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Oct 04

Machines in Music

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Machines in Music (MIM) is a 2-day festival that bridges artists, musicians, and instrument builders with a focus towards modular synthesizer hardware.The exhibition is free and open to the public of all ages.

This year we are proudly hosting the event at The Knockdown Center once again. KDC is a cross-disciplinary art and performance space Knockdown Center in Queens, New York.

Saturday and Sunday daytime exhibitions are free and open to the public with exhibitors displaying modular technology from North America and Europe, as well as presentations, visual art and other events. Live performances on both nights. For more information and tickets for Saturday’s performance with Imaginary Softwoods, Via App, Patricia, S.S.P.S., and Hiro Kone, visit http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1572699.

www.machinesinmusic.com

Oct 04

Hans Tammen & Dark Circuits Orchestra: CROSSING THE LAGRANGIAN POINT

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“Crossing the Lagrangian Point” is a large multi-movement piece written by Hans Tammen for 10 light & sound performers, a spatialist, and a conductor. A large collection of lightbulbs, LED structures and fluorescent lights fight and clash with bizarre visuals projected onto objects, fabrics, ceilings and walls. Sounds are generated with ear-scorching intensity directly from the visuals or from a mad combination of audio and video synth modules, while the “spatialist” throws them around in an 8-channel sound system like a violently moving fluid. It is a controlled chaos of loud, visceral blast of colors, flashes and polyrhythmic machinations.

With Michael Vorfeld, ChiKa, Benton C Bainbridge, James Yuxi Cao, MSHR (Birch Cooper & Brenna Murphy), Dafna Naphtali, Eric Drasin, Jonas Bers, Matthew Ostrowski, Daniel Neumann (spatialist) and Hans Tammen (concept, composing, conducting).

Hans Tammen likes to set sounds in motion, and then sitting back to watch the movements unfold. Using textures, timbre and dynamics as primary elements, his music is continuously shifting, with different layers floating into the foreground while others disappear. The Dark Circuits Orchestra is a large ensemble devoted to contemporary electronic instrument practices such as circuit bending, no-input mixers, laptops, turntablism and analogue synth, including visuals. Dark Circuits concepts and workshops have been presented in the US, Mexico, Ukraine, Russia, and all over Europe.

Hans Tammen: http://tammen.org
Michael Vorfeld: http://www.vorfeld.org
ChiKa: http://www.imagima.com
Benton C Bainbridge: http://www.bentoncbainbridge.com
James Yuxi Cao: https://caoyuxi.com
MSHR (Birch Cooper & Brenna Murphy): http://mshr.info/index.html
Dafna Naphtali: http://dafna.info
Eric Drasin: http://www.ericbarrydrasin.com
Jonas Bers: https://jonasbers.com
Matthew Ostrowski: http://www.ostrowski.info
Daniel Neuman & CT-SWaM: https://ctswam.org

The event is a co-production between Hans Tammen and CT-SWaM, and was commissioned by Harvestworks with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

With opening performance by NHLK / MEMBRANES (7pm)
NHLK is a duo from Switzerland that explores the boundaries where music and language overlap. They are using hybrid instruments – constructed from drum-skins and electronic components – as devices to turn written texts into pulses of light and percussive sound. As each machine translation emerges, the network of instruments starts to share the texts, transforming written material into aesthetic, visual and sonic patterns, for the performers to further interact with. Extrapolating from the example of the African talking drum, Membranes builds up an altogether new kind of tone language, constantly shifting and adapting itself before the viewer and performers alike.

Membranes_Studio

Sep 28

Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime Performance Series

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Join us for the third installment of Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime Performance Series, featuring Grady Owens and GDFX.

This is part of a series of events hosted within the space of Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime, an exhibition by Azikiwe Mohammed currently on view in the Knockdown Center galleries.

About Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime
Currently on view at Knockdown Center, artist Azikiwe Mohammed has staged a performative installation of his fictional thrift store, Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime. New Davonhaime – a location conceived by Mohammed – is an amalgamation of the names of the five most densely populated Black cities in America: New Orleans, Detroit, Jackson, Birmingham, and Savannah. Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime was created to serve as a safe space for Black and Brown people living in America. Knockdown Center’s galleries have been fully transformed into a thrift store that contains objects both created and found by Mohammed including tapestries, records, postcards, paintings, lamps, and books.

Sep 28

Pitchfork’s 21st Anniversary

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In 1996, Pitchfork launched as a daily music review site while the web was still in its infancy. Today, it is the most trusted music publication in the world, featuring the best in music criticism, web design, video work, and live events. We are celebrating 21 years of Pitchfork with a concert that highlights some of the artists who have been important in the history of the site and continue to influence the scope of music. Animal Collective (Avey Tare and Panda Bear) are set to play their breakthrough 2004 album Sung Tongs in its entirety for the first time in the group’s history. More artists and acts will be announced in the days to come.

