Klaus Nomi

Klaus Nomi, the musician-artist who was spawned from the 80's counterculture in New York City. He was a German countertenor who had a passion for opera and new wave music. He was like an alien, and maintained that persona throughout his career as a performer. He inspired the likes of David Bowie and Jean-Michel Basquiat to work with him because of his amazing blend of opera and pop. He really is an artist who held design as a conversation in his work. He created a signature tuxedo costume that was a larger than life that he wore to all of his performances. He created music that was more than just music, but a vaudeville performance and really made others around him question it. He caused there to be a stir in the music and art world with his strange ingenuity and thus created a conversation surrounding it. His performances were pieces of design within themselves, with replicas of planets and creating an image of Nomi actually being an alien from outer space. To really push the boundaries of that scene in the 80’s allowed his work to be recognized and make his audience question what his art was about. He challenged his fans to really think about what he as a person was and what his strange hybrid music was too. He is a perfect example of having design as a conversation because of his interaction with his audience as more of a challenge to them to understand what was going on, rather than telling them directly.