“We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams,” says Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl’s classic book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.This oft quoted line is a reminder to take the power of creation into your own hands. What you want to see in the world is yours for the making, and it is exactly this sense of artistic empowerment that ZiP Visuals, a renowned VJ based in Brooklyn, is bringing to the table with his newest project, Transcend Lab, an interactive audiovisual experience taking place Saturday, August 17th, at The Chocolate Factory in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The Experience
Utilizing a sprawling LED wall and projectors provided by 4Life Entertainment, visual artists ZiP Visuals, Tyme Visions, Oneirogen, and Psybernautics, plus a collaboration set by “Zippernaut,” will mix their original works with real-time, live-motion capture of dancers and patrons for a unique improvisational visual experience, set to the music of Chris Karns, Mindex, Mike Wallis, Mikayli, and LuFilthy, with bookend sets by Wake an Blake, all heard through a four point Void Acoustics sound system from Lacuna Productions.
“Transcend Lab is an immersive audio/visual experience that features live VJ and DJ sets, dancers fitted with motion capture suits, and real-time interactive art installations. The A/V sets will be completely improvised and utilize state of the art technology to push the boundaries of live visuals.”Matt Mendez, ZiP Visuals
Patrons will not only be an audience to the visual anomalies of this experience, they will also be able to partake in the action themselves. While live dancing will be projected on the LED wall using a Perception Neuron Motion Capture suit, worn by dancer Christy Belle, utilizing visual designs by ZiP and technologies from Axis Studios and Unreal Engine manned by technician Whitt Sellers, attendees will also be able to interact with the visual displays in two different installations designed by the VJ team.
In the first installation, the team will be using Kinect sensors to track the motion of guests, transforming the data of their movements into captivating visuals by way of Touch Designer and GLSL code. In the second, guests will be able to toggle with a MIDI controller hooked up to a projector displaying VJ-created artwork, bridging the gap between attendee and participant in a meta realm of creation, allowing this event to evolve through the night to new and unexpected territories.
Located in the heart of an artistic music hub, near venues like Avant Gardner, House of Yes, Elsewhere, and more, The Chocolate Factory prides itself on a fresh and invigorating history of “quality warehouse experiences.” Hosting an array of genres ranging from techno and DJs to bass, The Chocolate Factory has seen names like Hamdi, Yheti, Nikki Nair, Ternion Sound, and more, grace its space. Shows here take place in a warehouse adjoining the fully operational craft chocolate factory, FINE & RAW.
The Players
ZiP Visuals x Chris Karns
ZiP Visuals is the alias of Matt Mendez, founder/curator of Transcend Lab and Brooklyn-based visual artist who specializes in the creation and live mixing of unique 3D animations. Combining live-motion images from dream consciousness and consumer culture in playful and surreal ways, Mendez has developed a distinct, recognizable style that continues to blow minds with its vibrant patchwork and zany fever jolts. Paired over the years with acts like Detox Unit, Mickman, Dead and Company, and more, ZiP Visuals has performed at shows and festivals around the world to wide acclaim.
Chris Karns is a world-renowned turntablist and official touring member of Pretty Lights Live Band. Winner of both US and World DMC Championships, Karns has developed his own style of hip-hop/electronic turntable fusion, producing tracks for the likes of Method Man, and sharing the stage with hip-hop legends from Run D.M.C. and A Tribe Called Quest to Mos Def and Wu-Tang Clan.
Tyme Visions x Mindex
Tyme Visions, aka Tyler Bell, is a Philadelphia-based VJ who is constantly taking his art to new proportions. He is the visual director for Universal Emotion, and in recent years he has performed at a variety of shows across the country as well as festivals like The Rendezvous at Suwannee, Elements Festival, Making Time, and more. He is also a lead developer on the interactive installation for this show.
Mixing live audio-reactive visuals with 3D renders and 2D aesthetics, Tyme Visions has developed a style wholly his own, a maximalist menagerie, a geometric madhouse of shapes, symbols, and patterns that defies both expectation and notions of fluidity to develop a new definition of order in motion from the chaos of creation.
