Commissioned by EMPAC, and recorded in and around Troy, New York—the birthplace of archetypal character Uncle Sam—True Fictions: New Adventures in Folklore fused documentary film making, live and electronic music, animation, and motion graphics with innovative digital video performance tools. Taking American folklore as a departure point for this performance, this UK-based collective tackled questions of how personal, political, and national myths evolve from subjective stories into widely held truths. True Fictions: New Adventures in Folklore was developed over the course of a year, as the artists developed a collage of documentary footage, interviews, and music recorded in Troy and across the rest of the state of New York: from Troy’s Uncle Sam’s Day Parade to a cramped music studio in Brooklyn, to an upstate Native American reservation and more. 

The Light Surgeons were founded in London in 1995 by artist and filmmaker Christopher Thomas Allen with like-minded media artists and filmmakers; they specialize in creative content for video productions, live performances, and installation-based projects. They develop new forms of cross-disciplinary practice through the fusion of film production, animation, motion design, and the application of creative code and cutting-edge tools.

Musica Elettronica Viva can not be easily defined as one band but closer to a movement based around the idea of free improvisation in the form of experimental, electronic jazz. Join us for a rare performance featuring MEV members Alvin Curran, Frederic Rzewski, and Richard Teitelbaum, -- experience the best of electronic improvisation by these music pioneers. Know your roots!

Composer/performer Richard Teitelbaum is well known for his pioneering work in live electronic music, and his early explorations of intercultural improvisation and composition. He received his master's degree in theory and composition from Yale in 1964. After continuing his composition studies with Luigi Nono on a Fulbright in Italy, he co-founded the pioneering live electronic music group Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) with Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Curran in Rome in 1966, bringing the first Moog synthesizer to Europe the following year. He has performed his works at Berlin's Philharmonic Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Almeida Theater in London, the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and elsewhere throughout the world. In 2002 he received a Guggenheim to create Z'vi, his second opera in a projected trilogy dealing with Jewish mystical expressions of redemptive hopes. Z'vi has been performed at Bard College, the Venice Biennale and most recently at the Center for Jewish History in New York in April 2005. Teitelbaum has received numerous other awards, including the Ars Electronica Prize from the Austrian Radio in 1986, two Fulbrights, grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, and commissions from several German radio stations and the Venice Biennale. In 2004 he was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University to compose an interactive instrumental and computer work for the Da Capo Chamber Players, to be premiered in New York during the 2006-2007 season. His many recordings include: Golem: an Interactive Opera, on Tzadik; The Sea Between on Victo; Live at Merkin Hall with Anthony Braxton on Music and Arts; Concerto Grosso with Braxton and George Lewis on Hat Art; and Apogee with Musica Elettronica Viva and AMM Music on Matchless. Teitelbaum is also a Professor of Music at Bard College where he co-chairs the music department of the Master of Fine Arts Program. 

Avant-garde composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski studied with many of the best-known names in 20th century music: Randall Thompson, Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, Luigi Dallapiccola, and Elliott Carter. Rzewski studied at Harvard and Princeton and taught at schools including the Royal Conservatory of Music at Liege and Yale. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in 1960 and co-founded Musica Elettronica Viva in Rome in 1966. A virtuoso pianist, much of Rzewski's music is written for piano, including what is arguably his best-known work, the politically driven "The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (36 variations on "El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido")" (1975), which pushes the extreme of both instrument and pianist. Rzewski has written works that explore timbres in not only the piano, but also in electronics and incorporating spoken word. An example of this type of experimental voicing is "Coming Together," written for speaking voice and instrumental octet, commemorating the uprising at New York's Attica State Prison. The text comes from a prisoner involved in the riot who later died and the combination of emotional text with instrumental work employing extended techniques, silence, and unique instrumental sounds allow for a unique type of emotional response to the music itself.

