THE NOISE OF SPACE

How and why did the Nexialist Organization come into existence? It may have started with my childhood in the US Tri-State Area, where my father managed a racing team for the Pocono, Indy 500 and Can-Am races, with the high-octane deep bass growl of the Porsche 917 as soundtrack. It may have started in my teenage years after relocating to Germany when I discovered all forms of underground music from Grindcore to Industrial. It may have started in my years as an architecture student when I discovered Iannis Xenakis and how to create sequences using a PC. It was a small step from tape experiments to DAT demos, from live sets to vinyl releases – under the alias of Fragment King. Moving to the US after my uni years came with a plan: record music and release it. The Nexialist Organization was born and the Halforganic Series came to life. Many collaborations took place during these years and continued when I returned to Germany. The music shifted into metallic realms by using electric and bas...

Since a share of my work is urbanism in its audible, acoustic dimension, here are some Mayday listening suggestions: CRITICAL VOID is an urbanist research project turned into a site specific sound performance with bass drones and percussion rhythmajik: CRITICAL VOID by Z'EV, Fragment King (M. Kammerbauer), Alexandra von Bolz'n WELL TEMPERED ROOM is a multi-track electroacoustic ambient recording as a dedicated sonic environment: Well Tempered Room by M. Kammerbauer THE NAVIDSON RECORD revisits the mysterious, endless house of Mark Z. Danielewski's novel "House of Leaves" as a IDM ambient drone soundtrack: The Navidson Record by M. Kammerbauer GENERATING SPACE contains IDM ambient drone explorations intended as the reverse-engineered acoustic phenomena of imaginary architecture: Generating Space by Torso LIVE AT SI is a live performance recorded in Brooklyn in 2001: Live At SI by Fragment King LIVE AT A2 was recorded live during the Architekturwoche ...

"Architecture as text, text as sound, sound as architecture." This principle defines the Nexialist Organization since its inception in the year 2000. To mark its 25th anniversary, WERKSHOW looks back at decades of transdisciplinary inquiry and sonic constructivism. WERKSHOW is a comprehensive archive that goes far beyond a standard "best-of" compilation—it is a sonic DNA analysis of more than a quarter-century of work. Inside the Vault: 100 Tracks & 10 Films This release is the definitive sonic and visual DNA code of the Nexialist Organization, documenting the evolution from human-machine synthesis to spatial analysis: Digital Edition: Features 30 curated tracks, including 10 exclusive "Anomalies". The Full WERKSHOW: The physical edition contains the complete archive of 90 audio tracks and 10 films in addition to the Digital Edition. Physical Archive: A custom night-black USB edition (strictly limited to 10 copies). Exclusive Art: Includes a custom art...

WERKSHOW: 25 Years of the Nexialist Organization – A Monumental Archive Release Spanning Universes! Architecture as text, text as sound, sound as architecture: This guiding principle has defined the Nexialist Organization since its inception in the year 2000. To mark our 25th anniversary, I am looking back at decades of transdisciplinary inquiry and sonic constructivism. With WERKSHOW, I am releasing a comprehensive archive that goes far beyond a best-of compilation—it is a sonic DNA analysis of more than a quarter-century of work. Inside the Vault (100 Tracks & 10 Films): This release bundles milestones that document the evolution from human-machine synthesis to spatial analysis: Full albums, including Angel Position: The "opus magnum" recorded under the Fragment King alias as a synthesis of lyrical defiance and conceptual critique; Generating Space: An experimental study in sonic architecture under the alias Torso, where digitally processed sound explores imaginary spat...

Critical Void encapsulates everything the Nexialist Organization set out to do: create projects at the intersection of architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.  A site-specific audio analysis and performance, Critical Void examined the planning crisis of Munich’s MaximiliansForum through sound, dialogue, and documentation. Critical Void performance, MaximiliansForum München. Photos: Andreas Graf  Critical Void is an analytical audio work based on an urban study of Munich’s MaximiliansForum and its complex planning history. Developed by Z’EV and Mark Kammerbauer, the project combined interviews, archival research, and live performance into a sonic investigation of urban transformation. The MaximiliansForum, located beneath the intersection of Maximilianstraße and Altstadtring, was originally conceived as a traffic tunnel but repurposed as a pedestrian underpass and later as an art space. Its ambiguous spatial identit...

