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Biography in the arts

 

I was born as Rudolf Friedrich Bliem in Graz, where my father worked at the opera house as the head of stage art. My mother had not yet taken up her profession as preschool teacher. My father had left the opera house to continue his profession as freelance artist, which first took us Switzerland, where he restored the murals of a church. We then moved to Australia when I was 4 years old,  where I subsequently grew up. Motivated by my father´s work as an artist, I began to practice the skills of drawing and painting at an early age and in my later teens had intended on enrolling in art school.

 

Having learnt to play the classic guitar, in the wake of the folk movement, I co-founded a folk-type Austrian music group, the Misthaufen. This resulted in 3 years of intense, but successful work, with 5 singles, an LP and much press attention, before I left the group in late 1972.

 

At this time I gained an interest in the connection between music and art , and soon discovered that in pursuance of this subject matter I required a university education in the physical and natural sciences. And, given what I had experienced with my father and much later with Rudolf Macek (see below), I was also convinced that I would surely not have time for such a study once I had committed myself to a livelihood as a freelance artist. So, despite my early intentions, I chose to study Bioengineering at a Viennese university and to continue with a extra-mural art education and training. This allowed me the freedom to allot my time between art training and my studies in science and engineering. In 1980 I was very fortunate to be taken into the studio of Rudolf Macek, a graduate from the Prager Academy of Fine Arts and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, who had established a notable career in Australia, before moving to Austria. At this time I was already exhibiting in a small gallery in Währing, Vienna.

 

A year later I moved to England, where I soon found regular work as a science illustrator, cartoonist for several journals. The increasing demand for this work provided a steady income and livelihood. However I had two more dependents to support, so I needed some additional income.This I found with a small biotech start-up, for which I wrote a project concept. This project generated considerable revenue for the company, so that the company owners offered me considerable support and time to pursue my art work. And so I was soon able to exhibit in and around Cambridge and in 1984 held, a successful exhibition on Science Art, titled "Art in vivo", at the Cambridge Central Library, which was the central venue for public exhibitions. This was the first exhibition in the UK devoted entirely to science art that I had been aware of.

 

 

 

In 1988 I was offered work in the US, which I had projected an interim period of only 3 years. However, this "interim" opportunity evolved into a lengthy stay in science, engineering, business and academia, before returing to art once again and to continue, as well as I could, where I had left off. But I had not entirely left the arts. Instead it gave me ample time to clarify for myself what Science Art is, what it can do and what its features are. And since returning to art I have been very fortunate in finding interest in my work, leading to some exciting projects, especially in the area of robotics and AI, and of course to exhibitions.

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Days as musician

forming the early Misthaufen sound

 

Having studied classical guitar while at highschool, as learning to play the harmonica and the "Saw", I joined two fellas in Vienna to form the german-language folk band "Misthaufen". The "Saw" is an instrument derived from the mechanical saw, but designed to be used as an instrument. It is brought to vibrate using a violin bow and can produce sounds a little akin to electronic music, but nicer ;). Thus the new group was started off with a singer, two guitars, greek bouzouki and the Saw, which led the band´s idiosyncratic sound and to early successes between 1969 through 1972; see a selection of newsclips below. I left the group late 1972 to concentrate on art, in preparation for art school.

Here are some links for complemenary information.