OUBEY (1958–2004) was a visual artist.
OUBEY attended the University of Karlsruhe from 1979 to 1983, where he studied architecture. Parallel to his studies, he developed his early works at this time.
Inspired by Prof. Fritz Haller, who gained popularity by developing the modular furniture system USM Haller, OUBEY came into contact with visionary projects such as the planning of prototypical space colonies and the futuristic concept of a global city planning, named Integral Urban. The findings of these projects, along with his thinking, and his early-on interest for science, mathematics, philosophy, poetry, science fiction and arts form the mental background for OUBEYs artistic works.
Before attending university, OUBEY already had begun to study space exploration, Newtons, Einsteins and Heisenbergs works in physics, the metaphysics of Leibniz, ancient Greek science, philosophy and arts, the geometric and musical theory of harmony, the poetry of Rilke, Celan and Trakl, as well as science fiction literature from Stansilaw Lem to Perry Rhodan. While studying the scientific work of Ilya Prigogine and his pioneering discoveries about complexity, irreversibility, chaos, order, and entropy, OUBEY found confirmation of his holistic view of the world and the cosmos.
In 1983, OUBEY decided to live and work as a freelance artist.
From 1987 to 2001, he worked in the former studio of Markus Lüpertz, where he created, amongst other works, his avant-garde computer paintings on the Amiga 500. He called them “PhotonPaintings”, and presented them 1992 in his first and very successful sales exhibition. Soon thereafter, he decided to retreat from the public, in order to work on his art independently for an indefinite period of time, as free as possible, far from any outside influence, and to only make a comeback when he thought the right time to do so had come.
After moving to a new studio, OUBEY was able to consider a new public appearance for the first time again. When OUBEY died in a traffic accident in 2004, he was in the midst of preparing for this.
During the limited time spent on his artistry, OUBEY had created a multifaceted portfolio of works, which includes over 1200 pieces of art. Through the MINDKISS project, initiated and directed by OUBEYs partner Dagmar Woyde-Koehler, these works are now posthumously made accessible to the public, step by step.
Further, the OUBEY Encounter film project plays its own role in the MINDKISS project, directed by OUBEYs partner, Dagmar Woyde-Koehler. Within the context of this project, she travels to various individuals, who are working professionally on the same subjects, share some of the same interests, or try to answer the same questions as OUBEY, presenting to them an original piece of OUBEYs art. This spontaneous encounter with one of OUBEYs pictures is documented on film and later presented online. To date, 21 of these short films have already been released on YouTube, as well as the OUBEY website. They open up very special, uncommon perspectives and views to OUBEY and his art, unlike the judgement of a traditional art expert. The following table shows an overview of the OUBEY Encounters.[1]
| OUBEY Encounter | Protagonists | Painting | Location, Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| OUBEY Encounter 1 | Dr. Cecilia Scorza, Astrophysicist, Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg (MPIA) | Untitled,1986 | Heidelberg (Germany),February 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 2 | David Letellier/Kangding Ray, Musician/Composer | Grünes Bild, 1981 | Berlin(Germany), March 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 3 | Prof. Dr. Peter Kruse, Professor of Psychology | Untitled, 1981 | Bremen (Germany), January 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 4 | Liz Howard, Mezzo-soprano | Stürzender Engel, 1992 | Munich (Germany), December 2009 |