Working with Z'EV was key to the Nexialist Organization – aimed at creating projects at the intersection of architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry. We collaborated on recordings and performances from our first meeting in 2005 until his passing in 2017. Marcelo Aguirre (Spastic Dementia, Evil Spirit, Æternum Sacro) was key to facilitating a collaboration between us. THE.BÄND initially featured Z’EV, Alexandra von Bolz’n, Marcelo and I, as Fragment King. The project combined percussion, bass, and voice into an extreme, physical form of metal-drone performance art. The Bänd emerged in 2008 from a collaboration between legendary percussionist and sound artist Z’EV, drummer Marcelo Aguirre,  vocalist Alexandra von Bolz’n, and bassist Fragment King. Their partnership began with a live performance in Berlin and developed into a long-distance creative exchange between Germany and England. Critical Void, Munich, 2013. photo: Andreas ...

Playing live with Z’EV was precisely what the Nexialist Organization set out to do – creating projects at the intersection of architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.  At Gallery Wallywoods in Berlin in 2008 an improvised performance took place uniting percussion legend Z’EV, Alexandra von Bolz’n, Marcelo Aguirre, and Fragment King in a visceral half-hour of physical sound energy.  On September 13, 2008, Nexialist members joined experimental percussion pioneer Z’EV for a live performance at Gallery Wallywoods in Berlin. The line-up featured Marcelo Aguirre (Evil Spirit, Spastic Dementia) on drums, Alexandra von Bolz’n on vocals, and Mark Kammerbauer (Fragment King) on treated bass guitar. The ensemble performed a single, thirty-minute piece of throbbing, droning intensity — a physical encounter between rhythm, noise, and space. Superfast grindcore percussion collided with detuned, slow-motion bass riffage, accompanied b...

Urban Evolution was a key performance that materialized the ethos of the Nexialist Organization as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry. A public-space performance in Weimar, Urban Evolution visualized cycles of construction and destruction to explore the city as a living, self-transforming system. Cities embody the continuous processes of building, destruction, and renewal — processes triggered by crisis, politics, or market forces. Urban Evolution sought to make these transformations visible and experiential through a live performance on the Theaterplatz in Weimar, Germany. Developed within a research project at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the work reimagined urban history as a performative cycle of creation, collapse, and rebirth. Temporary structures made of wooden frames and cardboard (3.5 × 3.5 × 7 feet) were moved by individual performers across the square. As they shifted pos...

The Mimesis Operation was a true manifestation of what the Nexialist Organization was about: a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry. A site-specific sound operation conducted within an architectural space, Mimesis transformed a building’s pneumatic facade into a resonant instrument, revealing the acoustic identity of architecture itself. Nexialist Operation Mimesis was realized with technical assistance from N. Tezkosar.   On May 15, 2004, the Nexialist Organization conducted an operation in the studio building Mimesis in Putzbrunn, near Munich, designed by architect Peter Haimerl. The building itself — two cube-shaped structures approximately six meters per side — served as the sound creation device. One of these cubes featured two pneumatic transparent vinyl facades that became the focus of the experiment. The operation used electroacoustic, digital-acoustic, and video recording...

Nexicon was an extension of the Nexialist Organization ethos, conceived as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.  A collaboration between the Nexialist Organization and Annihilvs, Nexicon merged improvised digital sound and live performance into a raw experiment in real-time composition and technological deconstruction. Nexicon consisted of Mark Kammerbauer, Lee Bartow, and Tim Spann. The project represented a digital tour-de-force of improvisational sound — non-linear, non-semantic, and uncompromising. The trio sought truly spontaneous uses of digital tools, often pushing their equipment to destruction. This is what free jazz might eventually sound like in fifty years. Simple Things Are Often Monstrous von Nexicon   The recordings of Nexicon range from introspective and mysterious to violent and explosive. Initially intended as a one-off live appearance at Pyramid in New...

The Nexialist Organization, founded in 2000, was intended as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry. One of its key projects of the early years was Torso. I recorded and produced material extensively for this project. This blogpost deals with one set of recordings in particular: An experimental study in sonic architecture, Generating Space transformed digitally processed sound into an exploration of imaginary spatial perception. Generating Space is an experimental audio–spatial study in which generated and processed sonic environments serve as perceptive catalysts for the creation of imaginary architectural spaces. The process reverses conventional creation: imagined structures become the origin of the sounds, forming the tectonic substrate that defines the audible phenomena. The compositions employ a minimal, industrial, and digital ambient aesthetic — clicks, noise, an...

While predating the founding of the Nexialist Organization, Fragment King represents its concept as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.  Fragment King is the musical persona of Mark Kammerbauer — a synthesis of human and mechanical sound, lyrical defiance, and conceptual critique developed through decades of evolving production and performance.   Fragment King is a fictitious persona created by Mark Kammerbauer for music production and live performance. FK’s work can be understood through three interwoven aspects: roots, methods, and aims. The roots trace back to the 1980s, influenced by early hip-hop, metal, and industrial pioneers such as Public Enemy, Big Black, and Godflesh. Their hybrid sound — a fusion of electronic and conventional instruments — reflected both the political dimension of noise and the cultural anxiety surrounding technology’s dehumanizing impact. Ic...

