All Over Albany

Daniel Libeskind at RPI

Daniel Libeskind. / photo: Stefan Ruiz

The RPI School of Architecture's fall lecture series has started up and it includes a talk by famed architect Daniel Libeskind November 12 at EMPAC.

The full lecture series schedule -- which started in September -- is listed below.

Daniel Libeskind's Studio Libeskind has designed notable buildings all around the world, many of them museums, including the Jewish Museum Berlin. Its most famous work might be the master plan for the World Trade Center site in Manhattan. That plan -- and the design of the Freedom Tower skyscraper, which Libeskind did not create -- ended up being a contentious process, prompting protests (and a lawsuit) by the Libeskind about how things played out. In recent years he has apparently come around on the experience and now sees it -- and the results -- more positively.

Liebskind's talk at RPI is titled "Edge of Order," the same name as a new book about his career that's being published in November.

The talk is Monday, November 12 at 6 pm at EMPAC. It's free.

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EMPAC 10YEARS

Standing outside EMPAC 10 years ago (almost to the day).

The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute -- EMPAC -- will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary next week with a multi-day series of events: concerts, dance, film, theater, talks. And two events -- one at the start, the other at the finish -- sound like they'll be good opportunities to experience what the venue can do:

October 11: Double Quartet: Strings and Spaces
"Double Quartet: Strings and Spaces will serve as an initiatory journey for guests of the 10YEARS event. Beginning and ending in the EMPAC Concert Hall, Taiwanese-American string quartet the Formosa Quartet will lead their audience through the EMPAC Theater and Studios 1 and 2, performing classical works specifically selected to complement the architectural acoustics of each space." 7 pm -- $18 / $13 students and seniors

October 13: Lost Highway Suite by Olga Neuwirth
"Performed by 25-members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), with conductor Timothy Weiss and live electronics by Gilbert Nouno, the Suite will be staged in the EMPAC Concert Hall with a 64-speaker Ambisonic dome surrounding the audience. Going beyond traditional surround sound, this audio system is capable of spatializing the music performed by the ensemble, moving sounds around the listening space, and expanding and altering the acoustics of the hall. Creating a sonic environment in which sound clouds and particles seem to come from beyond the walls of the space before retracting back to the performers onstage, the composition pursues a series of existential questions, including: How do we know what is real and what is imagined? How do we differentiate between what is inside of us and what is outside?" 8 pm -- $18 / $13 students and seniors

EMPAC is a remarkable venue -- in terms of its architecture, its technology, and its programming. It also might, at times, not exactly feel accessible to a general audience.

Probably the best way to think of it is not just as a performance venue, but as a flexible research space for artists that allows them to push the boundaries of technology and form and, through that work, create new experiences. That's a rare opportunity -- for artists and audiences -- and it's worth checking out.

EMPAC spring 2018 season

Kapwani Kiwanga's Afrogalactica starts off the season in January.

The schedule for the spring 2018 season at EMPAC is out. And, as with each season there, it's full of all sorts of new, unusual, and challenging performances, talks, and demonstrations.

This time around, the topics range from Afrofuturism to pornography to dance to the subject of art itself.

Here's a quick-scan of the slate...

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Experiencing "mixed reality" at EMPAC

This could be cool: EMPAC is hosting a hands-on demonstration of the the Microsoft HoloLens "mixed reality" tech on November 1. The demo will be on the venue's mezzanine from 10 am-9 pm and it's free -- you can drop in whenever. Blurbage:

Microsoft's HoloLens is the world's first fully untethered, self-contained holographic computer. Wearing the headset, users scan their physical surroundings and use gestures to place and manipulate digital 3D objects. Distinct from virtual-reality environments, the HoloLens creates a "mixed reality" where computer-generated elements are integrated into the human world. From the classroom to the operating room and into the performing arts, applications for the system are just starting to be explored.

That evening Microsoft developer Kayla Kinnunen will be at EMPAC for a talk about the tech. More blurbage:

Following the HoloLens demo, during which guests are invited to explore the system's capabilities and imagine new applications, Kinnunen will discuss the future of human-computer interaction within these mixed-reality environments. Kinnunen leads a production team building HoloLens and Mixed Reality applications. She and her team generate content for the platform meant to reach a wide range of audiences and spur creativity and innovation in the new medium. This event will be an opportunity for audience members to help imagine the impact of devices like the HoloLens and provide feedback on their experience working in mixed reality.

