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Profound
— BBC
Groundbreaking
— Fast Company
Pioneering
— NASA
 
Inspired
— The New York Times
Amazing
— Billboard
Captivating
— WIRED

“Musical Weirdo & Visionary” - Vice

 

Beatie Wolfe's Story So Far

”Musical weirdo and visionary" (Vice) Beatie Wolfe has beamed her music into space, been appointed a UN role model for innovation, and held an acclaimed solo exhibition of her ‘world first’ designs at the Victoria & Albert Museum

Named by WIRED Magazine as one of "22 people changing the world,” Wolfe is at the forefront of pioneering new formats that bridge the physical and digital, which include: a 3D theatre for the palm of your hand; a wearable record jacket cut by Bowie/Hendrix’s tailor out of fabric woven with Wolfe’s music; the world's first 360 AR live-stream from the quietest room on earth and a space broadcast via the Big Bang horn. Wolfe's latest innovation is an environmental protest piece visualising 800,000 years of climate data, which premiered at the Nobel Prize Summit, the London Design Biennale and COP26

Other recent projects include a collective postcard art campaign in support of USPS with DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh and the world's first bioplastic record release with Michael Stipe and Brian Eno’s EarthPercent. Wolfe is also the co-founder of a “profound” (The Times) research project looking at the power of music for dementia

SXSW: Named Beatie Wolfe & Brian Eno featured conversation it is "Iconic Moments" showcasing SXSW's best session of the last 25 years (Jan'23)

Marie Claire: featured Beatie on their inaugural "Power List" alongside Serena Williams, Lizzo (Dec'22)

World’s first bioplastic record: Michael Stipe & Beatie Wolfe (Sep'22)

Webby Award: Beatie Wolfe won silver at the Webby's inaugural Anthem Award (Feb'22)

SXSW: Named Beatie Wolfe & Brian Eno featured conversation it is "Iconic Moments" showcasing SXSW's best session of the last 25 years (Jan'23) • Marie Claire: featured Beatie on their inaugural "Power List" alongside Serena Williams, Lizzo (Dec'22) • World’s first bioplastic record: Michael Stipe & Beatie Wolfe (Sep'22) • Webby Award: Beatie Wolfe won silver at the Webby's inaugural Anthem Award (Feb'22) •

 

Highlight Work

 

Smoke and Mirrors

Methane data x Big Oil ads since the first Earth Day

Premiered at SXSW, Smoke and Mirrors by Beatie Wolfe uses art to communicate 6 decades of climate data, specifically rising methane levels, set alongside the verbatim advertising slogans deployed by Big Oil to deny, doubt, and delay climate data and awareness through the decades. This evocative visualization, based on NASA’s Blue Marble photograph and produced in collaboration with Parliament, will be set to “Oh My Heart”, which was released as the world’s first bioplastic record by Beatie Wolfe, Michael Stipe and Brian Eno’s EarthPercent. Smoke and Mirrors follows Wolfe’s multi-award winning CO2 visualisation ‘From Green to Red,’ which was unveiled at the Nobel Prize Summit and was the largest art piece at COP26 - more (+)

Project: 2024
 

imPRINTING: The Artist’s Brain

A Sonic Self-Portrait

imPRINTING transports visitors inside the artist’s brain via a retro-future “thinking cap” allowing them to tune into and discover its many channels and sonic imprints including conversations, collaborations, music, memory, hopes, fears and dreams. In this sonic self-portrait, “musical weirdo and visionary” Beatie Wolfe presents a new format for the digital age: a data-encoded “thinking cap” tailored by Mr Fish as a counterpart to their award-winning, wearable Album Jacket. Via retro listening stations, plugged into the hat, the audience will be able to listen to and explore the brain’s many channels which include music (limbic system), memory (temporal neocortex), collaborations (medial prefrontal cortex), conversations (Wernicke’s area) with the data related to each “brain channel” ecologically encoded in glass and woven into the cap to be preserved for up to 10,000 years - more (+)