American composer Alvin Curran co-founded the group Musica Elettronica Viva and has been active with solo performances, international radio concerts and large-scale sound installations since the 1960s. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Curran studied composition under Ron Nelson at Brown University, and afterward with Elliott Carter at Yale. After completing his studies -- which also included piano and trombone -- in 1963, Curran went with Carter to Berlin, where he remained for a year before moving to Rome. In 1966, Curran co-founded the free music collective Musica Elettronica Viva with Richard Teitelbaum and Frederic Rzewski. In the '70s, Curran focused on solo performances that utilized keyboards, taped sounds, voice and more; over the years, he has also performed on sampler and electronics. The '80s found Curran creating large-scale environmental works in quarries, ports, caverns, on lakes, etc. During this time, he also staged radio concerts of three and six ensembles performing simultaneously from various parts of Europe. From 1990 on, Curran has occasionally collaborated on sound installations with artist Melissa Gould. He has also worked with dance companies and composed for avant-garde theater in Rome. Curran's instrumental works have been commissioned by Kronos Quartet, Aki Takahashi, Rova, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and more. Some of his awards include those from Ars Acoustica International, NPR and the NEA. He taught briefly at the Academia Nazionale d'Arts, and starting in the mid-90s served as guest professor at California's Mills College. Recordings of Curran's works appear on several labels, including CRI, New Albion and Tzadik.

Join us for an evening of surreal music videos by the likes of Björk, Beck, The Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Amon Tobin and Aphex Twin …all viewed from the comfort of cozy couches at the Heffner Alumni House.

In the past decade, the structure of the short snappy music video has not only become fodder for the likes of the commercial MTV set, but a goldmine for major artists and film directors to work with – and within – the limitations of the specific structure of the music video clip.

Consequently, many music videos have begun to look more like an art form reminiscent of the short film genre than a commercial product.

Please note‚ Entr´acte (1924) a 13–minute surreal film by René Clair will precede the compilation of music videos‚ so be sure to arrive on time e to catch the dreamy ancestors of contemporary music video.

The Video Lineup

Sky Starts Falling

Music: The Doves

Director: Reuben Sutherland

Courtesy: EMI Records and Joyrider Films

E Pro

Music: Beck

Director: Shynola

Courtesy: The Directors Bureau and Interscope Records

Tribulations

Music: LCD soundsystem

Director: Dougal Wilson

Courtesy: DFA Records and Colonel Blimp

Just Briefly

Music: Daedelus

Director: Dada Kingz

Courtesy: Ninja Tune/Plug Research

Will The Summer Make Good For All of Our Sins?

Music: Múm

Director: Marc Craste

Courtesy: studio aka

Fortress

Music: Pinback

Director: Elliot Jokelson w/ Loyalkaspar

Courtesy: Touch and Go

4 Ton Mantis

Music: Amon Tobin

Director: Floria Sigismondi

Courtesy: Ninja Tune

Human

Music: Carpark North

Director: Martin De Thurah

Courtesy: EMI Denmark

Destroy Everything You Touch

Music: Ladytron

Director: Adam Bartley

Courtesy: Exposure Films, Universal - Island Records and Emperor Norton Records

Triumph of a Heart

Music: Björk

Director: Spike Jonze

Courtesy: Atlantic Records

What Else is There?

Music: Röyksopp

Director: Martin De Thurah

Courtesy: Wall of Sound and Academy Films

Come to Daddy

Music: Aphex Twin

Director: Chris Cunningham

Courtesy: Warp Records

Rebellion

Music: The Arcade Fire

Courtesy: Spy Entertainment

Hyperballad

Music: Björk

Director: Michel Gondry

Courtesy: One Little Indian Records

Hayling

Music: FC Kahuna

Director: Lynn Fox

Courtesy: Colonel Blimp

German artists Wolfgang Münch & Kiyoshi Furukawa present bubbles, an interactive installation for the whole family.

Interacting with virtual bubbles is quite simple...you just walk in front of the projectors light beam and cast your shadow onto the projection screen. The bubbles will recognize this shadow and bounce off its outlines, at the same time emitting certain sound effects. By moving your body and its resultant shadow you can play with these bubbles and the sound composition.

In a subtle manner, the work addresses the aesthetics of interaction on several levels: There is the body itself, which is usually left out when it comes to human-computer-interaction. In bubbles, it is central - users interact with the work *as* bodies, not only making themselves known as 'being there', but rather projecting their concrete body outlines onto the screen as a means of interaction. It's the body's shadow - a cultural icon in its own right - which is being used as an analog 'interfacing device' to interact with a completely digital world of its own, the simulated objects on a projection screen. The data projector, the spectator's body, and the screen itself serve as an 'analog computer' that computes the size of the shadow on the screen; the distances and spatial relationships of these elements crucially contribute to the overall experience of the work. Finally, there is the simulation algorithm itself that defines the completely artificial, two-dimensional world of the screen.