While it predates the founding of the Nexialist Organization, the Xenakis Emulator encapsulates its core intention as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.  An audiovisual homage to architect–composer Iannis Xenakis, the Xenakis Emulator recreated the structural logic of his composition Metastaseis and Le Corbusier’s monastery facade La Tourette through synchronized digital sound and animation. The Xenakis Emulator is a digital reinterpretation of these two key works. The project transformed the mathematical and musical relationships underlying both works into a synchronized audiovisual experience. In the 1950s, Xenakis collaborated with Le Corbusier on La Tourette, developing the rhythmic spacing of the vertical facade elements. These intervals mirrored the glissandi patterns of Metastaseis, composed at the same time. The Nexialist project translated this relationship into sound ...

Before the Nexialist Agency, there was the Nexialist Organization, a platform for my media projects. It all began 25 years ago ... The Nexialist Organization was conceived as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.    Astronaut logo created by Liis Roden Nexialist was founded to establish a platform for creative enterprises located between tangible architecture and audible music, with visual text as the binding element. Hence our motto: sound as architecture, architecture as text, text as design, design as sound. The nexus between these disciplines also inspired the tri-head — the un-copyrightable emblem of the Nexialist Organization. Rooted in methodologies derived from architectural and media theory, Nexialist applies these principles to projects spanning audio and visual production, design, text, action, and live performance.  The platform Nexialist.com was created in 2000 b...

Fragment King recorded and mixed ANGEL POSITION between 2007 and 2012. Bazooka mastered the recordings in 2012 for the 2014 original album release on MHz. In 2022 the album was released in a Fragment King 25th Anniversary Special Edition with completely new artwork and packaging created by Liis Roden. Both releases garnered reviews that are collected in the following. They include praise and are not without surprises. Vito Camarretta,  CHAIN D.L.K.: "It's the first time I personally listened to a full-length by Fragment King, the harsh brainchild by Mark Kammerbauer, out of his personal imprint Nexialist, and even if some features of his style, which combines ferociously hammered breakcore patterns with armour-piercing dark-industrial sonorities and some listenable sludge-metal and power electronics marks as well as sensibly vitriolic lyrics, is somehow recognasible, the sonic architecture sounds less naff than some past releases. Both its musical language and lyrics are defin...

In 2021 the Fragment King recording titled RETREAT was released by Annihilvs Power Electronix, the label of Theologian mastermind Lee Bartow. It comprises multiple tracks in tape cassette format plus additional digital exclusive remixes by Snowbeasts and 2W (Thierry Arnal). What did reviewers have to say about RETREAT?   Sean Reveron, CVLT NATION: "Unholy hell yes this is some dubbed out dirge that will make hairs on your neck stand up! I can’t get enough of the FRAGMENT KING project because it’s that RAD!" Roland Torres, SILENCE AND SOUND: "All in tense minimalism, FRAGMENT KING alias Mark Kammerbauer floods the space of guitar notes crawling on porous surfaces, impregnated with industrial engines. RETREAT is not without evoking the universe of Godflesh in delightful mode, flagging on piles of pointillist notes supported by spectral rhythms with mechanical consistency. FRAGMENT KING develops an underground world with abstract hallucinations, bending under the weight o...

Since I wear a cap with the Nexialist Octomeron and people asked me what it is about, it's my turn here to elaborate. The Nexialist Octomeron is a geometrical shape with eight corners. It was developed as a graphic symbol in the course of the ANGEL POSITION album project. Its origin is a photo of a building in the Dutch city of Almere. The moment I saw the Woontoren Silverline residential tower by Claus en Kaan Architecten in 2006, I knew it would be relevant to me at some point in the future. In 2007 I began writing and recording songs for what later became the ANGEL POSITION album produced for my music alias, Fragment King. The planned CD release of the album with MHz Records required illustrations, and one particular inspiration was soon found in the BLEACH anime. In one episode, Gin Ichimaru releases his Zanpakutō and, in follow his Bankai form, Kamishini no Yari. It cuts through the surrounding city with such force that the severed parts are lifted from the structures that su...

I just found out there are still tapes available with our 2011 recording "The Garden", a nearly 20 minute track we released under the name "The.Bänd". They can be ordered through the Z'EV online archive. Percussion, Arrangement, Lyrics: Stefan Joel Weisser / Z'EV Vocals: Alexandra Von Bolz´n Bass, Synthesizers: Mark Kammerbauer / Fragment King   Link: https://www.thezevarchive.com/ Bandcamp digital version: https://zevalexandravonbolznfragmentking.bandcamp.com/