Audium opens its doors for the first Artists-in-Residence performances in its history. Audium’s custom-built sound environment has been home to three artists since October 2021, when they started working to reimagine the space through immersive works of sound and art.
During three months of creation, artists have explored sound movement, texture, and spatialization within Audium’s unique, pitch-black 176-speaker space. Bay Area-based artists Victoria Shen, Alexa Burrell, and Noah Berrie have established a conversation with each other and with the space, generating multiple dialogues to push the threshold of listening and imagination. The residents have designed their own original works, along with custom controllers to enable each to perform their sound movement live. The show extends beyond the speaker space, spilling out into the lobby with elements of sound, light, and projection surrounding the audience from the moment they enter the building.
Sound artist Victoria Shen has composed a four-dimensional love letter to Audium . Drawing from the analog modes of composition and music making within her own art practice, Shen tailored her piece using analog synthesis, record manipulation, electroacoustic instruments, and reclaimed piano wire. Shen has also built custom equipment allowing her to dynamically control the extreme textures and gestural sounds of her piece in real time, producing an experience as singular as the Audium itself.
Alexa Burrell’s A(Void) Fire is an afro-surrealist techno-horror fairytale about a Black woman who is haunted by a demonic embodiment of her comfort zone. Climate catastrophe, emotional contradictions and tensions between the natural and digital world come to a head as she summons the spirit of Calafia to break free.
Noah Berrie’s Without Organs is a conversation between the body and space. The body, wired to transducers, becomes a resonator; speakers click, snap, and throb to life; the entire building activates as a sympathetic, vibrating, encompassing mass. It is about dissolution of form and imagining a truly free body – formless, unbounded, and flowing.
Audium is the only theater of its kind in the world, pioneering the exploration of space in music for over 50 years. Listeners are bathed in sound which is moved about the space in real-time. "Sound sculptures" are performed in the darkness of the 49-seat theater.
Audium: New Voices premieres February 10th, 2022, and will play every weekend through April 2nd. Shows are every Thursday, Friday & Saturday; doors are at 7:00pm and the show begins promptly at 7:30pm. Admission is $20-$30. All attendees must show proof of full vaccination; the venue has updated HVAC and cleaning procedures, and a reduced capacity for Covid safety. Tickets on sale now. .
Cost: $20 - $30