Computer simulations and shadows share the property of a certain irreality; bubblescelebrates the encounter of these two deficient reality modes: the traces of solid bodies meet the fleeting results of program code, the latter being the equivalent of an 'essence' in advanced information societies.

The work presents itself in a light, almost innocent fashion. The initial idea was to create a user tracking interface that is as simple as possible. Insofar as the bubbles react in a predictable manner when they encounter a shadow, it takes no effort for participants to observe the effects on the installation of their respective movements in real space. Ironically, while the technical requirements are in fact moderate and the setup relatively simple, bubbles also displays illusionist qualities in that the 'story' is obvious while the way it's done remains oblique. Spectators learn how to interact with the system very quickly and get involved in dancing, playing, and other kinds of odd behaviour, while the 'how'-question often remains unresolved.

In terms of computer programming, bubbles is a small complex system composed of simple autonomous objects. Each bubble is paired with a script object that defines its behaviour according to the physical laws of gravitation, acceleration and air circulation. Virtual air streams influence the bubbles' drifting movements across the projection surface. A number of the parameters needed for the bubbles' description is further used to generate the nonlinear musical structures with commands to a midi-synthesizer. To obtain the position of a shadow, the generated image is continuously compared with camera input. Where the two clearly differ, there must be a shadow: below a certain level of brightness the program performs a routine at which the bubble bounces back.

bubbles describes a playful interaction between man and machine: the participant's shadow in the light beam of the data projector creates an interface reminiscent of traditional shadow play theater. Positioned at the intersection of physicality and virtuality, bubbles displays the shadow, which is nothing but the partial absence of light, as a surprisingly dynamic force.

bubbles at the Concourse in Empire State Plaza

Dates: April 20th - May 27th, 2004
Hours: 7pm - 11pm

bubbles will be located on the Main Concourse of the Empire State Plaza between the Bus Terminal and the State Museum. The Concourse is open from 7am to 11pm, and main business hours are roughly 8am to 8pm. Parking is available either on the street across from the State Museum or in the parking garages underneath the Concourse. Bring a Photo License to park underneath the Concourse as it is a State Facility.

bubbles at the Troy Junior Museum

Dates: November 19, 2005–April 23, 2006
Hours: Thurs. 10am - 2pm, Fri-Sun 10am - 5pm

bubbles will be at the Junior Museum for the foreseeable future. Admission is $6 per person over 3 years of age and free for Museum Members. The Museum is located at 105 8th Street in Troy, NY, directly across from the future location of EMPAC.

Wolfgang Münch was born 1963 in Karlsruhe, Germany. He studied Fine Arts at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany and at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria. Since 1996 he developed software for various projects of the ZKM Institute for Visual Media such as the interactive visitors information system "Panoramic Navigator" and the publication series 'Artintact' and 'Digital Arts Edition'. Lecturer for Interactive Media at Merz Academy Stuttgart [University of Applied Arts], Germany from 1997 to 2002. Artist in residence at ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe (Germany) in 2002, The Hongkong Arts Centre in 2003 and IAMAS Institute for Advanced Media Arts and Science (Japan) in 2003. He is appointed Senior Lecturer for Media Arts at Lasalle-Sia College for the Arts (Singapore) in 2003.

Lives in Singapore and Karlsruhe, Germany.

Kiyoshi Furukawa was born 1959 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied composition with Y. Irino in Japan and with I. Yun and G. Ligeti at the Music Academy in Berlin and Hamburg. He was also a guest composer at Stanford University, USA, in 1991 and artist in residence at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany. He has been awarded numerous awards and scholarships including the "Ensemblia" in Moenchengladbach [1983]; the "PRISMA Prize", Hamburg [1990]; "Siemens Project Scholarship" [1992 | 1993]; the "North German Radio [NDR] Music Prize" [1994]. Since 2000 he has been assigned as an Associate Professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music [Faculty of Inter-Media Art].

