In Production EMPAC

Released to mark the film’s inclusion in the 2024 Whitney Biennial, this episode discusses the creation of Clarissa Tossin’s ‘Mojo’q che b’ixan ri ixkanulab’ / Antes de que los Volcanes Canten / Before the Volcanoes Sing’ at EMPAC.

In the second episode of In Production, EMPAC video engineer Ryan Jenkins talks with Bailey Scieszka and curators Isabella Achenbach, Eduardo Andres Alfonso, Angelica Arbelaez, Min Sun Jeon, and Guy Weltchek about producing their large-scale multimedia theatrical project Conspiracy Influencer at EMPAC.
Bailey Scieszka’s Conspiracy Influencer is a four-part theatrical extravaganza that premiered live at EMPAC on May 13, 2022 and will premiere online May 26th at 7PM. This newly-commissioned performance combines puppetry, clownery, and drag. It is set in a madcap world populated by characters like anthropomorphic Skittles, Nixon’s dead dog, a talking Comet pizza slice, a mob of Beanie Babies, and a demonic clown named Old Put (Scieszka’s alter ego). The cast of puppets satirize the wacky conspiracy theories that spawn in dark corners of the internet and contribute to the polarized socio-political landscape in the United States. Over the course of the performance follow Old Put’s meteoric rise from humble content creator, who unboxes dolls on YouTube, to celebrity influencer at the center of a disinformation campaign. The performance is the climax of Scieszka’s collaboration with curators from CCS Bard, EMPAC’s production team, and Philadelphia-based composer Joseph Hallman.
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https://empac.rpi.edu

Welcome to In Production, conversations on the research and development of time-based artworks.
Hosted by EMPAC’s engineering and curatorial staff, we talk to artists, technicians, curators, scholars, and makers associated with the production of new work here at the Curtis R Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Through interdisciplinary exchange, this podcast series contributes insight into the creative and technical act of producing artistic works by those who work backstage and behind the camera.

In this first episode of In Production, EMPAC curator Ashley Ferro-Murray talks with theater maker Annie Saunders, conductor and composer Christopher Rountree, and their collaborators about the making of their EMPAC commissioned work, Rest. This look behind the scenes of the project features source material from research interviews and original music by composer Emma O’Halloran.
Rest interrogates sensory overwhelm, sensory deprivation, hallucinations, and the nature of consciousness. The audience experience is inspired by the idea that our perception of reality depends on agreements and disagreements with other people. ⁣⁣Light and sound are central to the staging of Rest. These elements help to sculpt a performance environment that includes moments of near-silence, music, and field recordings from a diverse set of conversations. Materials include conversations with consciousness experts, people sharing their early sense memories, and reflections on our relationships to our smartphones. The work provides a visceral opportunity to feel and consider what ‘rest’ means to us in the modern world.⁣⁣
The artistic collaborators were in remote residence during fall 2020 to develop an EMPAC-commissioned online iteration of Rest, which will premiere in January 2021.

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Original music for this podcast by Emma O’Halloran.
Collaborators currently working to research and create this multi-platform project include:
Annie Saunders
Christopher Rountree
Emma O'Halloran
Andrew Schneider
Adah Parris
Rita Williams
Rachel Joy Victor
Jackie Zhou
Mike Merchant
James Okumura
Brian Hashimoto
Wild Up:
Jiji, electric guitar;
Jodie Landau, piano, keys, percussion, voice;
Allen Fogle, horn;
Archie Carey, electric bassoon;
Christopher Rountree, artistic director

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https://empac.rpi.edu
http://thisisthewilderness.com/
https://www.wildup.org/