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RPI facility to host special events in several mediums
TROY, N.Y. » The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center has announced its fall 2017 season schedule, with plenty in store for event-goers
ocated on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus, EMPAC will present a full slate of concerts, theatrical productions, dance performances, film screenings, talks and workshops this fall.
The season kicks off Monday with the opening of Martine Syms’ “An Evening with Queen White.” Open for viewing during standard building hours through Sept. 6, the augmented reality installation will introduce visitors to the virtual character Queen White, based in part on Motown legend Maxine Powell. Filmed with VR technology and then splintered between an array of projection screens in EMPAC Studio 1, the piece encourages visitors to explore the space, filling in the missing pieces of the film using a custom smartphone app.
On the final night of the installation, Syms will screen her new featurelength video, “Incense, Sweaters, and Ice,” the first edition in the fourpart “Other Uses” film series. Named for the kaleidoscopic work of Puerto Rican director Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (Other Uses No. 4, set for Nov. 30), the series will also feature the works of Marwa Arsanios, Morgan Fisher, Mohammad Fauzi, Deimantas Narkevicius, Hito Steyerl (Other Uses No. 2 on Oct. 5), and Doa Aly, Yto Barrada, Joan Jonas, Shelly Silver, Ana Vaz, and Joyce Wieland (Other Uses No. 3 on Oct. 19).
Theater maker Andrew Schneider returns Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 for the world premiere of “AFTER,” the follow up to his Obie Awardwinning show “YOUARENOWHERE.” Known for mind-bending stage effects, Schneider has worked at EMPAC over the past year developing both the content and technology for the new show. This will mark the first time EMPAC’s Wave Field Synthesis 3D sound technology has been used in the theatrical context.
On Sept. 8, Chicago dance music experimentalist Hieroglyphic Being will perform an extended set of his trademark outer- orbit house music. This is the first of the season’s electronic dance parties in EMPAC Studio 1. On October 20, UK techno legend Actress will share the stage with up-and-coming Swedish DJ Toxe.
UC Berkeley media theorist Abigail De Kosnik will present a talk Sept. 13, “The Media Crease: Traces of Reuse in Hard and Soft Copies.” Considering the ways that traditional media show their use through physical evidence such as folded pages and deepened vinyl grooves, De Kosnik will consider similar effects in the digital landscape, such as retweets, glitches and erasure.
The work of German composer Enno Poppe will take center stage Sept. 22. Performed by New Yorkbased ensemble Yarn/Wire, the evening will feature the world premiere of “Feld,” a commission by EMPAC, as well as “Tonband,” Poppe’s co- composition with Wolfgang Heiniger.
Last spring, the artistic duo Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz worked in residence to create a new film based on a score by the late composer and RPI professor Pauline Oliveros. On Sept. 28, they will screen the final work, “Telepathic Improvisation,” which calls for the audience to telepathically communicate with the performers, lights and fleet of autonomous white cubes.
On Oct. 6, choreographer Elena Demyanenko and filmmaker Erika Mijlin will offer a work-in- progress preview of “Echo/Archive,” a project the duo is developing in residence to explore the notion of “bodily heritage,” how movement vocabularies are passed between generations. As with all EMPAC work-in-progress presentations, admission is free.
The Mary Armentrout Dance Theater will offer its own work-in-progress presentation of its developing work, “Listening Creates an Opening,” on Oct. 27. A mobile work that traverses the RPI campus and integrates time-lapse photography, the piece will receive its premiere in fall 2018.
Microsoft’s HoloLens is quickly becoming the leading platform for “mixed reality” experience, and on Nov. 1, the HoloLens will be available to demonstrate all day on the EMPAC mezzanine, followed by an evening talk by Microsoft developer Kayla Kinnunen. Titled “Microsoft’s HoloLens and the Future of HumanComputer Interaction,” the event will ask participants to help imagine new applications for this emerging technology.
“My Paradoxical” Knives is the title of Iranian artist Ali Moini’s solo dance, to be performed in the EMPAC lobby on Nov. 9. Based on Persian poetry and the dance of the whirling dervish, Moini’s work draws on cultural tradition to explore themes of distance and intimacy. The performance marks a residence during which Moini will be developing his new work, “Intentions.”
Laure Prouvost, a Turner Prize-winning Belgian artist best known for her films and gallery installations, will be working in residence this fall to develop her first major commission for the stage. On Nov. 16, she’ll offer a work-in-progress preview of this new project, “They Are Waiting for You.”
Mexican multimedia artist Laura Luna will present a concert Nov. 17 specifically designed in and for EMPAC’s concert hall. Working with synthesizers, field recordings, a modded Atari computer and more, Luna creates surreal audio worlds based on science fiction and magical realism.
On Dec. 1, filmmaker Ephraim Asili will offer a work-in- progress screening and discussion of his new feature- length film, “Inheritance,” based on an urban collective of activists of color. Asili is in resi-- dence to develop the script with an ensemble cast and will take the audience behind the scenes of the film’s production.
Closing out the season will be Iranian hand-drumming virtuoso Mohammad Reza Mortazavi on Dec. 8. Regarded as a world master of the traditional Persian drum, the Tombak, Mortazavi will make a rare American appearance in the EMPAC concert hall.
In addition to these performances, EMPAC will be offering free building tours on the first Saturday of each month, with EMPAC director Johannes Goebel leading visitors through his initial vision for the space on Sept. 2. On Oct. 7, lead au- dio engineer Todd Vos will show visitors the acoustic features of the building, as well as the sophisticated recording infrastructure. On Nov. 4, stage technologies director Geoff Abbas will demonstrate the versatility of each performance space, taking visitors through the ceiling grid and into the theater fly tower. And on Dec. 2, curators Victoria Brooks, Ashley Ferro-Murray and Argeo Ascani will lead a tour of the building with an eye and ear toward the programmatic capabilities of each space.
Each tour begins at 2 p.m.
The entire EMPAC calendar with further details can be viewed at empac.rpi.edu.