An automaton might only be designed to simulate human behavior, but the “Automaton II” fundraiser is made to instill life into The Fuse Factory’s mission to foster artistic expression through digital media.
Alison Colman, who received her doctorate in art education from Ohio State in 2003, is the founder and executive director of The Fuse Factory.
She said “Automaton II” was developed to continue fulfilling the Fuse Factory’s mission to cultivate artistic production, research and experimentation in the digital age. It also aims to offer hands-on workshops and classes about current technology.
“People really like what we’ve done so far,” Colman said. “Not a lot of people are doing what we’re doing, and we strive hard to make sure it’s accessible.”
Colman said the one-night event will feature three parts, each designed with audience participation in mind.
Tone Elevator, an experimental industrial/electronica band from Columbus, will open the event with its music and a projected backdrop of videos made by Columbus College of Art and Design students.
“We will be creating intuitively improvisational sound waves from electronic instruments to create soundscapes and unusually structured aural regions that are not often heard in mainstream music,” keyboardist Kaswan Kreutzfeld said.
The four-member band formed in 2008, and they use several synthesizers, voicings, computer tracks and guitars structured over electronic rhythms.
“We hope to elicit a mood that will evoke reactions within a technology-oriented environment that one does not normally see or hear,” Colman said.
Kreutzfeld said, “[The Fuse Factory] is an arts group with its eye to the future, and Tone Elevator is a relevant group of artists who wish to be involved with these kinds of activities.”
After the band performs, Julie Cruse, an OSU graduate student in dance and technology, will demonstrate and explain the uses for her software project, VICKi (Virtual Interactive Choreographic/Kinetic instructor).
Cruse said she built VICKi to facilitate learning interactive dance and performance techniques through experiments, collaboration and personal reflection.
She also said VICKi users can work with all kinds of media.
“I think of VICKi as a mixing board for mixers, both sonic and visual, where each internal mixer can be used to control the others or can be controlled by some outside source,” Cruse said.
Cruse said there will be a Q-and-A session for the audience after the lecture and demonstration.
For the second year, German choreographer and dancer Robert Wechsler will headline “Automaton II.”
Wechsler is the artistic director of “Palindrome,” a world-touring,
intermedia performance group based in Germany and New York City.
The dancers use biosensors and motion-tracking technology to control lighting, music and video with their movements.
Colman said Wechsler will perform a solo piece titled “7 Memories” and
will also perform a group piece with OSU graduate students in dance, to music by Spanish composer Pablo Palacio.
“Robert will also have audience participation by demonstrating his motion tracking choreographic system,” Colman said.
For more information on Wechsler, visit palindrome.de.
Advanced discount tickets for “Automaton II” can be purchased at thefusefacotry.org and are $10 for students and $15 for the general public. Tickets are $20 at the door.
