Explore Dance and Technology: “Loops” Exhibition and Performance at the Boston Cyber Arts Festival

[Marlon Barrios Solano]

Boston, MA — Dance and technology take center stage with “Loops,” an exhibition and performance inspired by Merce Cunningham’s solo dance “Loops.” The exhibition takes place April 24-May 10 at the MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, and the performance, presented by Critical Moves, takes place on the evening of April 24.

The story of “Loops” began in 2001 when artists Paul Kaiser, Shelly Eshkar and Marc Downie created a digital artwork by motion-capturing Merce Cunningham as he performed. The artists developed a sophisticated software program that turned the motion-capture data into a flowing abstract digital portrait; they later added multiple screens and a soundtrack. In 2008, the Cunningham Foundation and the OpenEnded Group (an organization consisting of Kaiser, Eshkar, and Downie) placed all the material online as open source, where it would be available for repurposing by other artists.

Boston Cyberarts, with a grant from the LEF Foundation, commissioned four media artists — Brian Knep, Golan Levin, Casey Reas, and Sosolimited — to utilize the “Loops” material in whatever way they chose to create new works. The results are on display from April 24 through May 10 at the MIT Museum, with an opening reception on April 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Additionally the works, along with their code, will be online at www.bostoncyberarts.org/loops as open source for use by others.

Also at the MIT Museum, Critical Moves Contemporary Dance Series presents a performance on April 24 by two dancer-choreographers performing works inspired by the “Loops” project. Jonah Bokaer performs “False Start,” an excerpt of his evening length "Three Cases of Amnesia", a technology-influenced solo dance and media work. Marjorie Morgan performs a new solo work of her own, involving live looping sound tracks and simultaneous solo dancing. Sound and video are provided by Jed Speare. The evening also includes a keynote talk by Marc Downie of OpenEnded Group, and a Q&A.

The 2009 Boston Cyberarts Festival takes place April 24-May 10, 2009, at museums, galleries, performing spaces, educational institutions, and on the web. Complete information about the Festival, including a searchable database of the more than 50 events and exhibitions, is available at www.bostoncyberarts.org. Further information on the Boston Cyberarts Festival is available by calling 617.524.8495 or emailing [e-mail].

At a Glance

What: “Loops” Exhibition

Who: Presented by Boston Cyberarts, in conjunction with the Cunningham Foundation, OpenEnded Group, and MIT Museum

Works by Brian Knep, Golan Levin, Casey Reas, and Sosolimited

Sponsored by LEF Foundation

Where: At the MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

When: Exhibition on view April 24 – May 10. Open daily 10 am – 5 pm.

Opening Reception Friday, April 24, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Admission: $7.50 adults; discounts for students, seniors, MIT community. Free on Sunday mornings. Admission to the Opening Reception is free.

What: “Loops” Performance

Who: Presented by Critical Moves Contemporary Dance Series, with support from the Boston Dance Alliance

Featuring performances by Jonah Bokaer and Marjorie Morgan, sound and video by Jed Speare

Keynote address by Marc Downie of OpenEnded Group, and Q&A

Where: MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

When: Friday, April 24, 8:00 pm

Admission: $20 general admission; $18 for students and Boston Dance Alliance members

Reservations online at www.bostoncyberarts.org/loops, or purchase at the door

Biographies of Performers

Jonah Bokaer is an award-winning choreographer and media artist. Based in New York, he is dedicated to expanding possibilities for live performance through choreography, digital media, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and social enterprise, in the United States and internationally. He has worked with such leading dance figures as Merce Cunningham, John Jasperse, David Gordon, Deborah Hay, Tino Sehgal, and many others. His work has been presented widely throughout the United States and abroad, including Cornell University, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, Dixon Place, La Mama ETC, P.S. 122, Symphony Space, the ISB (Bangkok), Naxos Bobine, Studio Théâtre de Vitry, and La Générale (Paris).

Marjorie Morgan is a Boston-area choreographer, composer, dancer and singer whose work often combines elements of movement, live sound, music and text. She is particularly fascinated with the territory between composition and improvisation, and between narrative and abstraction. Her original works have won her two awards for outstanding achievement in the arts and repeated Best of Boston Awards from the Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Boston Phoenix. She has performed and toured nationally and internationally with the companies of Pooh Kaye, Paula Josa-Jones, Caitlin Corbett, Snappy Dance Theater, and the Mobius Artists Group. Marjorie is a professor in the Theater Department at the Boston Conservatory.

Marc Downie is an artist and artificial intelligence researcher. Born in Aberdeen, UK, he has an MA in natural science and a MSci in physics from the University of Cambridge. In 2005 he obtained a PhD from MIT’s Media Lab, writing a thesis entitled “Choreographing the Extended Agent.” He is part of the OpenEnded Group, an association of three digital artists who create works for stage, screen, gallery, page, and public space.

Jed Speare is a crossover artist working in a variety of media and settings. Initially trained in music composition, he has presented sound, performance, video, installation, conceptual, and community-based works locally, nationally, and internationally for over thirty years. In Boston, he has been known primarily as a member of the Mobius Artists Group since 1995 and as the Co- Director and Director of Mobius from 1996 through 2004. He has recently been Director of Studio Soto, a space for ideas, since 2006.

# # #

The Boston Cyberarts Festival, launched by George Fifield in 1999 with seed funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, is the only Festival in the world that encompasses all art forms, including both visual and performing arts, film, video, electronic literature, public art, and web art. The 2009 Boston Cyberarts Festival takes place April 24-May 10, 2009, at museums, galleries, performing spaces, educational institutions, and on the web.

Cyberart encompasses any artistic endeavor in which computer technology is used to expand artistic possibilities — that is, where the computer’s unique capabilities are integral elements of the creative process in the same way that paint, photographic film, musical instruments, and other materials have always been used to express an artist’s vision.

Your browser may not support display of this image.Your browser may not support display of this image.Your browser may not support display of this image.Boston Cyberarts is grateful for the support of many generous individuals and institutions, including The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, ArtsBoston, IBM, LEF Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Phoenix Media Communications Group, and 1330 Boylston Street.