
