Hans Unstern

Hans Unstern is a multitude who writes songs, builds musical instruments, releases albums and radio plays, and gives dazzling performances. On ›DIVEN‹, their latest album, you will find contrasexual love songs, multispecies meditations on time, and the unabashed poetry of the experiential spaces of mismatched bodies. Made for the big stage, Hans Unstern’s lyrics oscillate between modern fairy tales, criticism of the myth of the gender binarity, and of their own working conditions in capitalism – and beyond. Since the album ›The Great Hans Unstern Swindle‹, issued a good ten years ago, Hans Unstern has been crafting unconventional harps in their underground workshop – most recently, the electro-acoustic V-Harp, consisting of eight different modules that generate all the sounds heard in their concerts. Hans Unstern runs the gamut from lyrical gentleness to moments of punk, from pompous slide harp clouds to improvised sequences.

In 2023, Hans Unstern is the recipient of one of the two domestic residencies at HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden.

Hans Unstern wird im Gesicht mit einem Puderpinsel geschminkt
Hans Unstern, photo: Jule Flierl