Do Ideas Work ?

Michael Marcovici

Michaels career, not only as an artist, is a rather unusual one: born in 1969 in Vienna, he got interested in technology, especially electronics and mathematics, already when 7 years old. At the age of 12 he worked as a programmer. He quit school at 17 and started his first own business in the financial field, publishing analysis on the financial markets and managing funds, until he sold his business at the age of 23. The following 3 years he spent climbing and hiking in Africa, USA, Asia, and all over Europe. From 1995 on he was the publisher of werk-zeug, a technology and art magazine, as well as streetfashion, a magazine featuring fashionable people on the streets all over the world. He was also active in the field of software development, is the originator of many inventions, and holds international patents ranging from climbing equipment and bicycle gears to trading systems and electronic payment systems. Already in 2001, Michael decided to sell his companies to start his career in arts and works as he calls it. In the very same year though, he started a side business on eBay that eventually became the world's largest powerselling enterprise on eBay, a company with 80 employees and a turnover of 30 million euros a year. In early 2005, the company went bankrupt, and Michael lost all his money in the process. Never shying away from new challenges, he decided to write a book about the company and its end: English and German versions of ″The end of EBay″ are available through Amazon here. Qentis' bankruptcy also had its good sides: finally, Michael could concentrate on his art and private studies. Michael’s works are the result of a rich live and a long history of ideas. The artist about his work: ″there is no way to (mate)realize all the plans and projects I have on my mind in one lifetime- I can only pick the best and feasible″. His work touches a broad variety of fields such as technology, politics, science, social topics, and style.