Project: 2023
 

From Green to Red

An interactive environmental protest data art piece

Beatie Wolfe creates a stirring environmental art piece about human impact on the planet, built using 800,000 years of NASA’s climate data. “From Green to Red” (taken from the title of a song Wolfe wrote in 2006 after seeing ‘An Inconvenient Truth') tracks the impact of human behaviour on the planet, creating a stirring visualization of the CO2 concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere, and asks us the question is it too late to turn back? Wolfe’s latest innovation reimagines the music video format (and protest song), taking the audience on a journey through the planet’s timeline. “This piece is about re-presenting data in a way that people can see differently and absorb, using the power of art to make it evocative and relatable,” Wolfe says, “so that people can get a sense of where we are right now” - more (+)

Project: 2021

The World’s First Bioplastic record

REM's Michael Stipe x Beatie Wolfe

The world’s first commercially available bioplastic 12” with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Beatie Wolfe was released in support of EarthPercent and sold out within 5 minutes. This bioplastic vinyl, an environmental design solution by Evolution Music, is a genuinely revolutionary moment for both the music industry and record collectors, offering a non-fossil fuel future for vinyl recordings that globally is c180 million LPs (or 30,000 tonnes of PVC) a year - more (+)

Project: 2022
 

UN Climate Change Summit (COP26)

From Green to Red

COP26 invited Beatie Wolfe to project her environmental art piece about human impact on the planet, built using 800,000 years of rising CO2 levels, 550ft wide onto Norman Fosters' iconic Armadillo building. This will be the first time the climate art piece has been shown in this form and Wolfe joins Olafur Eliasson, JR, and Darren Aronofsky in showing their work at this scale as the largest visual statement of the conference - watch (+)

Solo Exhibition: 2021

Victoria and Albert Museum

Retrospective of Artist’s Work

The V&A Museum invited Beatie Wolfe to hold a solo exhibition of her world’s first designs for music in the digital age, which range from a theatre for the palm of your hand, a wearable album jacket, an ‘anti-stream’ from the world’s quietest room and a Space beam from the Big Bang Horn - more (+)

Solo Exhibition: 2018
 

Svalbard’s 10,000 yrs Music Vault

Safeguarding the world’s most valuable music

The Global Music Vault (a seed bank equivalent for music) has invited Beatie Wolfe to be part of its Proof of Concept for safeguarding the world's most valuable music using green and durable storage technology. Beatie’s music will be included alongside the Polar Music Prize, The National Library of New Zealand, International Library of African Music and the International Music Council - more (+)

Project: 2022
 

Nobel Prize Summit

From Green to Red

The Nobel Prize organisation invited Beatie Wolfe to speak, perform, and show her environmental protest piece ‘From Green To Red’ at its inaugural summit following Sir David Attenborough and Al Gore. Beatie Wolfe was introduced on stage by her friend and space beaming collaborator Nobel Laureate Dr Robert Wilson. Watch her segment above - more (+)

Exhibition + Talk: 2021

Postcards for Democracy

Collective post art campaign

Artistic visionaries Mark Mothersbaugh & Beatie Wolfe share a love of tangible art forms, in and amongst their futuristic explorations. In the summer of 2020 in light of the threat to our 225yr old postal service, at a time that could jeopardize the democracy of the country, Mothersbaugh and Wolfe joined forces for this collective postcard art demonstration. The pair received tens of thousands of postcards from all over the world which were then exhibited at the Rauschenberg Gallery in a 3-month exhibition this summer - more (+)

Project: 2020

Somerset House

imPRINTING: The Artist’s Brain

Originally supposed to be exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020, then Covid happened, Beatie Wolfe realised her Sonic Self Portrait in the home of cultural innovators Somerset House - more (+)

Exhibition: 2023
 
 

Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe headline talk

Art & Climate

A conversation between musical visionaries Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe about how art can play a vital role in response to the climate emergency, with Brian sharing his music industry charity EarthPercent and Beatie sharing 'From Green to Red,' an environmental protest piece built using 800,000 years of NASA data to visualise rising CO2 levels - into (+)

