Ark 17 Edinboro St, #3 Chinatown (map) / email me for more info

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Type Specimen
visual art by Ken Avery, Melissa Damasauskas, Maggie Haas, Justin Huxol, Helen White and Andrew Shea performances by Baby Yaga, King Egg and Head Hunter
12 15 2007, 6pm-am, performances start at 8pm
$$5
Sponsored by Grolsch

"When I was a child, my favorite museum exhibit was a life-sized diorama of a kitchen, almost entirely covered in cockroaches at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. At the time I was too young to understand what the point was. Since then it’s become clear that age doesn’t matter; when I see geodes, whale skeletons, models of flower structures, it is always with wonder. There is nothing like a vitrine or a pedestal to add the twinkle of unfamiliarity to something even as common as a cockroach."Type Specimen is a new, temporary natural history museum. The exhibits have been assembled not by biologists, botanists, geographers or astronomers, but by people with no expertise these areas whatsoever. These exhibits are imaginary."
-Maggie Haas


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Once Walls
work by Ken Avery, Lana Caplan, Liz Nofziger and Andrew Shea
presentation performance "Explorations of Materials" by Miles Huston and Ryan Reihle
11 17 2007, 6pm-am
sponsored by Grolsch


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Gowns, Can't, Naomi, Drone Thugs, Upsilon Acrux, Magic
Oneohtrix Point Never, videos by Andrew Shea
10 17 2007, 9pm $$8


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200X
co-curated with Nik Gulacsik
Saturday, October 13, 2007
4pm-am
200X animated .gif page

exhibit includes:
screenings of tool-assisted speedruns
T-AS performance by Kevin Discoll and Dan Lopatin: the "unreal tournament"
.GIF tower
illustrations by Nik Gulacsik
felt landscapes

200X reveals some of the ways that video games stand as a new artistic potentiality, straddling the gap between traditional forms of visual, auditory and literary expression and the non-linear, horizontal unfolding of the possibilities provided by digital media.

With the ascension of digital media culture, it is now apparent that the Video Game is not simply a passing fad or adolescent distraction. Yet twenty years ago this genre was seen by the mainstream market in precisely this way, and trivialized it as just another type of game or entertainment. However, as the first few generations who were exposed to video games come of age, they have carried the influence of the video game into various disciplines. This fact demonstrates that the video game possesses definite qualities that could be called artful or literary. But our traditional narrative forms remain anchored in the pre-digital modernist paradigm of characters whose psychology and agency constitute them in a positive world. The broad format of video games provides the possibility to stop telling stories about bogus “individuals” in a dubious “real world”, and to begin telling stories about things, and situations…perhaps even about stories themselves.

There are myriad critical approaches to the emerging world of electronic games, from the study of cultural history to the artistic and technological development of future possibilities. However, 200X confines its scope exposing people to certain reified aesthetic elements of specific works that would be called video games (it is by no means a survey of the entire industry or its history), and furthermore to display some examples of the modulation of these formal aesthetics in the work of contemporary artists.
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Sven Konig, QFWFQ Duo and Gunung Sari
Saturday, September 1, 2007 / 8pm / $$7

Sven Konig
comes by way of Denmark to perform his project sCrAmBlEd? HaCkZ!, in which cut up segments of music videos are reordered and reassembled so fast that, no sooner have the words left your mouth, you hear them spoken back to you. sCrAmBlEd ?HaCkZ! analyses the audio portion of a video file to determine the tempo of the incoming audio, and then slices it up into discrete chunks of a quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note and so on. Using a large number of vectors, those slices are classified into a database according to their sonic characteristics. When the user sends new audio information to the program using e.g. voice and microphone, it follows approximately the same process, becoming classified in the database. The software outputs the pre-analyzed sample that is most similar to the newly cached sample. The result, which can be seen in the video, is the ability to reconfigure a number of music videos on the fly, so that they produce a sound similar to whatever is imputed. On screen the software plays the frames of video that accompany the selected audio.