The talk is at 7 pm in EMPAC's theater. It's free.

There's been a lot of hype recently about virtual reality and augmented reality tech, though applications such as Google Glass have more or less fizzled out. But it's very possible this sort of tech will take root in small ways -- say, in work settings -- and slowly start popping up in everyday life.

In the meantime, here's a video about someone who built a real-life Super Mario Bros. with the Hololens.

EMPAC fall 2017 season

Hieroglyphic Being is playing a show in Studio 1 in September.

The schedule for the fall 2017 season at EMPAC is out. As usual, it's full of all sorts of unusual, out-there, and challenging performances, talks, and demonstrations.

This time around, the topics range from performance art to concerts to film to dance.

Here's a quick-scan of the slate...

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YOUARENOWHERE at EMPAC

Andrew Schneider will be at EMPAC August 10-11 to present his award winning show YOUARENOWHERE. And there's an opportunity to see it free -- by being part of the show. Blurbage:

We invite you to slide into the role of an accomplice audience member. Access a unique, secret way of experiencing a multimedia performance that combines theater, technology, and visual art - and see a mind-bending show for free!

You are the secret element on which the show rests. All you need to do is sign up, follow simple instructions, and be a part of a transformative performance experience. Take a close look at the inner workings of the show from behind-the-scenes, and become a spectator of a very particular kind...

Here's the info about how to sign up. We hear that being a participant will be an interesting and unusual experience. (Also: There will be pizza.)

EMPAC will be hosting two performances of YOUARENOWHERE -- Thursday, August 10 and Friday, August 11, both at 8 pm. Tickets to be part of the regular audience are $18, $13 for students and seniors.

EMPAC summer 2017 season

Jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire will be there in August.

For the first time, EMPAC has put together a summer seasons of events.

Summers at the venue have typically been dedicated to artists' residencies and research. But this year it's also added a handful of public events, ranging from concerts to film to theater.

Here's a quick scan of the slate:

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EMPAC spring 2017 season

Clockwise from left: star violinist Anne Akiko Meyers (photo: MolinaVisuals), Modern Living by the choreographers Gerard & Kelly, and a still from the video game Thralled.

The schedule for the spring 2017 season at EMPAC is out. And, as in past seasons, it's full of all sorts of different, cutting edge, and challenging performances, talks, and demonstrations.

This time around, the topics range from digital activism to video games to music to re-imagining a theater classic to architecture.

Here's a quick-scan of the slate...

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EMPAC fall 2016 season

In September Mabel Kwan will be at EMPAC to perform a piece. On two pianos. At the same time.

The slate for the upcoming fall season at EMPAC is out. And, as usual, it includes all sorts of unusual, challenging, or experimental performances. A condensed schedule is after the jump.

Also at the venue this fall, a new tool for performances. Blurbage:

A hallmark of the fall 2016 season is the unveiling of EMPAC's recently constructed wave-field array. Consisting of 496 independently controllable loudspeakers, this audio system is one of the most precise in the world, and capable of creating a 3D "holophonic" sound environment. More immersive than ordinary surround sound, "wave field synthesis" allows composers to place sounds in specific spatial locations around the audience and will figure heavily into future EMPAC electronic music programming.

An installation opening later this month, as well as a performance in early September, will make use of the new system

OK, onto that schedule...

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Gather around

EMPAC is often described not just as a collection of performance venues, but also as a research center. And if you've ever wondered what sort of research goes on there (we've been curious) here's one example: a group at EMPAC has created a six-foot-diameter "fire pit" for displaying information to a group of collaborating people.

From the RPI blog The Approach:

The Campfire consists of two main display surfaces, its "wall" and "floor." While they can be largely independent, their shared edge provides a natural interface for various dimensions of visualization, simulation, and interaction. Any traditional two-dimensional images and applications can be placed on the surfaces, but a key innovation is that each of the surfaces has one continuous, potentially shared, dimension. Information can be wrapped around the campfire as in the rings of a tree, the spokes of a wheel, or even in a panoramic view of a real or virtual landscape. The wall can be used to dive into data shown on the floor and vice versa.

