Video/Sound Performance with Andrew Neumann

December 6, 2024

Public Program

A woman’ s face and torso, turned 45 degrees towards the camera, is shown inside (or in front of) a studio space filled with electronic equipment. The woman is half substance and half outline: her shirt is solid, but most her face is a window into another image that shows neatly looped cables hanging on a wall. There is something amiss about the studio space too: while objects such as a tripod can be clearly discerned, other portions feature inverted tones and other forms of electronic manipulation.

Steina, Orbital Obsessions, 1975–77 (still). Single-channel video, with sound; 24:24 min. Courtesy the artist and BERG Contemporary, Reykjavík

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In conjunction with Steina: Playback please join the MIT List Visual Arts Center and MIT Art, Culture and Technology for an evening of experimental sound and visual performance, “The Predictability of Unpredictability*…” by Andrew Neumann.

This performance, originally conceived as a small system designed for solo improvisation has for the past year been going through a series of new permutations; sonically, structurally, and physically. Employing a Buchla Music System as the main sound source, this analog synthesizer works in conjunction with a custom designed video switching system controlled by a laptop, allowing the system to cut and manipulate video cameras and prerecorded images in real time. The notion of “unpredictability” in this scenario is, one may assume predictably high!

About the Artist

Andrew Neumann is an American artist who works in a variety of media, including sculpture, film, video installation, and electronic/interactive music. His work is concerned with developing hybrid systems that integrate sound, image and text into performative and installation situations. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004. He has had one-person shows at bitforms Gallery, NYC, the DeCordova Museum, the Boston Cyberarts Festival. His single channel videos have been shown on PBS, The Worldwide Video Festival, Artist Space, Microscope Gallery, and elsewhere. He has been awarded residencies at The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Ucross Foundation, STEIM, Harvestworks, NYC, and elsewhere. He has had solo music/video performances at numerous venues, including Experimental Intermedia and Roulette, both in NYC.