Talk: 2022

SXSW Live Studio Interview

Art, Tech & Climate

SXSW invited Beatie Wolfe into its Live Studio for a chat with Wajahat Ali. This interview was included in the SXSW’s official conference highlights. This marks the sixth consecutive year of Beatie at SXSW with highlights including hosting Pandora radio’s livestream across two days and Mark Mothersbaugh and her sharing their lockdown postcards project

Talk: 2022

New York Times Climate Hub

From Green to Red

Beatie Wolfe joined Es Devlin in opening The New York Times climate hub at COP26 in Glasgow with a conversation with the NYT's deputy editor about her work, followed by a live performance and presentation of From Green to Red - watch (+)

Exhibition + Talk: 2021
 

The World’s first 360° AR Livestream

Raw Space

Raw Space was released as the world’s first live 360 AR experience and ‘anti-stream’. Combining live 360 stereoscopic video of Wolfe’s physical record stream from the quietest room on earth, with real-time AR animations, the effect was a Fantasia-like live-streamed album, which ran continuously for a week with artwork that evolved every time the record spun. “With ‘Raw Space’, I wanted to create the anti-stream for our current streaming generation and really celebrate the world of the album – its artwork, arc, narrative, music – in a ceremonial and absorbing way that makes the listener feel like they’ve been transported into the world of the album, like I did opening up a record as a kid.” Wolfe follows in the footsteps of Andy Warhol, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg as a collaborator of Bell Labs’ E.A.T. programme - more (+)

Innovation: 2017

The Space Broadcast

The rawest sound in the Raw Space

Following its launch from the quietest room in the world, Raw Space was beamed into space via the historic Holmdel Horn Antenna, which was used to prove the validity of the Big Bang theory. Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr Robert Wilson (who discovered Cosmic Background Radiation) made the first update to this Historic National Landmark in 50 years to make sure the music of Raw Space got past the earth's atmosphere and into outer space. The Raw Space Broadcast was not the studio version of the album, but the raw anechoic version (no reverb, EQ or audio enhancements) recorded in the Bell Labs Anti-echo Chamber – Wolfe’s idea being that for the first time, raw anechoic sound would enter raw space as a true reflection of our humanity at a time of increased airbrushing, auto-tuning and AI - more (+)

Project: 2018

Orange Juice for the Ears

A Barbican Centre Commissioned Documentary

London’s Barbican Centre commissioned a documentary about Beatie’s work as a highlight of its 2019 ‘Life Rewired’ season, which was directed by Ross Harris. With the season investigating the impact of the pace and extent of technological change in our culture and society and looking at how we can grasp and respond to the seismic shifts these advances will bring about, there are few artists who exemplify this exploration quite as much. - more (+)

Project: 2019
 

London Design Biennale

From Green to Red

Unveiled for the very first time at the London Design Biennale, the interactive installation of the environmental art piece ‘From Green to Red’ allowed visitors to move their hands over the woven timeline to pull out the specific carbon ppm data & planetary timeline date - more (+)

Exhibition: 2021

Virtual Design Festival

Dezeen x Beatie Wolfe day

Dezeen held a day dedicated to Beatie Wolfe’s work during its Virtual Design Festival. This included a live interview between Beatie and editor Marcus Fairs followed by a live performance, a special highlight of From Green to Red, digital premiere of Orange Juice for the Ears (the Barbican commissioned documentary about Beatie’s work) and an essay from Beatie about imprinting in the digital age. - more (+)

Exhibition: 2020

Rauschenberg Gallery

Postcards for Democracy

Artistic visionaries Mark Mothersbaugh & Beatie Wolfe joined forces for this lockdown art project in support of the postal service and our right to vote. The pairs collective art demonstration received tens of thousands of postcards displayed for a 3-month exhibition throughout the 2021 summer at the Rauschenberg Gallery - more (+)

