About EMPAC
The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) opened its doors in 2008 and was hailed by the New York Times as a “technological pleasure dome for the mind and senses… dedicated to the marriage of art and science as it has never been done before.”
Founded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, EMPAC offers artists, scholars, researchers, engineers, designers, and audiences opportunities for creative exploration that are available nowhere else under a single roof. EMPAC operates nationally and internationally, attracting creative individuals from around the world and sending new artworks and innovative ideas onto the global stage.
EMPAC’s building is a showcase work of architecture and a unique technological facility that boasts unrivaled presentation and production capabilities for art and science spanning the physical and virtual worlds and the spaces in between.
EMPAC Staff
Johannes Goebel, Director
Johannes Goebel joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as director of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in July 2002. He holds a tenured position as professor in the Arts Department and in the School of Architecture.
Goebel is the founding director of the Institute for Music and Acoustics at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany. The ZKM is a center for art and media and a forum for international exchange that combines art with research in engineering, science and art. Johannes Goebel brings to EMPAC his experience as composer, producer, and mentor of intermedia art and interdisciplinary research.
As the director for EMPAC, Goebel is working closely with the building designers to shape the final stages of EMPAC’s design, and will conceive, implement, and manage its artistic programming.
Goebel will relate advanced technology to the arts, and work with Rensselaer’s artists in electronic media and with researchers in traditional academic disciplines who are interested in research and scholarly collaborations with artists.
S. Argeo Ascani, Curator, Music
S. Argeo Ascani is a musician, educator, and curator dedicated to exploring the sonic unknown in all its forms. He has been active creator of new works, engaging in every step from conception and development to presentation and documentation. Currently Argeo is the Curator for Music at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, NY. Prior to joining EMPAC, he could be found performing internationally as both a soloist and as a chamber musician. Argeo has lectured at conservatories and universities on topics such as experimental compositional techniques and new music performance practice. In 2006, he joined the Music History department at the Manhattan School of Music and in 2008 joined the Contemporary Performance Program. Argeo holds a master’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music.
Ash Bulayev, Curator, Dance + Theater
Ash Bulayev is a curator and a producer who for the past 15 years has worked in Europe and New York City. He is the artistic director of amorphy.org, a company working at the cross section of performing arts, new media, and research in collaborative processes.
From 2003 to 2009, Bulayev worked and lived in Greece, where he co-founded amorphy.org in collaboration with choreographer Tzeni Argyriou. He has created and produced: PLEAS[E]NTER (2011); Impossible Interviews Draft B (2009); The Cave (2009); Impossible Interviews Draft A (2009); AlphaOmega (2008); See You in Walhalla (2006/7); Invisible Cities 1.0 (2005); But Secretly We Thirst (2005); Psycho/Cycle (2004); Shedding (2004); and 1,170,694 (2004).
Bulayev is the recipient of several artist-in-residency programs and fellowships, and from 2006-2007, he was the project initiator and research director for the European Union’s Culture 2000 funded Integration of Media and Performance (i-MAP) project.
He received his MA degree in theatre from DasArts / Amsterdam School of the Arts.
Emily Berçir Zimmerman, Assistant Curator
As assistant curator at EMPAC, Emily Berçir Zimmerman has spearheaded commissions, curated exhibitions such as Uncertain Spectator and Slow Wave: Seeing Sleep, and organized EMPAC’s film series, Cinematic Chimera and The Eternal Return, as well as its ongoing lecture series, Observer Effects: Conversations in Art and Science. Prior to joining EMPAC in 2008, Zimmerman performed various roles for adventurous nonprofit arts organizations in New York City and Philadelphia, including Location One, Creative Time, Eyebeam, InLiquid, and the Institute of Contemporary Art. While living in Philadelphia, she curated several exhibitions and wrote for Art Matters. She holds a BA from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. Zimmerman was voted best emerging curator by Metroland in 2010, and was recently named a Loris Ledis Curatorial Fellow by BRIC Contemporary Arts.
Founding Curatorial Team
Kathleen Forde, Curator, Time-Based Arts
Hélène Lesterlin, Curator, Dance
Micah Silver, Curator, Music
Geoff Abbas, Director for Stage Technologies
Eric Ameres, Senior Research Engineer
Dave Bebb, Senior System Administrator, Network
Peter Bellamy, Senior Systems Programmer
Mick Bello, Video Engineer
Eric Brucker, Lead Video Engineer
John Cook, Box Office Manager
Laura Desposito, Production Administrative Coordinator
Angel Eads, Master Electrician
Zhenelle Falk, Artist Services Coordinator
William Fritz, Master Carpenter
Paula Gaetano, Curatorial Assistant
Kimberly Gardner, Manager, Administrative Operations
Michele Genovesi, Guest Services Coordinator
Ian Hamelin, Project Manager
Ryan Jenkins, Event Technician
Shannon Johnson, Design Director
CathyJo Kile, Business Manager
Stephen McLaughlin, Event Technician
Jason Steven Murphy, Communications Specialist
Andrew Rarig, Graphic Designer
Candice Sherman, Business Coordinator
Avery Stempel, Front of House Manager
Jeff Svatek, Audio Engineer
Stephanie Tribu-Cromme, Event Technician
Todd Vos, Lead Audio Engineer
Peter Wargo, Manager of Information Systems
David Watson, Web Developer