Tickets are on sale now—find them here. In addition to general tickets, Virgin Mobile is giving away 100 VIP tickets as part of its newly launched Inner Circle Member Benefits program.

Revisit Pitchfork‘s feature “Forever 21: Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs.”

Watch Pitchfork’s “Liner Notes” on Strawberry Jam:

 

— Pitchfork.com/news

Sep 28

12th Annual NY Night Train Haunted Hop

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A NYC Halloween tradition since 2006! And a multimedia mutli-room dance party in a sprawling haunted house! With star-studded front room live sets by Shannon and the Clams, Kid Congo Powers (The Cramps, The Gun Club, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and the Pink Monkey Birds, Ian Svenonius’ solo project Escape-Ism, Nude Party, and a special secret band. Dance to the unique original spooky 45s of DJ Jonathan Toubin and three rooms of DJs including Halloween vinyl specialists like punk legend Howie Pyro and WFMU’s Todd-O-Phonic Todd accompanied by thee Mummy Go Go Dancers! The room full of mirrors featuring a dozen of NYC’s finest local bands dressing and playing as The Adicts, The B-52s, Buddy Holly, The Cramps, Girlschool, The Gun Club, The Seeds, Wire, and more! Rooms of live wall to wall 16mm film visuals by legends like Spencer Bewley and Gary Balaban! $100 Midnight costume contest! The horror diner serving creepy delicacies ‘til late! An entire room where Midnight Monster Hop presents their Phantom Creep Theatre on original 8mm film and vinyl! NYC’s best Halloween Party has outdone itself yet again!

HAUNTED-HOP-NYC-2017

Sep 20

Whoop Dee Doo

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This month, Whoop Dee Doo artists stage a long term installation in Knockdown Center’s Annex, working closely with teens from Maspeth Town Hall Community Center and local performance groups Ñukanchik Llakta Wawakuna and students from the Calpulli Community – a program of Calpulli Mexican Dance Company – to create a series of free public programs that culminate in a final live performance and immersive set. The final performance will emphasize and celebrate the historic diversity of Queens, and the creative talents of Knockdown Center’s surrounding community.

Interpretation services generously provided for the final performances by Caracol Interpreters Cooperative, and translation audio equipment donated by Immigrant Movement International.

Members of the public are invited to engage with Whoop Dee Doo and their community of collaborators during open-doors workdays on Saturdays from 2 – 7pm!

About Whoop Dee Doo
Whoop Dee Doo (est. 2006) is a traveling, artist-led project and non-profit organization that creates ambitious installations and live performances as collaborations with community groups. Whoop Dee Doo often works closely with underserved youth groups to research, conceive and create their projects. Whoop Dee Doo has created commissioned projects for organizations including the Smart Museum in Chicago, SFMOMA San Francisco, Loyal Gallery in Sweden, The Contemporary in Baltimore, and Abrons Arts Center in New York City, among others, and recently completed a 6-month project series as a 2016 artist-in-residence with the Education Department at the High Line (NYC). Whoop Dee Doo is a 2016-2017 Franklin Furnace Grant Recipient, and is a featured artist project on the Art21 series “New York Close Up”. www.whoopdeedoo.tv

For a more in-depth look into Whoop Dee Doo’s process and behind-the-scenes, please visit:
https://art21.org/watch/new-york-close-up/welcome-to-whoop-dee-doo-with-matt-roche-jaimie-warren-too/

About Maspeth Town Hall Community Center
Maspeth Town Hall Community Center is an organization that has served thousands of students for the last 11 years. During afterschool programs, students are given an hour every day to do their homework with the help of our trained counselors and staff, and offered many academic activities such as STEM, literacy enrichment, arts and crafts, junior achievement, team building games, and much more! Maspeth Town Hall also offers family and community events that emphasize several festivities throughout the year. The organization’s priorities are to increase student’s academics independence by giving them access to more material and instruction relevant to their studies and interests.

About Ñukanchik Llakta Wawakuna
Ñukanchik Llakta Wawakuna is a collective project where we use the art of dance to educate the different branches, strengthen our identity and most of all the excellence of our first Andean immigrant’s generation. Wawakuna(children) does not only focus on the kids but also educates the parents about their rights as immigrants, residents and remain proud of being campesinos (peasants) or indigenous. Wawakuna believes in the importance of preserving the cultural identity. Wawakuna uses the tool of art, such as painting, writing, dancing, music, and singing, to express our emotions, express the injustice occurring in our community, build leadership for parents and kids, and applying it as part of healing.

About Calpulli Mexican Dance Company
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company’s vision is to reach audiences globally with high quality artistic works and captivating stories and cultural narratives and productions. It also seeks to be a premier educational resource for teachers and students excelling in cultural enrichment through the performing arts. Lastly, Calpulli aims to serve our community with accessible, high-quality community programming and performing arts training.