| OUBEY Encounter 5 | Frans Boeckhorst, System Research Psychologist | Reise der Monaden, 1982 | Nijmwegen (Netherlands), March 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 6 | Prof. Dr. Friedemann Schrenk, Palaeonthropologist | Untitled, 1988 | Frankfurt (Germany), July 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 7 | Luise Neukirch, High School Student | ANYTHINK: Leeroy, 1986 | Berlin (Germany), March 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 8 | Prof. Dr. Stuart Kauffman, Medical Doctor and Biologist | Untitled, 1986 | Santa Fe (United States), August 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 9 | Uwe Anton, Perry Rhodan Exposé Author | Untitled, 1981/82 | Wuppertal (Germany), May 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 10 | David Weinberger, Senior Researcher at Harvard's Berkman Center For Internet & Society | Titanic, 1985 | Brookline (United States), February 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 11 | Helena, Kassidy, Laetitia, Sophia and Yannik, Primary School Students | Untitled, 1993/94 | Munich (Germany), May 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 12 | Prof. Dr. Alexander Deichsel, Professor of Brand Sociology | Reise der Monaden, 1982 | Geneva (Switzerland), August 2010 |
| OUBEY Encounter 13 | Dr. Seth Shostak, Chief Astronomer SETI Institute | Krypto, 1987 | Mountain View (United States), April 2012 |
| OUBEY Encounter 14 | Prof. Lawrence M. Krauss, Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist | Untitled, 1987 | Tempe (United States), April 2012 |
| OUBEY Encounter 15 | Joe Betts-LaCroix, executive director at Health Extension | Pferdekopfnebel / Horsehead Nebula, 1987 | Belmont (United States),October 2012 |
| OUBEY Encounter 16 | Prof. Rainer Blatt, Experimental Physicist, The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information at the University of Innsbruck | Untitled, 1987 | Innsbruck (Austria), September 2011 |
| OUBEY Encounter 17 | Elena, Violinist | 27 Cube Memory System, 1987 | Wellington (New Zealand) March 2012 |
| OUBEY Encounter 18 | Tanemahuta Gray, artistic director, Producer, Choreographer | Morphogenese, 1981/82 | Paraparaumu Aotearoa (New Zealand), March 2012 |
| OUBEY Encounter 19 | Daniel Opitz, Marine Biologist, Nature Filmmaker | Zero Field, 1986 | Pa´ia/Maui (Hawaii), May 2013 |
| OUBEY Encounter 20 | Prof. Karl Sigmund, Mathematician | Untitled, 1985 | Vienna (Austria), September 2011 |
| OUBEY Encounter 21 | Robby Seeger, Giant Wave Surfer | Untitled, 1996 | Haiku/Maui (Hawaii), May 2013 |
| OUBEY Encounter 22 | Indy Johar, Architect | Untitled, 1991 | London (UK), August 2014 |
| OUBEY Encounter 23 | Dallas Seymour, Ex-Rugby International of the „All Blacks | Samurai, 1985 | Wellington (New Zealand), March 2014 |
| OUBEY Encounter 24 | Ten Year old Boy, Student | Untitled, 1996 | Kampala (Uganda), December 2015 |
| OUBEY Encounter 25 | Dr. Kizito Maria Kasule, Artist, Academic | Untitled, 1984 | Kampala (Uganda), December 2015 |
From 2012, the Global Encounter-Tour presented more of OUBEYs originals to a bigger audience at various places.
First Stopover: October 2012
“OUBEY - Visions: Through Art to science”. Symposium at the Goethe Institute, San Francisco in cooperation with the Academy of Arts University. Contributions by Dr. Seth Shostak, SETI Institute Mountain View/Nina McCurdy, University of Santa Cruz/Joe Betts-LaCroix, Health Salon Series San Francisco/Peter Erlenwein, author and sociologist.[2] [3]
Second Stopover: March 2013
“The Joy of Insight”. Keynote by Prof. Peter Kruse at the Direktorenhaus in Berlin.[4]
Third Stopover: November 2013
“OUBEY – Art & Complexity”. OUBEY at Global Peter Drucker Forum 2013 in Vienna.[5] [6]
Fourth Stopover: March 2014
“An Element of the Universal”. OUBEY at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Nga Mokopuna Maori school in Seatoun/Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.[7]
Sixth Stopover: May 2015
“OUBEY MINDKISS 5th Anniversary Happening”. OUBEY at the Center for Art and Media, Germany.[8]
Seventh Stopover: December 2015
“Immediacy is Crucial”. OUBEY at the Nagandu International Academy of Art and Design (NIAAD) in Kampala, Uganda.[9]