German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk will play eight live performances in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall from 6 – 14 February 2013, their first London dates since 2004.
Kraftwerk - Man Machine (Image courtesy of Sprueth Magers, Berlin and London. © Kraftwerk)
KRAFTWERK – THE CATALOGUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 will be a chronological exploration of the group’s sonic and visual experiments and will present eight classic masterworks from across their celebrated repertoire with spectacular 3D visualisations and effects.
Combining sound and images, the performances will showcase nearly 40 years of musical and technical innovation, including new improvisations, 3D projections and animation.
Commencing with Autobahn, each night will cover one of Kraftwerk’s groundbreaking studio albums in full and appear in order of their release – Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Techno Pop (1986), The Mix (1991) and Tour de France (2003) – alongside additional compositions from their back-catalogue.
Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider began the Kraftwerk project in 1970 at their electronic Kling Klang Studio in Düsseldorf, Germany. Within a few years they had achieved international recognition for their revolutionary electro “sound paintings” and musical experimentation with tapes and synthesizers.
With their visions of the future they created the soundtrack for the digital age. Their compositions, using innovative looping techniques and computerised rhythms, have had a major international influence across a range of music genres. Their use of robotics and other technical innovations in live performance illustrates Kraftwerk’s belief in the respective contributions of both man and machine in creating art.
In recent years, Kraftwerk have played in the visual arts context at festivals and museums, starting with a performance at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Their first retrospective was held at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 2012. This will be followed by a further presentation at Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf in January 2013.
The performances have been curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator at Large, The Museum of Modern Art, Marion Ackermann, Artistic Director, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen and Catherine Wood, Curator (Contemporary Art & Performance), Tate Modern.
This retrospective will be presented for the first time in the UK at Tate Modern.
Tickets are £60 and go on sale to the public on Wednesday 12 December 2012 at 07:30 GMT, exclusively at http://www.tate.org.uk/kraftwerk. There is a 4-ticket limit per person for a single show and it is not possible to buy tickets for the whole series.
Show dates:
Wednesday 6 February 2013, 21:00
1 ‘ Autobahn (1974)
Thursday 7 February 2013, 21:00
2 ‘ Radio-Activity (1975)
Friday 8 February 2013, 22:30
3 ‘ Trans Europe Express (1977)
Saturday 9 February 2013, 22:30
4 ‘ The Man-Machine (1978)
Monday 11 February 2013, 21:00
5 ‘ Computer World (1981)
Tuesday 12 February 2013, 21:00
6 ‘ Techno Pop (1986)
Wednesday 13 February 2013, 21:00
7 ‘ The Mix (1991)
Thursday 14 February 2012, 21:00
8 ‘ Tour de France (2003)
