LEAF2019 — uncover

March 15 & 16, 2019: Center for Musical Arts, Lafayette, CO

LEAF 2019 wants to ‘uncover’. We want to go to the garage sale in your mind and find that object of personal glee, truth and fascination that mesmerizes, seduces and engages. This year’s invited artists look at old tech in new ways, new tech in old ways and ask us to wonder where we’ve been and where we’re going. We’ll collectively dig into the archeology of lost and found media.

Featuring 2 days of performances and talks at the Center for Musical Arts @ 200 East Baseline Rd., in Lafayette, Colorado.

Friday March 15th @7PM _Performances

Derek Holzer – Vector Synthesis Laser Performance
Janet Feder and Joshue Ott – Prepared Guitar & Electronic Image
L’Astra Cosmo – AudioVisual Vector Synthesis
Sean Winters & Angie Eng – Piano & Electronic Image

Saturday March 16th @7PM _artistTalks

Derek Holzer – A Media Archeology of Vector Synthesis
Jason and Deborah Bernagozzi – What IS Signal Culture? The Signal IN the Culture
Janet Feder – Trip Sitting: A guided journey along the timeline of psychedelia from inception to the present day. 
libi rose striegl – Digging In: A hands-on Guide to Media Archeology

Both nights are FREE and open to the public.

Sponsored in part by the Center for Musical Arts, Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission, and Arts! Lafayette.

More Details:

Performances

On Friday March 15th, Helsinki/Berlin-based sound artist, instrument builder and theorist Derek Holzer will present a vector synthesis controlled projector-less light and sound performance based on his custom software and hardware.

Local favorite and world-renowned musician Janet Feder will perform her unique brand of prepared guitar while New York artist and mobile app developer Joshue Ott captures, manipulates and projects Janet’s physical performance visually, using augmented reality tools of his own design.

Pianist and ATLAS PhD candidate Sean Winters will work alongside internationally acclaimed visualist Angie Eng, exploring hybrid realms of live visual music.

And returning to LEAF, Colorado-based Nathan Jantz and Jahnavi Stenflo will premier a brand new audiovisual project called L’Astra Cosmo, delving into modular vector-based signal generation and transcoding of sound and image.

Artists Talks/ Demos

Saturday March 16th many of the artists will be giving talks and demos at the Center for Musical Arts in Lafayette, Colorado.

Derek Holzer will discuss the history of vector synthesis and electronic media in Finland, where he teaches at the MediaLab, Aalto University, Helsinki. This form of synthesis was originally developed by the military and is something of a ‘lost technology’ that has recently been revived by artists and hackers looking for unique systems and processes to generate novel sounds and images.

Jason and Deborah Bernagozzi will deliver a talk and demonstration of both the technical and cultural implications of living in a ‘signal culture’. Jason and Deborah run the acclaimed residency program in upstate New York called Signal Culture, where artists are invited to work with vintage and contemporary image and sound processing tools. Working versions of some of the Signal Culture live performance applications will be demonstrated. Signal Culture is supported by the Rauschenberg Foundation and mediaThe Foundation.

Janet Feder will explore the roots of psychedelia, and the ways in which it is woven into art, music, and culture at large. What role has technology had in facilitating those expanded media excursions? Janet teaches internationally and is currently at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

We thought it fitting that a Festival theme dedicated to the idea of ‘uncovering’ old technologies and processes would include an archeologist — Media Archeologist and Manager at the CU Boulder Media Archeology Laboratory, libi rose striegl — to discuss a hands-on approach to uncovering hidden hardware agendas and setting technology free from its past. libi’s work hacks at old tech to explore alternate uses and outcomes. Expect to see working models of obsolete media tech at the venue on Saturday!