monochrom

monochrom is an Austrian art collective, publishing house, and film company founded in Vienna in 1993 by artist Johannes Grenzfurthner and a rotating group of collaborators. The organization operates across disciplines and is known for projects that fuse visual art, performance, theory, and satire to examine technology, media, and politics. Its work often adopts an ethnographic or documentary veneer to critique contemporary culture and power relations.

Core members have included Grenzfurthner and Boris Nieslony, among others, and the collective functions as a loose network rather than a fixed formal troupe. monochrom runs its own publishing program, releasing books, magazines, and artist editions through the monochrom Verlag imprint, in addition to producing films, installations, and performances.

Projects typically explore themes such as digital culture, consumerism, gender and sexuality, and subcultural phenomena, using provocative humor and conceptual experimentation. The group has presented internationally at galleries, festivals, and academic venues, and their output has contributed to discussions in contemporary art, media theory, and cultural studies.

monochrom’s approach blends satire with critical inquiry, often deploying faux ethnography, arch humor, and interdisciplinary collaboration to challenge assumptions about technology and society. The organization continues to produce new works and publications, maintaining a presence in European avant-garde circles and influencing younger artists engaged with media critique and speculative futures.