The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute To Host Inaugural Festival October 1-3

Still image from Hoops by Marites Carino — a dance MOViES Commission (2009-2010 recipient). Photo credit: Donald Robitaille

Since opening in October 2008, the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has provided artists, scholars, researchers, engineers, and designers with opportunities to develop ground-breaking art and ideas all under a single roof. From Oct. 1-3, EMPAC will present Filament, the first biennial festival showcasing new work in performance, visual arts, sound, and media created by national and international artists at EMPAC.

The event will feature more than 15 premieres spanning theater, 24-channel sound, contemporary dance, video, and a barn-raising; exchanges with artists, curators, and creative engineers; and offer an intimate look at the artistic process.

The three-day festival also provides numerous examples of work that highlights EMPAC’s focus on creation and production via its commissioning and residency programs, as many of the pieces have either been completely or partially produced while in residence at EMPAC. The Artist in Residence and the Scholar and Researcher in Residence programs at EMPAC provide the platform for individuals, companies, or groups to develop new approaches and new works at the intersection of art, science, and technology, supported with contemporary or yet-to-be developed tools and the expert technical and curatorial staff.

“The intent of the program is to support work that cannot be created or realized elsewhere, providing individuals with an opportunity to take risks and experiment with new ideas which are not necessarily attached to a specific performance or a finished work,” said Johannes Goebel, EMPAC director.

Goebel also noted that EMPAC is a 220,000-square-foot facility, designed to be both a performance center and a platform that links experimental arts and research, providing artists with resources for multidisciplinary work in fields such as visualization, animation, simulation, and acoustics.

“We are excited to present the Filament festival because it will focus on the extraordinary breadth of work that has been produced at EMPAC,” Goebel said. “This festival is also a unique occasion for members of the campus, local community, and beyond to visit EMPAC and experience first-hand all of the works that have been created; and meet the artists in a building that is unique in the world with its potential to utilize the highly specialized tools of today for the exploration of the outer and inner space of creativity, experience, and meaning.”

Throughout the weekend, a series of new performances and installations will debut in various venues and the public spaces at EMPAC. The premieres include:

BalletLab (Australia): Miracle
A triumphant onslaught of choreographic hysteria that deals with themes of cult behavior and the afterlife, performed against repetitive mantra, movement, and hymn-like voices.

Yanira Castro (NYC): Wilderness
A performance ecosystem where sound and dance environments envelop both audience and performers.

Early Morning Opera (Los Angeles): ABACUS
ABACUS argues the obsolescence of national borders and proposes their dissolution while simultaneously acting as a study in two dominant forms of persuasive discourse today: the TED-style (slide-based) presentation and megachurch media design.

Volkmar Klien (Austria): Relative Realities
A computer traces a swinging pendulum’s position and embeds it into a mathematical model, where it collides and interacts with imaginary objects, invisible, but audible.

Volkmar Klien (Austria): Kristallgatsch / Strahlung
An entrancing multichannel composition that employs a mathematical model of a virtual object to synthesize a vastness of sound.

MTAA (NYC): All Raise This Barn (East)
Part construction project, part participatory performance, All Raise This Barn (East) is a group-designed and assembled public structure that explores the persuasive power of the community vote and its prevalence in contemporary society.

Michael J. Schumacher (NYC): Room Pieces Troy 2010
An ongoing building-wide sound installation utilizing the immense size, acoustics, and 100-plus speaker public address system to create a rich sonic environment for anyone passing through the building. A widely varied sound palette creates an ever-changing soundscape that is both pleasurable and unpredictable.

Hans Tutschku (Cambridge, MA): agitated slowness
A multichannel electroacoustic composition that uses rings of speakers to create a perceptual journey that ebbs and flows, consuming and releasing the listener into space.

EMPAC will also premiere Live Shorts: three programs of performances from across the spectrum of dance, theater, music, and the visual arts, commissioned specifically for Filament. Working with the same constraints (a performance under 20 minutes utilizing a 20’ x 30’ stage, with the possibility of using only one screen, one projector, and a sound system), artists will present varied and vigorous short works. Participating artists include:

Paul Abacus (Los Angeles); Wally Cardona (NYC); SUE-C & Laetitia Sonami (Oakland, CA); Jen Denike (NYC); National Theater of the United States of America (NYC); Miro Dance Theatre (Philadelphia, PA); MTAA (NYC); Steve Cuiffo, Trey Lyford & Geoff Sobelle (Philadelphia & NYC); and Trouble (NYC) – the interstitial space between each performance features the work of Wingspace Theatrical Design (NYC).

On Sunday, Oct. 3, EMPAC will host a dedication of the Theater air plenum to the late sound artist, EMPAC artist-in-residence, friend, and colleague, Maryanne Amacher. The dedication will feature a free performance of The Star Room, a multichannel sound piece Amacher was creating while in residence at EMPAC that utilizes spaces in and around the theater.

Talks with the featured artists, curators, and staff, receptions in Evelyn’s Café, a Saturday night party, and much more are all free, and part of the festival weekend. The full schedule of events can be found on the Filament website: http://filament.empac.rpi.edu/.

All access festival passes are $35, and include a gift bag. Individual tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. For additional information, contact the EMPAC Box Office at (518) 276-3921.

Parking for the festival will be available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue, as well as on-street paid parking adjacent to the building (FREE on Saturday and Sunday). Café hours and special menus will be posted on the EMPAC website before the festival.

About EMPAC
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.

Contacts:
Jessica Otitigbe
Office of News and Editorial Services
Troy, N.Y.

Office: (518)276-6050
Mobile: (518) 466-3907
E-mail: otitij@rpi.edu

Jason Steven Murphy, PR & Marketing Manager
Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Office: (518) 276-4136
E-mail: murphj8@rpi.edu