Arts & Culture — Ben Fawkes

Co-founder & Producer · 2017–2023 · Institute for Sound & Music, Berlin

ISM Hexadome

Co-founded the ISM, a Berlin-based non-profit dedicated to immersive sound and electronic music culture. Our centrepiece was the ISM Hexadome — a 52-channel spatial sound system with six projection screens — presented at the Martin Gropius Bau (Berlin), MASS MoCA (Massachusetts), MAC Montréal, Gray Area Festival (San Francisco), and MUTEK 20 (Montréal).

Artists commissioned include Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, Holly Herndon, Suzanne Ciani, Ben Frost, and others. Secured €600k+ in sponsorship and public cultural funding.

berlin-ism.com →

Watch the ISM Hexadome documentation film →

Fundraising Initiative

ISM Hexadome —
The Listening Experience

To support the ISM's ongoing work and fundraising efforts, I conceived and led a donor initiative from start to finish. Anyone donating €40 or more to the ISM received a limited edition vinyl box set — The ISM Hexadome Listening Experience — comprising:

8 exclusive binaural recordings from the ISM Hexadome installation at MASS MoCA, pressed onto 4 × 12" vinyl records
10 interchangeable artwork inserts featuring work from each of the Hexadome's visual artists

Artists featured: Suzanne Ciani, Ben Frost, Frank Bretschneider, Peter van Hoesen, Lara Sarkissian, CAO, Herman Kolgen and René Löwe.

Visual artwork from: Jemma Woolmore, Tarik Barri, Heleen Blanken, Pfadfinderei, MFO, Holly Herndon & Mathew Dryhurst, Michael Tan, Pierce Warnecke, AudeRrose and Herman Kolgen.

Partnership lead on behalf of the ISM

Google Arts & Culture —
Online Music Exhibitions

As part of my work at the ISM, I led the partnership with Google Arts & Culture to create a series of online music exhibitions published on the Google Arts & Culture platform. These included an immersive exhibition about the ISM Hexadome itself, as well as a broader series exploring the history of electronic music across cities including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Detroit, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Tbilisi and Tel Aviv.

ISM Hexadome

An online exhibition documenting the ISM Hexadome installation and the artists behind it.

View exhibition →

Techno and House — Frankfurt to Offenbach

The story of Frankfurt's techno and house scene, from Dorian Gray to Robert Johnson.

View exhibition →

Unlimited Freedom — Melt! Festival

The history of Germany's landmark Melt! Festival and its place in electronic music culture.

View exhibition →

United on Hamburg's Dancefloors

The story of Hamburg's electronic music scene and its unique cultural identity.

View exhibition →

Part of Google Arts & Culture's Music, Makers & Machines series — a brief history of electronic music.

Artist Residency · 2024 · ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe

ZKM Sonic Experiments

Watch live performance documentation on YouTube →

Artist residency at ZKM in Karlsruhe — one of the world's leading institutions for digital art and music. Developed a live audio-visual work centred on prepared guitars, loop and effects pedals, and visuals generated from the guitar signal.

Performed the work in the Kubus concert hall on a 42-channel sound system.

Composer · 2022 · German Pavilion, 59th Venice Biennale

Music for Relocating a Structure

Film stills — Relocating a Structure (2024), dir. Kristina Paustian & Sabrina Labis

Contributed original music to an essay film directed by Kristina Paustian and Sabrina Labis for German artist Maria Eichhorn's project at the 59th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2022.

The film explores the philosophical and historical dimensions of relocating the German Pavilion building — a structure built during the National Socialist period.

Pino

Mad Soothing

Composer · 2025 · NBK Berlin (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein)

Children of Eforie —
NBK Berlin, 2025

Music contribution — three-channel video installation by Kristina Paustian

I contributed original music for a three-channel video installation by filmmaker and artist Kristina Paustian, presented at the NBK (Neuer Berliner Kunstverein) in Berlin in 2025.

Children of Eforie (2025), dir. Kristina Paustian — NBK Berlin

Children of Eforie — Installation documentation

Producer · Forthcoming May 2026 · BBC Radio 3

Between the Ears —
BBC Radio 3, 2026

Producer — broadcast May 2026

Currently in production for BBC Radio 3's landmark audio art series Between the Ears. The episode explores St Giga — a Japanese radio station that programmed its broadcasts entirely according to the moon and the tides. Broadcasting May 2026.

St Giga — Japanese radio station, programming by the moon and tides

More about Between the Ears on BBC Radio 3 →

Music

I'm also an experimental musician and audio visual artist. I have released a selection of EPs and albums available on Bandcamp, Spotify and SoundCloud.

Bandcamp · Spotify · SoundCloud

Releases

Part Dos