Annie Aries (b. 1988 in Bern, Switzerland) is a composer and musician based in Bern, Switzerland. In the world of modular synthesizers and patch cords, Annie explores, performs and composes music and opens up sonic spaces between electronica and experimental sounds. In her works, she creates minimalistic sound textures and recurring rhythmic patterns that organically interweave, distance and disappear. With her bands Aries Zaes, Volca Massaker Orchester and Berg & Berg she regularly tours in Europe. For her artistic work, she received an honorary mention by the Giga-Hertz Award 2020 as well as a large production grant by the City of Bern for 2021.

Brian House (b. 1979 in Denver, US) is an artist who investigates the politics of time in human and nonhuman systems. Incorporating sound, computation, and multidisciplinary research, his practice has traversed subjects from geolocation infrastructure to urban rats. House has exhibited at MoMA, Los Angeles MOCA, Ars Electronica, ZKM, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, and Science Gallery Bengaluru, among others. The New York Times Magazine, WIRED, Neural, Creative Applications, and TIME’s annual “Best Inventions” issue have featured his work, and his essays and articles have been published in Leonardo, the Journal of Sonic Studies, and e-flux Architecture. Currently, House is Assistant Professor of Art and Studio Head of Digital Media at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He holds a PhD in Computer Music from Brown University.

Marcel Zaes (b. 1984 in Bern, Switzerland), is an artist and artistic researcher working in sound. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Music & Multimedia Composition at Brown University. Marcel investigates mechanical time with an interdisciplinary framework. His creative practice consists of assemblages of self-made software code that act as mechanical timekeepers and human performers who they play “against,” thereby creating an affective potential to re-think the gap between what is conceived of as “human” versus “mechanical” temporality. Marcel’s work has most recently been performed and exhibited at ISEA Hong Kong, the Center for New Music San Francisco, the Biennial of Contemporary Arts Lisbon, Cabaret Voltaire Zurich, Columbia University, Dampfzentrale Bern, and at Fridman Gallery in New York City.

swissnex San Francisco is an initiative of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), managed in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs as an annex of the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco. A public-private venture, we are part of a network of outposts in Bangalore, Boston, Shanghai, and Singapore. Along with individual science and technology counselors around the world, we work on behalf of Switzerland to expand education, research, and innovation. Vital financial support is provided by donors and sponsors sharing swissnex San Francisco’s commitment to connecting the dots. swissnex San Francisco is a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas in science, education, art, and innovation. Through our public events and study tours, we highlight the best of Swiss and North American ingenuity and create opportunities for networking among our diverse group of professional contacts in the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and beyond. We offer workspace in the heart of downtown San Francisco and the resources to help international guests, start-ups, university outposts, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and other visitors succeed. Our global perspective and local expertise allow swissnex San Francisco to anticipate and nurture fruitful collaborations and align the best academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, artists, and thought leaders so that relationships and partnerships can flourish. Working under several mandates, we also help build the presence of Swiss innovators on the world stage. We believe that unexpected outcomes can lead to the brightest achievements, and we encourage the cross-pollination of ideas through the many connections made at swissnex San Francisco.