Moritz Simon Geist (DE): "Don’t Look at Me"

On Friday, 3 October 2025 at 8 p.m., music producer and researcher Moritz Simon Geist will perform his robotic concert "Don’t Look at Me".

In this ambient robotic performance, media artist and robotic musician Moritz Simon Geist explores the delicate space between physical sound, machine behavior, and human perception. Based on his recent interactive sound installation "Don’t Look At Me" – a tensegrity-inspired robotic entity that reacts to human attention – this concert version translates its principles into a meditative listening experience.

The soundscape unfolds through custom-built robotic sine wave generators, physically actuated to create deep, evolving tones. Inspired by the vibraphone’s resonator principle, these futuristic instruments are not played by human hands but triggered by precisely timed robotic movements. The result is a spatial composition of sine waves, harmonic textures, and subtle mechanical rhythms – always slightly unpredictable, always real.

As part of the development for his upcoming ambient album which is premiering at KONTEJNER, this performance showcases a new direction in Geist’s sonic research: slower, more introspective, and emotionally resonant. The machines hum, breathe, and resonate in soft pulses – drawing the listener inward, not outward.

"Don’t Look At Me" invites audiences to sit, listen, and reflect – not to be overwhelmed, but to be quietly transformed by the physicality of robotic sound.

IMPRINT

Organization: KONTEJNER | bureau of contemporary art praxis

Curators: Davorka Begović & Tereza Teklić | KONTEJNER

Technical realisation: Jakov Habjan

Design: kuna zlatica

PR and communication: Inesa Antić

The installation "Don’t Look At Me" was funded by ZER01NE Seoul.

Moritz Simon Geist (DE)

Moritz Simon Geist is a music producer and researcher working with sound, robotics, and algorithms. He began his academic career in semiconductor sciences as a PhD student but later shifted his focus to art and music, merging sound with robotics and algorithms. In 2012, Geist's first work, the Drum Robot MR-808, went viral. Over the years, he has collaborated with renowned artists, including Mouse On Mars, Tyondai Braxton, Robert Lippok, and Thieß Mynther. His work has been showcased at international venues and events such as the Venice Biennale, South by Southwest (SXSW), the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Geist’s contributions to the field have been recognized with numerous awards, including at the ISEA Conference 2024, the Working Grant ZER01NE Seoul (2023), the German Pop Music Prize (2022), and the VIA VUT Award (2019).

moritzsimongeist.com

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