Exhibition: 2021
 

Raw Space Chamber

The immersive museum experience

The Raw Space Chamber tells the story of Raw Space – the world’s first live 360° AR stream – in its new immersive, portable incarnation. Inside this anechoic chamber (wrapped in NASA-grade Mylar linking to Wolfe’s Raw Space Broadcast), visitors can immerse themselves in a magical and ceremonial listening experience, watching the record come to life via a vintage coin-operated viewport (converted into a VR/AR headset)

Innovation: 2018

Punk Rock

Reprinted 45yrs on

Beatie's mum's groundbreaking 'Punk Rock' book - published 45 years ago and described as “the first book on punk rock” - will be reprinted by Hat & Beard. Go Virginia Boston! - reserve copy (+)

Project: 1979/2024

Denver Big Screen Takeover

A Collective Environmental Takeover

For the month of September, Beatie Wolfe curated a city-wide takeover of Denver’s big screens in the theme of ‘Activating Environmental Awareness’ featuring artists from all over the world and also projected her environmental art piece ‘From Green to Red’ onto Denver’s historic clocktower - more (+)

Exhibition: 2022
 
  • Collaborating With The World’s Leading Designers

    The Raw Space Album Deck is an update of Wolfe’s intelligent album deck of cards format, originally conceived for Montagu Square as a type of digital cassette tape. Produced in collaboration with ArtCenter College of Design and its Acting Chair of Graphic Design Sean Adams, each of the Raw Space song cards have been designed by a leading international artist - which includes Erik Spiekermann, Marian Bantjes, Astrid Stavro, Lucienne Roberts et al - to reflect their interpretation of Wolfe’s music. Listeners can simply tap the song card to their phone to instantly play the track and access its content—liner notes, lyrics, artwork, music VR videos etc—which is being updated all the time, giving the Album Deck the feeling of a “living” or dynamic vinyl.

  • Fashioning Music Into Art: A Truly Tailored Album Release

    The Montagu Square Musical Jacket is a reimagining of the record jacket and a truly tailored album release for the 21st century. Wolfe recorded her second album Montagu Square in the former home of Hendrix, McCartney, Ringo, Lennon & Yoko Ono, and in the room where Hendrix wrote ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ and McCartney penned ‘Eleanor Rigby’. This live recording was then translated (complete with its ambient sound, resonance of the room and audience applause) into a woven fabric by textiles artist BeatWoven and cut by tailor Mr Fish – who dressed Hendrix, Jagger and Bowie – into the first Musical Jacket of its kind. The Jacket has also been NFC-enabled, allowing people to hear the music of Montagu Square by tapping their phone onto the fabric. Wolfe saw the Montagu Square wearable album jacket as a truly tailored album release for the 21st Century.

  • A Vinyl For Your Phone, A Theatre For The Palm Of Your Hand

    For her debut album Wolfe wanted to put a record (the format she loved) onto a phone (a device now integral to people's listening) and so in collaboration with Design I/O pioneered the 3D Interactive Album App. This app opened up like a record with the liner notes, lyrics, artwork and music. But to give this experience a twist, the Palm Top Theatre was introduced to the release. By slotting your phone into the Palm Top Theatre, it was transformed into a miniature theatre in the palm of your hand and you could watch 8ight's 3D interactive visuals, filmed by Weavers Productions, come to life in a way that recaptured the magic of opening up a record and exploring its artwork

 

 Music Highlights

Beatie Wolfe’s music has been described as “mesmerizing” by the New York Times, “hauntingly beautiful” by the BBC and celebrated by GQ for her "captivating stories that envelop the listener and become indelible after hearing them.” Combining rich poeticism with tender intimacy, Wolfe’s music feels like a timeless commentary on humanity

Recent performances include the UN, The New York Times, the Nobel Prize Summit, SXSW, TED, BBC, the Barbican, NAMM, Dodgers Stadium. Recent collaborations include Linda Perry, Brian Eno, Michael Stipe, Suzi Quatro, Mark Mothersbaugh, Allee Willis, Laraaji. Recent commissions & endorsements include Gibson, Grammy Museum, Taylor Guitars, Blue, Seymour Duncan, Calm