The video embedded above provides a short look at how the display in action.

EMPAC spring 2016 season

Right to the point: EMPAC's 2016 spring schedule is now out. And, as always, it's full of performances and events that promise to be interesting, thought-provoking, even challenging.

Here's a compressed version of the schedule...

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Drawing: EMPAC (pick three) + Peck's Arcade or The Confectionery

Some of the performers set for EMPAC this fall (clockwise from top left): Silas Reiner, Oneohtrix Point Never, France Jobin, vhvl.

Drawing's closed! Winner's been emailed!

The fall season at EMPAC started recently and it picks up speed this week with a two more events. As usual, the fall schedule is full of interesting, unusual, thought-provoking events and performances.

And you could have your pick of events to attend -- for free.

The prize for this drawing is three pairs of tickets for events at EMPAC this fall season -- and you get to pick the events. Maybe it's three music performances, maybe it's a concert and two dance/movement events, maybe it's two things you're sure you'll love plus one thing you'd never have thought to try. It's your choice.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: The prize also includes a $50 gift certificate to either The Confectionery or Peck's Arcade in downtown Troy -- winner's choice.

To enter this drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

Music, dance, film, and the arts often help us see the world in a different way. So, what's something local that's prompted you to see the world differently?

It could be something big and life changing, or it could be some little thing that's help you see one thing in a different light. We'll draw one winner at the random.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Thursday, September 10, 2015 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by noon on Friday and must respond by noon on Monday, September 14.

EMPAC fall 2015 season

Without ado, further or otherwise, here's the slate for the upcoming fall season at EMPAC. It is, as usual, full of performances, talks, and events that promise to be interesting, thought-provoking, even challenging.

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Drawing: Pianoply at EMPAC + Peck's Arcade

Vicky Chow is one of the pianists who will be performing.

Drawing's closed!

EMPAC has what sounds like an interesting show coming up this Saturday: Pianoply, in which four pianists will be playing pianos in four different spaces at the arts venue.

We have a pair of tickets for the event, and we're giving them away. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. To the pair of tickets we're also adding a $75 gift certificate to Peck's Arcade, the new restaurant in downtown Troy.

To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

What's one of your favorite sounds?

It could be something general, like laughter, or a specific sound in a specific place, like the carillon in downtown Albany. We'll draw one winner at random. That person will get the tickets and gift certificate.

Here's a little more about Pianoply:

This evening of piano performances brings together some of the leading soloists working today in new music to explore their instrument's full color spectrum in EMPAC's complete range of acoustic environments. Performing on grand pianos of varying sizes and manufactures, Pianoply will examine virtuosity through the lens of situation and setting.

Pianoply will feature soloists Vicky Chow, Stephen Drury, Mabel Kwan, and Marilyn Nonken, performing on a selection of pianos: a 9' Hamburg Steinway, 9' New York Steinway, 7' Fazioli, 6' 7" Bösendorfer, and 7' 6" Yamaha pianos.

The audience will be guided through all of EMPAC's venues--the reverberant warmth of the Concert Hall, the intimacy of the Theater, the detailed crispness of Studio 1 and the enveloping diffusion of Studio 2--to explore the sonic properties of contemporary repertoire performed through particular instruments placed in particular spaces.

The event starts at 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 11. Tickets are $18.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 10 am on Thursday, April 9, 2015 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by noon on Thursday and must respond by 7 pm that day.

FameLab at EMPAC

One of the presentations in this year's final included a conversation, in verse, with a penguin puppet.

Could be interesting: FameLab will be at EMPAC Tuesday evening. What's that? Let's go to the blurbage:

Think American Idol...for scientists! FameLab is a panel-judged competition to find the new voices of science across the world. Started in 2005 in the UK, this event is the kickoff to "Season 3" here in the US. Ten young scientists will spin tall-but-true tales of exoplanetary atmospheres, extreme environments here on Earth, the possibility of life on an icy moon in the outer Solar System, and much more - in 3 powerpoint-free minutes each!

