On the evening of Friday, April 5th we are delighted to present digital media artist Greg Kowalski (MA), experimental musicians Mykel Boyd and Chelsea Heike’s (IL) duo project post doom romance, improvisational cellist Nora Barton’s solo project Planchette (OH), and guitarist/improviser Esther-Belle Angeles (CMH). Doors 7:30pm, show begins at 8:00pm sharp. $9.25 prepaid, $10 at the door.
Supporters of our 2023-2024 season include the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Columbus Foundation.
About the artists:
The work of Lowell, Massachusetts-based digital media artist Greg Kowalski lies at the intersection of theater and performance art. His performance pieces incorporate interactive video projection systems of his own design that use movement or light to create live visuals. The ability to create images through performance is essential to his concept of live projection. Greg uses his systems to create sound-image-movement interaction performances for solo pieces and collaborations. His Light Table is a light-reactive device which generates sounds. and visuals which he terms “digital action painting”. The Scroll Apparatus is a machine he devised which translates patterns on a scroll into sound and visuals. The patterns on the scroll are like a graphic score which is cranked through the machine to generate complex sounds and visuals projected on a screen. Greg also created a “digital painting” system which uses an infrared light to “paint” on a projection screen in real time. He has performed in numerous venues throughout the U.S. as well as at online events during the Covid pandemic. In addition to solo performances he has collaborated with numerous sound artists creating video projections for their music using his Light Table and other audio-reactive systems. These include Dave Seidel, Bonnie Kane, Jack Wright, Birdorgan, Mitch Ahern, Id m TheftAble and Steve Norton among others.
What Mykel Boyd and seah (Chelsea Heikes) have in common when forming their collaborative artist group, post doom romance, is a keen eye and ear for textures. In both sound and image, they have been solo artists working both in the music industry and the fine arts world. Together, they produce sound, video, and still image compositions that are sensitively layered and textural. Their aesthetic is such that they do not heavy-handedly depict. Rather, they ruminate together in the feeling space of both literary and physical spaces, building their aural and visual language through subtle layering of manipulated field recordings. In November of 2021 post doom romance started “prairie transmissions”, a 13 part audio/visual cycle through 11 months, exploring the inner / outer vibrations of the landscape we inhabit. These recordings were captured, processed, layered, manipulated and composed in the prairies around our home over the course of one year. This cycle takes the listener through our audio landscape filtered through our ears. A document of time / space / feeling. An attempt to witness the land, its memories, vibrations and gradient shifts. A transmission from where we are, to where you are.
Nora Barton is a cellist, recording artist, event producer and educator based in northern Kentucky. She recently returned to the state from Chicago, where she performed in symphonies, rock bands, avante-garde ensembles, theater productions, and more, for 15 years. Her performance practice has surpassed the barriers established by classical training and allowed her to pursue a wide array of genres, with collaborations ranging from experimental improvisation to dancing around with an amplified cello in a punk marching band. Upon her return to the Cincinnati region in 2021 she continued to cultivate creative collaborative opportunities to further explore the benefits of listening to cello. Nora regularly accompanies yoga classes, hosts ambient noise jams and performs often as Planchette, an experimental solo project that enriches spaces with ethereal cello energy. She also enjoys teaching cello and piano to beginners of all ages. Matthew Shelton (Flex Your Love Muscles) will be providing live projected visuals during Nora’s set.
Esther-Belle Angeles is a guitar and effects based improvisation act, creating washes of ambience to harsh noise and back again.