Wolfe was Calm’s first original content creator and won the 2020 She Rocks award and 2021 Shesaid.so award

Watch Beatie live on Channel 4 News at COP26

Debuting “Oh My heart” live at Nobel Prize Summit

Collecting her award at NAMM’s She Rocks Awards

  • RAW SPACE - 3rd Album

    Beatie Wolfe's third album Raw Space was released as the world's first live 360˚ AR album stream from the quietest room on earth, the Bell Labs anechoic chamber. This enhanced streaming format was pioneered by Wolfe as a way of recapturing some of the old-school magic of music, and celebrating the album's artwork and story in the listening process. The music of Raw Space has been described as "raw, honest" yet "deceptively complex" with the opening track, 'Little Moth', written in tribute to Elliott Smith

    “Delicious” — BBC Radio 4, “Breathtaking” — New York Times, “Enchanting” — New Scientist

    MONTAGU SQUARE - 2nd Album

    Beatie Wolfe’s second album Montagu Square was recorded at 34 Montagu Square - the former home and secret studio of Hendrix, Ringo, McCartney, Lennon & Yoko Ono - and in the room where McCartney wrote ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and Hendrix penned ‘The Wind Cries Mary’. The music of Montagu Square has been described as "tender and confident" (Independent) beautiful chamber pop, reflecting the spirit of the flat's inhabitants, with 'Take Me Home' (a William Blake inspired love ballad) being a standout

    “Mesmerising” — MOJO, “Stunning” — The Independent, “Magic” — KCRW

    8IGHT - debut Album

    Beatie Wolfe's debut album 8ight was released as the 'World's First' 3D Interactive Album App, which led to a global tour with Apple and marked the songwriter's first successful musical innovation. 8ight features 4 songs of light, 4 of dark, which touch upon the poetry and tragedy of relationships and stand as infinite love songs, expressed poignantly in 'Beautiful Affair', a song about missed opportunities: "Life can sober up this love, life looks tiny from above."

    “Brilliant” — GQ, “Beautiful” — Monocle, “ Captivating” — WIRED

    Barely Living - Track co-written & produced by Linda Perry

    Pioneering singer-songwriter/musician Beatie Wolfe - an artist who has beamed her music into space, held an acclaimed solo exhibition at the V&A Museum and been appointed a UN role model for media innovation - releases her first new track with multi-platinum producer Linda Perry. This dark Americana track coincides with the trailer release of a Barbican-commissioned documentary on Wolfe’s work, premiered at SXSW

    more info (+)

Other Highlights

 

Power of Music & Dementia

Beatie gives a TEDMED talk about the power of music and its core value to humanity, sharing her work with The Utley Foundation and Music for Dementia - link (+)

Webby’s Anthem Awards Win

From Green to Red by Beatie Wolfe wins Silver at Webbys inaugural Anthem Awards in a category where Nat Geo took Gold and Disney took Bronze - more (+)

UN Women

Chosen to be 1 of 9 innovators to represent the UN Women “Impossible to Ignore” campaign appearing all across the world from Times Square to London Underground

 

Radio Show

Orange Juice for the Ears with Beatie Wolfe, on LA’s dublab radio, explores the power of music across space, science, art, health, film and technology by talking to the leading luminaries in each field from Nobel Prize laureates to anti-whaling captains - tune in + download podcast (+)

Writing & Curation

Beatie Wolfe has a column with London’s Evening Standard and is a contributor for The Nation, Dezeen Magazine, Design Milk, the Virtual Design Festival, Birdy Magazine in addition to curating the Los Angeles Times’s inaugural NewStory festival & hosting 16hrs of Pandora radio at SXSW

Calm Commissions

Calm the #1 healthcare app invited Beatie Wolfe to be one of its first contributor and the first to contribute original content. Already helping millions to find space and rest further sleep soundtracks and stories are in development - read more (+)

 

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