“I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free.”Principia Discordia, speaking on Eris, Goddess of Chaos
Mindex is a versatile producer with over a decade of experience in genre-bending sound design. Blending experimental bass with jazz, classical, IDM, psytrance, hip hop, and more, the Austin-based producer has gained a following around the world for his distinct sound and lively performances.
Last year saw the debut of his ambient/piano side project Neversky and a number of headlining shows, such as the AFI Silver Theatre in Maryland. This year has already seen the release of two EPs, a full-length ambient album, Modus Lullabitus, and headlining shows in cities across the country.
Oneirogen x Mike Wallis
Based in Boulder, CO, Oneirogen, aka Graham Hearne, is a visual artist who approaches his work with a journey-like mindset. Creating landscapes at once kaleidoscopic, oneiric, fantastical, and familiar, Oneirogen pulls viewers into a dreamlike narrative of particle rarefaction and moving form with real-time reactions to the music, creating a “symbiotic relationship between sound and sight.” This past year, Hearne has shared the stage with Detox Unit, Dillard (at Hypnotic Theatre), and Schmoop, and will be performing during Tipper’s three-night run at the Orion Theatre in just a few weeks.
Founder of Colony Productions, key figure in side projects K.L.O. (with Kursa and Lone Drum), Crunch (with Tipper), and many more, Mike Wallis has been a pioneer and staple in the experimental electronic music scene for over twenty years, with particular influence in glitch hop and downtempo bass.
Last year, Wallis released the full-length album Slow Mode with K.L.O., and this year has already seen the legend release an EP, Selotape / Delete, and headline shows in major cities across the US, with prime slots at Texas Eclipse Festival and Infrasound. Paired with Oneirogen for a “Colony journey” set, this live mix will feature an exciting blend of unreleased music from artists on the Colony Productions label.
Psybernautics x Mikayli
Psybernautics is the alias of AlxTman, Denver-based visual artist with a nonpareil approach to GLSL, a high-level shading language. His visual art is often amorphous and liquid, giving familiar forms a dose of intricate melt and developing otherworldly dimensions of multi-layered chromatic ooze that come to life on the screen in real-time with paired musicians. This year, Psybernautics has shared the stage with Lone Drum, Bread Winner, Detox Unit, EOS, and more. He is also a developer/performing artist for the Pretty Lights Live Band, and, along with Tyme Visions, is a lead developer on the interactive installation for this show, which will feature some of his original Talk-to-Text AI shaders.
Mikayli is a Brooklyn-based producer paving new ground in the DnB/dubstep scene. This year has seen the release of a number of singles, including a dirty remix of Little Simz’s “Mood Swings,” the release of Hypnotic EP, a five-track heater, and shows in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Denver, and more, winning the mix contest for kLL sMTH’s event at the Ogden Theatre in March.
Zippernaut x LuFilthy
In collaboration, ZiP Visuals and Psybernautics will be pairing up as Zippernaut for a hip-hop set from Brooklyn rapper LuFilthy. LuFilthy has been hot on the scene recently, blending his “raw lyricism and introspective storytelling” with lofi beats and electronic music for his own take on modern hip hop.
This year, the underground New York wordsmith has released an EP, FILTHY SHADES OF GRAY, “FREE DAWG” with Mikayli, and “Trenches” with pheel., RASP-5, Wessanders, ESOK, Lucinda, and Ohmizzu.
In addition to this performance, Zippernaut will be teaming up to provide visuals for a thrilling b2b set with Mike Wallis and Chris Karns taking place between the two artists’ respective sets, and opening and closing the night is New York’s own Wake an Blake, the DJ project of Lacuna Productions team lead, Blake White, who is sure to set the vibe for takeoff and landing alike in proper fashion.
“Transcend Lab is a hub for exploring and developing ways to integrate cutting-edge audiovisual technology. It serves as a collaborative space where artists, tech-enthusiasts, and musicians come together with the audience to push the boundaries of live performance art.”-Matt Mendez, ZiP Visuals
In closing my coverage of Hypnotic Theatre in March, I expressed a hope that the future would hold more novel events curated by the talented and imaginative visual artists in our scene. With Transcend Lab, ZiP Visuals has done that and more, providing a space for not only the musicians and VJs involved but the attendees themselves to be a part of a momentous evening of music and art.
