Contact

Studio Salzmann
Breitenfurter Str. 396 / Vienna
Austria

Mail: contact@karlsalzmann.com
IG: @karlsalzmann

Biography

Karl Salzmann (*1979 in Bludenz) is a sound and media artist currently based in Vienna. In his artistic practice, he uses sound and noise, combining them in performance, conceptual, and installation art. His work is characterized by the visual mapping and representation of sound, the incorporation of site-specific conditions and historical references, as well as the social and cultural implications of sound. Salzmann currently teaches and works as Senior Scientist at the University of Applied Arts Vienna where he leads the ÆSR - Applied/Experimental Sound Research Lab since 2023. He has also held teaching and workshop positions at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the University of Applied Sciences in St. Pölten, and the HDPK - University of Popular Arts in Berlin, among others. In 2013, he founded the festival series Klangkunsttage (2013 & 2014), and from 2016 to 2019, he was, together with Thomas Wagensommerer and Paul Gründorfer, the artistic director of the art and performance space "Zentrale – Raum für Klang und Prozesskunst" in Vienna. Over the years, he has organized numerous festivals, exhibitions, and concerts with a particular focus on sound art. Since 2025 he is the artistic director of Kunstraum Perg, a project space for contemporary artistic production. Salzmann completed his doctoral project in Artistic Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2024, where he received his degree with distinction. His research explored the materiality of sound using the turntable as a research apparatus. He is internationally active as an artist, and his work has been shown, among others, at ACFNY New York, Kunsthalle Bratislava, and Kunsthaus Graz. His works are part of the art collections of the Austrian state, the city of Vienna, and the province of Vorarlberg.

Artist Statement

Sound is always present in my work - as a tool to shape spaces and forms; as a language to describe things; as a research object to investigate human perception but also social and cultural realities; and as an instrument for attuning to, and vibrating with, the materials and bodies that surround us.

© David Visnjic / noe_festival

NEWS

New audio-paper publication in JSS
Journal for Sonic Studies

New publication in Springer

Interview for MICA - Music Austria