Lives in Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

A two-day festival celebrating 40+ years of evocative creation featuring performances the classic and contemporary works by the original members of The San Francisco Tape Music Center (Bill Maginnis, Tony Martin, Pauline Oliveros, Ramon Sender, and Morton Subotnick) with The Ensemble Sospeso and a percussion ensembles under the direction of Brian Wilson.

Integrating the radical sensibilities of the avant-garde and the counterculture of the 1960s with the arts, film, and performance practices, the members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center (SFTMC) created art with impact that is still being felt today. Formed in 1961 by Pauline Oliveros (now Arts Department faculty at Rensselaer), and Ramon Sender, Morton Subtonick, Tony Martin, and Bill Maginnis, the SFTMC has collaborated with artists including Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young. The SFTMC's "do it yourself" ethos and commitment to experimentation has made them some of the most forward-thinking artists of our time. Their pioneering work with electronic music, as well as mixing film and images with sound during a performance, has set the bar for all that has come since.

The five principal members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center converged on the RPI Playhouse on Friday, October 1st and Saturday, October 2nd, 2004 to perform concerts showcasing both celebrated SFTMC works and modern pieces. This event was a historical SFTMC retrospective. The early monumental pieces remain vital and groundbreaking, and the performances of the artists' current works allowed us to experience the thriving energy of their ongoing artistic research.

VIDEO

Program

• Pauline Oliveros and Tony Martin, Circuitry for 5 percussionists and lights
• Morton Subotnick, Until Spring Revisited for laptop and 8-channel audio
• Tony Martin, Silent Light with images and light projections
• Ramon Sender, Tropical Fish Opera for fish and four musicians
• Morton Subotnick, Mandolin for viola, piano, tape with visual composition and performance by Tony Martin
• Pauline Oliveros, Bye, bye Butterfly for tape with visual composition and performance by Tony Martin
• Ramon Sender, Great Grandpa Lemuel's Death-Rattle Reincarnation Blues
• Pauline Oliveros, Apple Box Double
• Ramon Sender, Kore for tape with with visual composition and performance by Tony Martin
• Ramon Sender, Desert Ambulance for accordion, tape, with visual composition and performance by Tony Martin
• Morton Subotnick, Release for clarinet, violin, cello, piano and 8-channel computer
• Pauline Oliveros, Pauline's Solo for accordion and eight channel Expanded Instrument System (EIS)

THERE IS STILL TIME..BROTHER is the Wooster Group’s first interactive 360° war film. Sitting inside a panoramic screen, the audience is surrounded by the film’s bewildering narrative space, where the action can only be seen and heard clearly through a virtual peephole that scans the circle, controlled by a member of the audience. The audience becomes immersed in a process of discovery whereby the very choice to look or turn away actually creates the story. This installation—which takes its title from a banner visible in the final scene of Stanley Kramer’s 1959 film, On the Beach, depicting a post-nuclear apocalypse Earth—is a film about war and the ways that individuals respond to war. Seated in a revolving chair in the center of the 360° space, audience members take turns controlling a virtual “window” to highlight discrete aspects of a story about British and French troops battling for control of Fort Calypso (a battle site in the French and Indian War); joining the battle are grotesquely enlarged children’s toys vying for attention with politically minded blog-gers, unsavory YouTube videos, and a mercurial host who attempts to articulate the implications of this unique “narrative space.” With each viewing, a new cinematic experience is spun out of the choices of individual audience members. 

Initiated in 2003 as EMPAC’s first commissioned work, THERE IS STILL TIME..BROTHER took four years of development and production to complete, including technological research and collaboration with international partners in Australia and Germany. It was directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and developed with Jeffrey Shaw for his interactive panoramic cinema.

The Wooster Group is a collective of artists who make new work for the theater. Under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte and with its associates and staff, the group has created over 40 works for theater, dance, and media. For more than 30 years, the Wooster Group has cultivated new forms and techniques of theatrical expression reflective of and responsive to our evolving culture, while sustaining a consistent ensemble and maintaining a flexible repertory. Elizabeth LeCompte has directed all of the Wooster Group’s productions since the founding of the company in 1976. Jeffrey Shaw has been a leading figure in new media art since its emergence from the performance, expanded cinema, and installation paradigms of the ’60s to its present day technology-informed and virtualized forms.