Find tickets here, and be sure to follow the links below to stay up to date on any announcements to come. If you’re in the Northeast and deciding what to do on Saturday night, look no further. This is shaping out to be a one-of-a-kind evening, and you will not want to miss out on your chance to participate in this piece of audiovisual history.
“We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams,” says Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl’s classic book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This oft quoted line is a reminder to take the power of creation into your own hands. What you want to see in the world is yours for the making, and it is exactly this sense of artistic empowerment that ZiP Visuals, a renowned VJ based in Brooklyn, is bringing to the table with his newest project, Transcend Lab, an interactive audiovisual experience taking place Saturday, August 17th, at The Chocolate Factory in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The Experience
Utilizing a sprawling LED wall and projectors provided by 4Life Entertainment, visual artists ZiP Visuals, Tyme Visions, Oneirogen, and Psybernautics, plus a collaboration set by “Zippernaut,” will mix their original works with real-time, live-motion capture of dancers and patrons for a unique improvisational visual experience, set to the music of Chris Karns, Mindex, Mike Wallis, Mikayli, and LuFilthy, with bookend sets by Wake an Blake, all heard through a four point Void Acoustics sound system from Lacuna Productions.
Patrons will not only be an audience to the visual anomalies of this experience, they will also be able to partake in the action themselves. While live dancing will be projected on the LED wall using a Perception Neuron Motion Capture suit, worn by dancer Christy Belle, utilizing visual designs by ZiP and technologies from Axis Studios and Unreal Engine manned by technician Whitt Sellers, attendees will also be able to interact with the visual displays in two different installations designed by the VJ team.
In the first installation, the team will be using Kinect sensors to track the motion of guests, transforming the data of their movements into captivating visuals by way of Touch Designer and GLSL code. In the second, guests will be able to toggle with a MIDI controller hooked up to a projector displaying VJ-created artwork, bridging the gap between attendee and participant in a meta realm of creation, allowing this event to evolve through the night to new and unexpected territories.
The Venue
Located in the heart of an artistic music hub, near venues like Avant Gardner, House of Yes, Elsewhere, and more, The Chocolate Factory prides itself on a fresh and invigorating history of “quality warehouse experiences.” Hosting an array of genres ranging from techno and DJs to bass, The Chocolate Factory has seen names like Hamdi, Yheti, Nikki Nair, Ternion Sound, and more, grace its space. Shows here take place in a warehouse adjoining the fully operational craft chocolate factory, FINE & RAW.
The Players
ZiP Visuals x Chris Karns
ZiP Visuals is the alias of Matt Mendez, founder/curator of Transcend Lab and Brooklyn-based visual artist who specializes in the creation and live mixing of unique 3D animations. Combining live-motion images from dream consciousness and consumer culture in playful and surreal ways, Mendez has developed a distinct, recognizable style that continues to blow minds with its vibrant patchwork and zany fever jolts. Paired over the years with acts like Detox Unit, Mickman, Dead and Company, and more, ZiP Visuals has performed at shows and festivals around the world to wide acclaim.
Chris Karns is a world-renowned turntablist and official touring member of Pretty Lights Live Band. Winner of both US and World DMC Championships, Karns has developed his own style of hip-hop/electronic turntable fusion, producing tracks for the likes of Method Man, and sharing the stage with hip-hop legends from Run D.M.C. and A Tribe Called Quest to Mos Def and Wu-Tang Clan.
Tyme Visions x Mindex
Tyme Visions, aka Tyler Bell, is a Philadelphia-based VJ who is constantly taking his art to new proportions. He is the visual director for Universal Emotion, and in recent years he has performed at a variety of shows across the country as well as festivals like The Rendezvous at Suwannee, Elements Festival, Making Time, and more. He is also a lead developer on the interactive installation for this show.
Mixing live audio-reactive visuals with 3D renders and 2D aesthetics, Tyme Visions has developed a style wholly his own, a maximalist menagerie, a geometric madhouse of shapes, symbols, and patterns that defies both expectation and notions of fluidity to develop a new definition of order in motion from the chaos of creation.
