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I am a Swiss based author, historian and artist . Over the years I have focused on an extensive and diverse range of subjects, including the history of the Internet, prostitution, the labor movement, advertising, feminism, media theory, U.S. influence on European culture and numerous other social, cultural and political topics. Although my research topics have been pretty varied, a clear leitmotiv runs through all of my work: mediacy. It is based on my curiosity about people`s lives, on the pleasure I take in carrying out extensive research based on a unique approach, and on my ambition to turn complex content into accessible and gripping narratives. After my dissertation on domestic workers at the University of Zurich, I began working for Swiss National Television (SRF), initially as a presenter and later as a reporter, producer and documentary film-maker. From 2004 to 2011, I was head of program for Kulturplatz, a weekly magazine on contemporary culture, and BoxOffice, a program about the movies. Among my publications are: Leaving Reality Behind: etoy vs eToys.com & Other Battles to Control Cyberspace (NY, 2002): Co-authored with Adam Wishart, this book tells the story of the legal battle between a Swiss-based group of young artists and a Californian toy retailer in the early days of the Internet. It examines the antagonists` divergent vision of the Internet, which ultimately led to a widely-publicized court case, and takes a look at the ideas and the technology that shaped the Internet in its early days. Ich folgte meinem Stern. Das kämpferische Leben der Margarethe Hardegger (2004): I Followed My Star: The Combative Life of Margarethe Hardegger is the biography of the exceptional woman who was elected first female secretary of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) in 1904. Hardegger fought tirelessly for decent work conditions and women`s rights, yet was eventually ousted from her position because of her advocacy of free love and contraception at a time when women were not even permitted to bare their ankles. Among my exhibitions are: Orange Garden. The History of Migros, Zürich-Rüschlikon (2012): The exhibition about Migros, one of Switzerland`s largest retailers, is a permanent "digital only" display in a pavilion on the outskirts of Zurich. It features an interactive video wall made up of 120 short films that I edited drawing from film archive material, and an interactive table display with 150 richly-illustrated anecdotes on the unusual history of this successful cooperative. Wertes Fräulein, was kosten Sie? Prostitution in Zürich, 1875–1925, Swiss National Museum Bärengasse, Zürich (2003): Focused on the history of prostitution in Zurich, this exhibition received so much media coverage in Switzerland and Germany that would-be visitors had to be turned away on weekends due to the overflow crowds. 100 Jahre Schweizer Werbefilm, Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (1998): Following several years of research in business archives and advertising agencies I set up this exhibition on the history of Swiss advertising films for Switzerland`s leading design museum, including an extensive catalogue that goes by the same title. Detailled biographical information is available on my website - alas only in German. |