Is it satire, absurd nonsense, laconic denial, or tactical anti-art? The confusion already begins with the name. Who is Bernd Krauß, and who are all the people he seems related to? “Garl Kraus, Werner Krauß, Rosalind Krauss, the soccer player Bernd Krauss, the German Bernd Krauß, the Austrian nationalist Kraus, Karlheinzklaus Kraus of the Bavarian network`s Studio Nuremberg.” With these personal details the artist obviously seeks the nearness of a mistaken identity. The confusion continues with the transmitting station Sender Mittelfranken (Radio Central Franconia), which broadcast for the first time in 2003, operating from a “branch office” in Berlin. The Franconian-born Krauß stays en passant and telemetrically in contact with his birthplace. This local celebrity drew attention to himself as early as 1996 when he produced the videos Deutschland muß sterben (Germany Must Die) and 3:0 für den Club (3:0 for the Club), with its endlessly repeated line of text: “Der Rudi hat gesagt, wir bekommen 10 Mark, wenn es 3.0 für den Club steht” (Rudi said we`d get ten marks if the score is 3:0 for the Club). The laconism and banality of these videos suggested a direction that would sometimes leave the viewers in a clueless state. Is this the stuff a radio station can be made of?

(…) Krauß wrote by hand the titles of the reports as follows: “Adidas Herzklopfen (Adidas Palpitations); Flötenkonzert (Flute Concert); Sandsation (Sand Station); Meisenschaukel (Titmouse Swing); Magic Studio Balcony; Schwedischcassette (Swedish Cassette); Fernsehturm (Radio Tower); Containerdienst (Container Service); Klubfahne (Club Flag); Lieber CallYA Kunde (Dear CallYA Customer); Laubsauger (Vacuum Cleaner for Leaves); Nordostwein-Ausstellung (Northeast Wine Exhibition); Buchtip (Book Tip); (Fernsehturm); Demonstration; Bierwerbung (Beer Ad); Sportreport (Sports Report); (Fernsehturm); Blumenwiese (Flower Meadow); (Fernsehturm); Hausmeister (Superintedent); Videoarchiv (Lebkuchenessen) Video Archive (Eating Gingerbread); Die Blaue Bank (The Blue Bench); Tilly der Trichter (Tilly the Funnel); Silvester am Schweinauer Buck (New Year´s Eve at Schweinauer Buck); (Fernsehturm); Keller Schürer (Cellar Shearer 1); Fränkische Grünkernsuppe (Franconian Spelt Grain Soup); Keller Schürer 2; Autobahnkirche Exter (Freeway Church Exter); Boxbeutel (Box Bag); Rollschuhstart (Roller-skate Start); Amselkonzert (Blackbird Concert); Thüringer Kirchweih (The Thuringian County Fair); Wackelblume (Wobbling Flower); Kartoffelbauer (Potato Farmer) Fahne neu (Flag, new); Die Milchpumpe (The Milk Pump); Bitte Bitte Sheila (Please, Please Sheila); Brazil, and Isar.”
(…) “Until the next broadcast starts we would like to show you some visual material on the Isar River, filmed a bit North of the highway overpass Nuremberg/Munich/Salzburg” (off commentary from the report “Isar”).

(Rudolf Frieling in “2002-04/Sender Mittelfranken Bernd Krauss”; 40yearsvideoart.de; ZKM, K21 and others; Hatje Cantz 2005)