About the Caracol Interpreters Cooperative
The Caracol Interpreters Cooperative opens multilingual channels of communication to ignite language justice in our community. We work to create a world where language is not a barrier for exchange, but a helpful tool that can be used democratically to communicate, learn and strategize together.

About Immigrant Movement International
IM International is a community space where practical knowledge is merged with creative knowledge through arte útil with a holistic approach to education open to all regardless of legal status.

IM International is a think tank that recognizes (im)migrant’s role in the advancement of society at large and envisions a different legal reality for human migration.

IM International is a lab practicing artivist tactics and new tools for communication in the public sphere to access political dialogue in an effort to transform social affect into political effectiveness.

IM International is an educational platform formulating sustainability systems and creating alternative economies based on a culture of reciprocity not economic advantage.

***

Knockdown Center’s exhibitions are selected through a competitive open call for proposals. Through a multi-round process, exhibition proposals are reviewed by Knockdown Center’s Curatorial Advisory Board and selected based on quality, distinctiveness, and response to Knockdown Center’s unique site and context within an ecosystem of live events.

Founded in 2015, the Knockdown Center’s Curatorial Advisory Board is currently comprised of seven sitting arts professionals with diverse but overlapping interests and fields of expertise. The Curatorial Advisory Board meets bi-annually to provide critical feedback on a wide range of proposals as well as contributing to discussions about larger programmatic goals. To learn more about proposing an exhibition or short-term project please visit our Proposals Page.

Sep 20

Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime Performance Series

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Join us for the second installment of Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime Performance Series, featuring performances by artists Josep Maynou and Alison Kuo.

About Josep Maynou
Josep Maynou’s multidisciplinary approach comes together as a form of contemporary storytelling that situates itself beyond the traditional art formats, often leading to installations in contexts such as TV repair shops, private apartments, abandoned spaces, laundromats or second-hand stores. Maynou studied Fine Arts at UB (Barcelona), Faculta de Belas Artes Porto (Porto) and Middlesex University (London). Josep has shown his work internationally in places such as University of Oxford (UK), PS122 (NYC), Material art fair (Mexico city), Louis 21 (Palma de Mallorca), Galerie Suvi Lehtinen and Transmediale (Berlin), among others.

About Alison Kuo
Alison Kuo received an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY and a BA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. She has exhibited her work within the US at Motel gallery, Beverly’s, CANADA, ICI, Present Company, Cathouse FUNeral, The NARS Foundation, E.Tay gallery, Space Heater, the New York Art Book Fair, and Superchief in NYC, Eleven Seventeen Garland, SOFA Gallery, Co-Lab, and Domy in Austin, at the UNTITLED art fair and OHWOW in Miami. International exhibitions include the 2016 Nanjing International Art Festival, the MATERIAL art fair in Mexico City, and a performance commissioned by Paraiso Bajo in Bogotá in 2016. Kuo teaches workshops on performative cooking and dining at the Abrons Art Center, and will join the faculty of the School of Visual Arts MFA Fine Arts program in the fall of 2017.

This is part of a series of events hosted within the space of Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime, an exhibition by Azikiwe Mohammed currently on view in the Knockdown Center Galleries.

About Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime
Currently on view at Knockdown Center, artist Azikiwe Mohammed has staged a performative installation of his fictional thrift store, Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime. New Davonhaime – a location conceived by Mohammed – is an amalgamation of the names of the five most densely populated Black cities in America: New Orleans, Detroit, Jackson, Birmingham, and Savannah. Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime was created to serve as a safe space for Black and Brown people living in America. Knockdown Center’s galleries have been fully transformed into a thrift store that contains objects both created and found by Mohammed including tapestries, records, postcards, paintings, lamps, and books.

Sep 19

Documenting the Nameplate

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Join us on Saturday October 7 for an open-call archiving project to document the social experiences and aesthetics of nameplate jewelry. Marcel Rosa-Salas and Isabel Flower are working on a book about the nameplate that will be a repository of its myriad styles and many cultural traditions. Come by to have your nameplates photographed and to share your memories of them. Everyone will get a print and will have the chance for their story and image to be included in our book.

This is part of a series of events hosted within the space of Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime, an exhibition by Azikiwe Mohammed currently on view in the Knockdown Center Galleries.

About Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime
Currently on view at Knockdown Center, artist Azikiwe Mohammed has staged a performative installation of his fictional thrift store, Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime. New Davonhaime – a location conceived by Mohammed – is an amalgamation of the names of the five most densely populated Black cities in America: New Orleans, Detroit, Jackson, Birmingham, and Savannah. Jimmy’s Thrift of New Davonhaime was created to serve as a safe space for Black and Brown people living in America. Knockdown Center’s galleries have been fully transformed into a thrift store that contains objects both created and found by Mohammed including tapestries, records, postcards, paintings, lamps, and books.

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