Paul DeMarinis

* 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio; has been working as an electronic composer and media artist since 1971. Studies of Fine Arts, Antioch College, and music with Robert Ashley. He has been a video game designer for Atari Inc. and Scholastic Software. He has taught at Mills College, Wesleyan University, San Francisco State University and the New York State College of Ceramics; Assistant Professor for electronic media at Stanford University. His works often deal with obscure relationships between physics, aesthetics and social history of the media. In the media composition «Pygmy Gamelan» (1976), for example, electromagnetic activities of the immediate surroundings are controlled by small, electronic circuits, which play together in the style of a Gamelan orchestra. DeMarinis' works position themselves in an realm between conceptual, critical reflection and playful yet sensual qualities. They address points of contact between technology and culture, and show that precise science and superstition, as well as the use and mercilessness of technical media, are deeply connected.