QFWFQ Duo
is Andrea and Greg Kowalski.  The two met in Poland, where Greg produced films and Andrea studied music.  They then moved to Argentina for five years (where Andrea is from) and they now reside in Salem, MA.  During this time, Andrea has built on her formal music training while Greg has pursued his interest in sound-image interaction by combining sound, image and motion to create an interactive and immersive experience.
       QFWFQ Duo has performed in Buenos Aires at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Art and the International Experimenta Festival as well as Podevil in Berlin among others. Greg and Andrea have since been performing at many venues throughout New England. They were just part of the recent Boston Cybertarts Festival and NIME 2007 (International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression).

Gunung Sari
is Nick Lesley, Stanley Ruiz, and Michael Dotolo.  The three perform “mountain style electronic music” that incorporates their interest in obscure gamelan and folk music from Southeast Asia to the avant noise of downtown New York. They combine homemade electronics, analog boxes, percussions, handcrafted wearable noisemakers, and toys in their performances. They also incorporate video projections that utilize the computer as a tool for sound and image synthesis.  Gunung Sari is interested in multimedia collaborative performances, spatial treatment of sound and the raw power of noise.
       Gunung Sari is based in Brooklyn, New York and have performed in festivals like Bent 2006 + 2007, LaSuperette at Eyebeam, Noise! Fest organized by free103point9 radio at The Ontological Hysteric Theater, Flow at Monkeytown, Phi Phenomena, and Frequencies. They have also played in venues such as The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Issue Project Room, and Cakeshop.
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Mutators + Joey Casio + Rubbed Raw + Bone Rattle
Sunday, August 19, 2007 / 8pm / $$5
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Pale Hoarse + Brown Bird
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 / 8pm / $$5

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Griffin and the True Believers + Dave End + Dufus
Sunday, July 22, 2007 // 8pm // $$5

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Astronaut + Karlheinz + Max Lord + Dead Peasant Insurance
Thursday, July 19, 2007 // 8pm // $$5

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Crystal Understanding cd release party
with Z.W.A. and DJ Mark E Moon

Saturday, May 12, 2007 / 9pm / $$5

Ark invites the city of Boston to celebrate Crystal Understanding's release of "Hold the Gem", their first full-length album.

The cd release party celebrates not only the release of “Hold the Gem,” but also the release from captivity of Z.W.A., the rapping zombies who un-live in the basement of Compound 440r. After the performances, the beats of one DJ Mark E Moon will release all booties present from any and all dancing inhibitions. Ark has given Crystal Understanding free rein to transform the space into a spirit world capable of housing the magic that will be performed that night. There are plans for projected video trance spells, installed ceiling space alterations, custom-designed outfits, mind-blowing light systems, and other psychic safety precautions.

Crystal Understanding has been etching memories into the unsuspecting hearts of Boston's concert goers since their first show at Zuzu's in 2004. The Understanding began with the discovery of a shareware program called Soundclub that Aaron found while googling interviews of one of his favorite bands, DAT Politics (who also use the program). Using Soundclub, he wrote a song called "Timmy and Tammy," for which his friend Jesse made a video. The video got passed around the Internet and  eventually found its way into the virtual hands of a German techno enthusiast named Martin, who ran the now-defunct We Rock Like Crazy records. He wanted to release it as a dance 12". Thus, from the loving warmth of the Internet, Crystal Understanding was born. When Aaron moved to Boston in 2004, he re-connected with his old friend Sonya. With her harmonies and dance moves and many other mysterious powers, it quickly became clear that she was the magic ingredient required to bring Crystal Understanding out of the bedroom and into the clubs. It was serendipitous-- providential, perhaps-- that the warehouse space known as Compound 440r had just been opened for business, and Crystal Understanding found a home. Like most members of the 440r coterie, Crystal Understanding forgoes the usual trappings of rockitude, replacing guitars and basses with handmade claves, computerized beats, and power feelings. Their new cd features the production powers of synth wizard MicL PTVN, the cover art of Paperradian Jacob Ciocci, and the drawing of a robotic horse skeleton by Cantabrigian occultist Steward Maufus. They will be following up the cd release party with a show in Brooklyn at the Glasslands gallery with Big Digits and Fur Cups for Teeth.