Mindex is a versatile producer with over a decade of experience in genre-bending sound design. Blending experimental bass with jazz, classical, IDM, psytrance, hip hop, and more, the Austin-based producer has gained a following around the world for his distinct sound and lively performances.
Last year saw the debut of his ambient/piano side project Neversky and a number of headlining shows, such as the AFI Silver Theatre in Maryland. This year has already seen the release of two EPs, a full-length ambient album, Modus Lullabitus, and headlining shows in cities across the country.
Oneirogen x Mike Wallis
Based in Boulder, CO, Oneirogen, aka Graham Hearne, is a visual artist who approaches his work with a journey-like mindset. Creating landscapes at once kaleidoscopic, oneiric, fantastical, and familiar, Oneirogen pulls viewers into a dreamlike narrative of particle rarefaction and moving form with real-time reactions to the music, creating a “symbiotic relationship between sound and sight.” This past year, Hearne has shared the stage with Detox Unit, Dillard (at Hypnotic Theatre), and Schmoop, and will be performing during Tipper’s three-night run at the Orion Theatre in just a few weeks.
Founder of Colony Productions, key figure in side projects K.L.O. (with Kursa and Lone Drum), Crunch (with Tipper), and many more, Mike Wallis has been a pioneer and staple in the experimental electronic music scene for over twenty years, with particular influence in glitch hop and downtempo bass.
Last year, Wallis released the full-length album Slow Mode with K.L.O., and this year has already seen the legend release an EP, Selotape / Delete, and headline shows in major cities across the US, with prime slots at Texas Eclipse Festival and Infrasound. Paired with Oneirogen for a “Colony journey” set, this live mix will feature an exciting blend of unreleased music from artists on the Colony Productions label.
Psybernautics x Mikayli
Psybernautics is the alias of AlxTman, Denver-based visual artist with a nonpareil approach to GLSL, a high-level shading language. His visual art is often amorphous and liquid, giving familiar forms a dose of intricate melt and developing otherworldly dimensions of multi-layered chromatic ooze that come to life on the screen in real-time with paired musicians. This year, Psybernautics has shared the stage with Lone Drum, Bread Winner, Detox Unit, EOS, and more. He is also a developer/performing artist for the Pretty Lights Live Band, and, along with Tyme Visions, is a lead developer on the interactive installation for this show, which will feature some of his original Talk-to-Text AI shaders.
Mikayli is a Brooklyn-based producer paving new ground in the DnB/dubstep scene. This year has seen the release of a number of singles, including a dirty remix of Little Simz’s “Mood Swings,” the release of Hypnotic EP, a five-track heater, and shows in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Denver, and more, winning the mix contest for kLL sMTH’s event at the Ogden Theatre in March.
Zippernaut x LuFilthy
In collaboration, ZiP Visuals and Psybernautics will be pairing up as Zippernaut for a hip-hop set from Brooklyn rapper LuFilthy. LuFilthy has been hot on the scene recently, blending his “raw lyricism and introspective storytelling” with lofi beats and electronic music for his own take on modern hip hop.
This year, the underground New York wordsmith has released an EP, FILTHY SHADES OF GRAY, “FREE DAWG” with Mikayli, and “Trenches” with pheel., RASP-5, Wessanders, ESOK, Lucinda, and Ohmizzu.
In addition to this performance, Zippernaut will be teaming up to provide visuals for a thrilling b2b set with Mike Wallis and Chris Karns taking place between the two artists’ respective sets, and opening and closing the night is New York’s own Wake an Blake, the DJ project of Lacuna Productions team lead, Blake White, who is sure to set the vibe for takeoff and landing alike in proper fashion.
In closing my coverage of Hypnotic Theatre in March, I expressed a hope that the future would hold more novel events curated by the talented and imaginative visual artists in our scene. With Transcend Lab, ZiP Visuals has done that and more, providing a space for not only the musicians and VJs involved but the attendees themselves to be a part of a momentous evening of music and art.
Find tickets here, and be sure to follow the links below to stay up to date on any announcements to come. If you’re in the Northeast and deciding what to do on Saturday night, look no further. This is shaping out to be a one-of-a-kind evening, and you will not want to miss out on your chance to participate in this piece of audiovisual history.
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