NewsThis Fall, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in Troy, New York presents a full schedule of performances, screenings, installations, festivals, and talks in which funk meets Futurism, vacation days are documented and dissected, hip hop hits the theater stage and Andy Warhol's film Sleep becomes the backdrop for a slumber party. Following the resounding success of our first year in the new building, the upcoming events build off that momentum while continuing to push people's expectations. Whether there is an event happening or not, EMPAC is the place to be. With ongoing public installations and exhibits set up on the mezzanine, within the 360-degree screen and hidden off the beaten path, you will be able to discover new works created here by artists in residence. It all starts off with Contact Ensemble's Elevated on Thursday September 3, an evening of music by composer David Lang, accompanying (or accompanied by) a film by a major visual artist. Next up is the Japanese noise / percussive psychedelic group Boredoms with Atlanta's ambient punk band Deerhunter on Friday September 11. The latter is the premiere of the New Nothing series, which tackles the (age-old) complaint that there is nothing new happening in music, all while in a physically transformed concert hall. EMPAC will also continue to support the creative and intellectual work of the Rensselaer community with performances, lectures and research projects. To stay on top of everything that EMPAC is up to this Fall, point your browser to our website (updated frequently) at http://www.empac.rpi.edu/.
Fall 2009 EMPAC events
Contact Ensemble, Elevated
Thursday September 3, 8 PM
7 PM Pre-concert talk
Composer and Bang on a Can co-founder David Lang presents four genre-defying new musical works in conjunction with films by visual artists Guy Maddin, William Wegman, Bill Morrison, Matt Mullican and Doug Aitken.
Boredoms: BOADRUM 9 with Deerhunter
New Nothing series
Friday September 11, 8 PM
Two bands, nine (make that ten) drummers, and an evening of noise/music that's experienced not just with the ear but the entire body.
Jean Painlevé, The Sounds of Science
Unfiction series
Thursday September 17, 7:30 PM
The eight mesmerizing short films of Jean Painlevé in The Sounds of Science screening are at once a mix of surrealist-influenced shorts and serious science documentaries accompanied by a hypnotic and dreamy score by rock band Yo La Tengo.
Slow Wave: Seeing Sleep
Friday September 25 – Sunday September 27
Friday September 25 from 5 to 7 PM: Opening reception (as part of Troy Night Out)
A three-day festival of exhibitions, screenings, performances, and talks devoted to the methods for giving form to the elusive, and at times, ineffable enigma of sleep.
Mads Lynnerup, Take a Day for Yourself!
Thursday October 1 – Sunday November 29
Open Monday – Saturday from 12 PM to 6 PM
Thursday October 1 from 5 to 7 PM: Opening reception and talk
Friday October 30 from 5 to 7 PM: reception with artist (as part of Troy Night Out)
The genre-crossing Danish artist mounts a whimsical yet searching investigation of the everyday, incorporating video, posters, and ordinary people from the Troy and Rensselaer communities.
DANCE MOViES Commission 2007-2008
Saturday October 3, 7 PM
Body Traces installation on level 4
Four dance films commissioned by EMPAC and premiered at EMPAC's opening festival. Fusing dance with the moving image, these works span a wide geographic, visual and emotional range.
Per Tengstrand
Saturday October 3, 8:30 PM
Friday October 2 at 7 PM: Talk by Per Tengstrand
The acclaimed Swedish pianist who electrified audiences at EMPAC's opening returns with a recital and talk on Beethoven as a technological innovator.
Susanna Helke, White Sky
Unfiction series
Thursday October 8, 7:30 PM
White Sky is a documentary film about the human ability to adapt to destruction and continue with everyday life in an ecologically devastated environment.
Daniel Teige & Volkmar Klien, Multichannel Residencies
Friday October 16 & Saturday October 17 at 8 PM
October 16 & 17, 7 PM: Talk/demo with the artists
Two composer/sound artists create thrillingly complex new works for a 360° aural environment.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, The Break/s: a mixtape for the stage
Friday October 23 & Saturday October 24, 8 PM
The poet and hip-hop theater sensation Marc Bamuthi Joseph brings together movement, music, and personal storytelling in a multimedia travelogue of Planet Hip-Hop.
Workspace Unlimited, They Watch
Friday October 30 – Saturday November 21
Open Monday – Saturday from 12 PM to 6 PM
Friday October 30 from 5 to 7 PM: Opening reception with artists (as part of Troy Night Out)
Wednesday November 18, 7 PM, EMPAC will host a lecture by experts in panoramic art, including Bernd Lintermann, Director of Germany's Institute of Visual Media ZKM.
An installation that immerses the viewer in an ambiguous liminal space where the virtual merges with real and the observer becomes the observed.
TBA + Zs
New Nothing series
Friday October 30, 8 PM
Marc Downie, FIELD talk and weekend-long workshop
Friday November 6 – Sunday November 8
Admission to Talk is free; admission to workshop is $55 (Rensselaer student) / $110 (everyone else)
Friday November 6 at 7 PM: Talk
Saturday November 7 & Sunday November 8: Workshop (by reservation – space is limited)
Marc Downie, the creator of the powerful digital art programming environment FIELD, gives a talk on the software and leads a two-day workshop in its manifold uses.
DANCE MOViES Commission 2008-2009 Premiere
Saturday November 7, 7:30 PM
Body Traces installation on level 4 (admission is free)
Associated events: Talk / Q&A with artists following screening
The official premiere of four new works created through this year's DANCE MOViES Commission, the EMPAC program that brings together moving bodies and the moving image.
Skeleton$ & Luciano Chessa
New Nothing series
Friday November 13, 8 PM
Funk meets Futurism in this paradoxical pairing of artists from far ends of the musical spectrum.
Garth Knox
Saturday November 14, 8 PM
Pre-concert Talk at 7 PM with composer James Dillon and violist/composer Garth Knox
A world master of the viola plays an evening of music – some very old, some very new – written expressly for his instrument and its baroque-era cousin, the viola d'amore.
Astra Taylor, Examined Life
Unfiction series
Thursday November 19, 7:30 PM
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor accompanies some of today's most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas.
Chunky Move, Glow
Thursday December 3 & Friday December 4, 7 & 9 PM
Artist Talk after the 7 PM performances
Wednesday December 2, 7 PM: Talk by Frieder Weiss
In Glow, by Australian company Chunky Move, a solo dancer both sensual and grotesque thrashes through a constantly shifting habitat of light.
Werner Herzog, Encounters at the End of the World
Unfiction series
Thursday December 10, 7:30 PM
Werner Herzog's filmic portrait of Antarctica and the small community of scientists who have gravitated to its surreal landscape.
* Any and all event information is subject to change and/or cancellation - please watch our website for updates.
* All events on this list are open to the public.
* Tickets are $15 / $10 / $5 (unless otherwise noted):
$15: general admission
$10: Rensselaer faculty and staff, seniors, and students (with ID)
$5: Rensselaer students (with ID) * The Unfiction series and DANCE MOViES screenings are $5.
* Lectures, openings, receptions and installations are free.
EMPAC on Facebook + TwitterYou've already attended an event at EMPAC. Great! Can't wait to see you again. And you've read about EMPAC's residencies and commissioning programs. We hope you're as excited about them as we are! Now, you're looking for more ways to be part of the EMPAC community. You've got it: Keep up on EMPAC events, information and conversation by joining the EMPAC Facebook group and by following us on Twitter. On Facebook, you'll find member-posted photos and videos, and be able to join in the discussion of all things EMPAC. On Twitter, you'll get our lastest last minute event info reminders, and maybe even a few surprises! Stop by soon. Facebook Twitter
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