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007 / 9pm / $$5
Sam Rosen
Tiger Saw / Jason Anderson tourmate. Featured on latest Asthmatic Kitty Records comp, his new band is The Look South.
Nat Baldwin
Member of Tiger Saw and the Dirty Projectors. One dude trained in improv contra-bass and a crazy elastic voice like a whole opera in his throat.
The Extraordinaires
The Extraordinaires actually are some kind of opera. Their last album was an incredible DIY musical/book about the doomed love affair of a pilot and a pirate. Their latest is a book of kids songs for adults. Fantastic story book pop and beautiful hand-screened artifacts.
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1725: Chinatown Open Studios



Date: March 10-11
Time: Open Studios 2-6pm
             Saturday/Sunday night music: 6pm – 2am
Address: 17 + 25 Edinboro St
                 Chinatown, Boston, MA 02111
Participating Studios: Ark, Blue Triangle, Nervebox, Nom D’artiste

Art
Ark (17 Edinboro, #3):
painting by Nikolaus Gulacsik, sculpture by Jesse Kaminsky, installation by Maggie Haas, installation by Andrew Shea and Cat BourassaHXbert, photos by Andrew Shea
Blue Triangle (17 Edinboro, #5):
J. Durant, Courtney Leigh Cox, Andrew Lindsay
Nom D’artiste (25 Edinboro, #5):
2-D work by Jeff Mack, David Ortega, and Kenneth Boutet; Music and video projections by Major Mudd; sound and video by LoVid; film/video with live sound show Jeff Mack, QFWFQ Duo, Luther Price, and Saul LevineMusic
Saturday nite:
Ark (6-9pm): Tucker Mayer / Crystal Understanding / Squids
Nom D’artiste (9pm--): music and video projection by Major Mudd; video/sound by LoVid. Jessica Rylan (Can't)

Sunday nite:
Nom D’artiste (7pm--): The Absurder; film/video with live sound show Jeff Mack, QFWFQ Duo, Luther Price, Saul Levine

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SUN CIRCLE, THE WIND-UP BIRD and RED HORSE
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 / 8pm / $$5

SUN CIRCLE
A new musical offering from Greg Davis and Zach Wallace.
Psychoacoustic minimalism meets psychedelic maximalism. Ecstatic high volume drones, long form trance musics and peace noise, made with bowed strings, voices, organs, percussion and world instruments.
Greg Davis lives in Burlington, Vermont. He has played shows all over the world with many different people and has released solo and collaborative albums on many different labels, including carpark records and kranky. Zach Wallace lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He plays with Memorize the Sky, His Name is Alive and Psalm Alarm, and has played with people ranging from Tony Conrad to Anthony Braxton.

THE WIND-UP BIRD
Drawing inspiration from 60's composers like Terry Riley and Gyorgy Ligeti, Joseph Grimm's works straddle the line between electroacoustic composition and experimental noise. The Wind-Up Bird has often used violin, pedal steel guitar, horns, marimba, and other instruments; but recent work uses only the singing voice as a sound source for hallucinogenic, surround-sound drone improvisations. The Wind-Up Bird has released four cd's and toured with the likes of Lightning Bolt, Oval, Mono, etc.

RED HORSE
Red Horse is local musician Steve Pyne, who routes feedback loops and electronics through a custom-modified, vintage organ to create uniquely wonderous sounds. A guitarist by training, but a mad inventor at heart, Steve played backup for Boyz II Men and jazz standards at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, before discovering the joys ofcracked electronics—he hasn't looked back since. For this show, Red Horse has multiplied, as Steve is joined by multi-instrumentalist Eli Keszler, whose music balances gorgeous, droning harmonics and intense, fast, free rhythms.