And while the judges deliberate, we'll be treated to stories of how science meets science fiction from science advisor to Hollywood, Dr. Kevin Grazier.

The FameLab night at EMPAC is a regional competition for a spot at the final in 2016.

The event is from 7-9 pm Tuesday, July 29. And it's free -- just show up, no pre-registration required.

screengrab: FameLab USA

EMPAC fall 2013 season

Electronic music composer Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) will be there September 12.

The slate for the fall 2013 season at EMPAC is now out. As usual, it includes a wide range of events -- performances, talks, screenings. And many of them are the sort of thing you wouldn't be able to catch somewhere else -- locally, and perhaps anywhere.

A compressed, quick-scan version of the fall schedule is post jump.

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Laurie Anderson on EMPAC

"You can't explain it to someone, because there's nothing else like it in the world."

Laurie Anderson has a long history of mixing science and art. The experimental artist has invented instruments like a tape bow violin, done a residency at NASA and, for the last year, she's held the first distinguished artist in residence post at EMPAC, where she says science and technology have allowed her to do things she never could have done before.

EMPAC may be a bit of a puzzle to folks outside the media arts world, but inside that world, Anderson says, it's gaining quite a reputation.

"You can't explain it to someone," she says," because there's nothing else like it in the world."

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Drawing: Inflatable Frankenstein at EMPAC

Drawing's closed! Winner's been emailed!

This Friday at EMPAC is one of those probably-only-at-EMPAC kind of shows: Inflatable Frankenstein, a production from the Brooklyn-based performance collective Radiohole. Blurbage:

Inspired by meditations on horror films, the work of Antonin Artaud, and Ardunio open-source electronics, Radiohole's Inflatable Frankenstein is a visually and sonically driven performance based on Mary Shelley's early life and her novel Frankenstein.

Arising from a world of gods and monsters (and thousands of Walmart and Price Chopper grocery bags) is a desecration too terrible to behold and too beautiful to turn away from, leading to an improbable question: what is it like to be a metaphor for everything?

We have two tickets to the performance, and we're giving them away. To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

If, somewhat like Victor Frankenstein, you were creating something for the Capital Region from different parts, what would it be?

We'll draw one winner at random.

Though it won't help you in the drawing, you'll get unofficial honorary bonus points for also exclaiming, "It's alive!" (Incidentally, Frankenstein never says that about the Creature in Shelley's book, but this isn't a literature class, so we won't let that hold us back.)

Inflatable Frankenstein is Friday at 8 pm at EMPAC. Tickets are $18 each.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 10 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. (Normal commenting guidelines apply.) One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by noon on Wednesday and must respond by 8 pm that day.

photo: Paula Court

EMPAC fall 2012

Tim Hecker will be performing there at the end of September.

The fall 2012 schedule for EMPAC is now online. A compressed, easy-to-scan version of the slate is after the jump. Be sure to hit the (newly redesigned) EMPAC site for full details.

This season's schedule includes the usual mix of the unusual in all sorts of media -- music, dance, film, animation, science...

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Laurie Anderson named EMPAC's first distinguished artist-in-residence

Laurie Anderson will spend the next three years inventing stuff at EMPAC.

Experimental media and performance artist Laurie Anderson will spend the next three years at RPI as EMPAC's first distinguished artist-in-residence. Anderson has a history of using science and engineering to create new artwork, inventing things like a tape-bow violin and talking stick.

This isn't Anderson's first experience at EMPAC. In 2009 she spent some time there working on a piece called Delusion -- a series of stories about longing, memory and identity that incorporated multidisciplinary elements that included music, visuals, altered voices, and electronic puppetry.

You can get a little bit of a sense of Delusion (and Laurie Anderson's disenchantment with rectangles) in a video clip after the jump. Heads-up: it's not you -- the interviewer is speaking Swedish, but you'll understand what's going on.

Until now EMPAC's residencies have been project specific. There's no word yet on what kind of plans Anderson has for her three year stay in Troy, but EMPAC says it's looking forward to working with her to combine engineering and science to find creative approaches to the arts. They also say Anderson will be sharing some of her creative practices with the campus through lectures, workshops and demonstrations.

Photo: Leland Brewster courtesy of Laurie Anderson

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EMPAC spring 2012

EMPAC's schedule for spring 2012 is out. And, as we've come to expect, it's full of stuff that looks interesting, weird, challenging, or just... different. The works on this season's slate make use of dance, animation, "actual reality," Walden, Infinite Jest, and mosquitoes.

Here are a handful of dates that caught our eye.

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Tickets for DANCE MOViES at EMPAC

Band, on the run.

Drawing's closed. Winner's been notified.

This Saturday EMPAC will be debuting the results of its most recent DANCE MOViES commissions, which are films that somehow involve dance. For example, here's the description for one of the works, called "Fanfare for Marching Band":

A film following the mayhem created by a ragtag musical militia that embarks on an impotent invasion through a parallel universe, where their exuberant music is out of sync and unheard. The two worlds are finally unified when the band masters the tempo and patience of empathy.

The band -- Mucca Paza -- will also be there to play afterward.

So, not something you see every day. And we have a pair of tickets to give away. To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

What's your favorite dance or type of dancing?

This could be anything: swing, hip hop, the Snoopy, the Carlton, whatever.

Four films are on the slate for Saturday, none longer than 20 minutes. The screening starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $6.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 10 am on Thursday (November 3, 2011) to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly -- seriously, if you win, we want to give you the tickets) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 5 pm on Thursday and must respond by 10 am Friday (November 4).

photo: Sangphoon Lee

TOP 2011: Round 2: Troy

The Collar City is the next stop for Round 2 of the 2011 Tournament of Pizza, sponsored by Sunmark Federal Credit Union. The pizzerias facing off in this round of pepperoni pizzas:

Giuseppe's (Watervliet) vs. DeFazio's (Troy)

How we got here: DeFazio's posted one the highest ever first round scores, a 77. Giuseppe's grabbed a spot in Round 2 by outstretching Joe's Tavern and Red Front.

So, DeFazio's is the favorite here. Can Giuseppe's pull the monster upset?

We're back at EMPAC for tasting...

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TOP 2011: Round 1: Troy

The Tournament of Pizza -- sponsored by Sunmark Federal Credit Union -- rolls along to the Troy bracket.

The pizzerias in this opening round pool competition of cheese pizzas:

Returning champ: DeFazio's - Troy
Crowd pick: Giuseppe's - Watervliet
Renee's pick: Joe's Tavern - Cohoes
Committee pick: Red Front - Troy

The judges -- plus our guest judge -- gathered at EMPAC on the RPI campus...

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Tickets for 69°S at EMPAC

Antarctica. And puppets.

Update: Drawing's closed. Winner has been emailed!

We have a pair of tickets to giveaway for what looks like an interesting performance at EMPAC this Friday and Saturday: 69°S. From the blurbage:

Inspired by Sir Ernest Shackleton's harrowing expedition to Antarctica in 1914, Phantom Limb unites puppetry, dance, film, history, and photography with contemporary music to create a stunning vision of the great arctic continent--past, present, and future. Dim light plays across a lunar terrain dotted with icebergs. Shackleton's crew, played by half-life-size puppets, struggles to survive in this vast landscape, putting into stark relief the power of endurance and camaraderie and the price of knowledge. With sound that combines the junkyard dog aesthetic of the band Skeleton Key playing live, a score recorded by the Kronos Quartet, and glacial field recordings, 69ËšS. mines the inherently bittersweet and complex nature of the Shackleton experience and what the future may hold for this fragile environment.

To enter the drawing, please answer this question in the comments:

What place in the Capital Region would you like to explore?

It could be a place you've already been -- or someplace that you just haven't had to chance to get to (for whatever reason). We'll draw one winner at random from the comments.

The performance of 69ËšS at EMPAC is a preview ahead of the work's premiere at Dartmouth later this year. The performances are at 8 pm both Friday and Saturday night. Tickets are $18.

Important: All comments must be submitted by 11:59 am on Tuesday (September 20, 2011) to be entered in the drawing. You must answer the question to be part of the drawing. One entry per person, please. You must enter a valid email address (that you check regularly) with your comment. The winner will be notified via email by 5 pm on Tuesday and must respond by 10 am Wednesday (September 21, 2011).

photo: Sarah Walker