INFINITY + INFINITY IS HAPPENING!
ELIZABETH MCQUEEN PRESENTS ‘INFINITY + INFINITY’ TAKING PLACE ON APRIL 30 AND MAY 1The press is pouring in and we are excited to see it tonight! Thanks to The Daily Texan and Community Impact newspapers.Show will feature motion sensor technology, cutting-edge animation, and sophisticated building processes to create interactive, life-sized, audience controlled visual environments working in tandem with McQueen’s original music(AUSTIN, TEXAS – April 2015; source: Juice Consulting) – Austin-based singer-songwriter and KUTX DJ Elizabeth McQueen is proud to present an interactive, multi-media performance entitled “Infinity + Infinity” at Austin’s Museum of Human Achievement on Thursday, April 30 andFriday, May 1. There will be two shows each night, one at 7 p.m. and another show at 9 p.m. For more information, please see: www.infinityplusinfinity.net. Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door and can be purchased online at: www.ticketfly.com.
To see some of the interactive, psuedoholographic fun, click here.
The installation will be funded in part by a grant from the City of Austin’s Cultural Arts Division, as well as through funds received from local music non-profit Black Fret. Additional sponsors include KUTX 98.9, PsiPlay
and Texas Music Water.The inter-media music performance features McQueen’s newest ensemble, EMQ (with guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo and multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Greene), in conjunction with interactive structures designed and built by designer/visual artist Jerome Morrison. The work will utilize cutting-edge animation, audience-engaging motion sensor technology, and sophisticated building processes to create interactive, life-sized, audience-controlled visual environments (the PsiScreen, PsiBox and PsiWorld) working in tandem with McQueen’s all original music. For more information on the technology, see www.PsiPlay.net.
The music and the media will explore the heartaches, ambivalences and joys of long-term commitment. Says McQueen about the theme of the installation, “Last year I suddenly found myself with time enough to write about where I was. And where I was, where I am, is deep into a series of lifelong commitments – to my husband, to my children, to my cat even. This kind of journey is as mind expanding and magical as it is tedious … as rewarding as it is frustrating. And I wanted to tryand capture that lovely ambivalence in my songs. At the same time I was getting more and more interested in different possibilities in interactive visuals thanks to my friendship and collaboration with Jerome Morrison. I’m excited to combine these visuals with my new songs to create an immersive experience for people.”
The PsiScreen, PsiBox and PsiWorld are adult-sized structures that combine the “Pepper’s Ghost” technique – wherein a 3-D image is reflected onto a clear, reflective surface, making it appear to be a floating hologram. Through the use of motion sensors, a person will be able to manipulate that image with their movement. This will be layered onto video imagery where the audience will be able to control different aspects – such as opacity and colorization – via this use of midi controllers and VJ software. In the PsiBox, which is more of a pyramid than a box, the image appears to float in the center of the pyramid. PsiWorld is a 12′ x12′ version of a PsiBox, large enough for an adult to walk inside of. While inside, they will be able to interact with images in such a way that they, as well as the people outside of the box, will feel as if they are experiencing a new kind of magic.
About EMQ:
EMQ, comprised of Elizabeth McQueen (the Grammy-nominated former female singer for Asleep at the Wheel), Lauren Gurgiolo (guitarist for Okkervil River and leader of the experimental noise rock band the Dialtones) and Lindsay Greene (former bass player for Paula Nelson and Seth Walker), is a new group that is exploring what happens when they mix and meld of all of their influences — at once.At the center of the sound are McQueen’s vocals. Her singing has been compared to “Loretta Lynn spliced in honey.” Or maybe Peggy Lee copping Ella Fitzgerald licks. It’s a sound that comes straight out of the mid-twentieth century, and when coupled with her arch top guitar rhythm playing, it is a thing of post-was beauty. But rather than surround that voice with appropriate instrumentation — say live drums, upright bass and jazz guitar — it’s surrounded instead by Moog bass lines and Micro Korg riffs, distorted guitar loops and sampled drum beats.
Lauren Gurgiolo is one of the most inventive guitar players in town and she commands the stage as the lead guitar player for Okkervil River. But Gurgiolo has long had a love of experimental sounds, and her own project, The Dialtones, has allowed her to explore this love of audio-experimentation. In 2013, this passion culminated in a City-funded mixed media art installation called “Calculated Carelessness.” Inspired by Soren Kierkigaard’s “The Seducer’s Diary,” the sold-out installation explored the ways in which people connect and disconnect through technology.Lindsay Greene has made a name for himself in the roots and Americana world as a solid and imaginative bass player, playing with McQueen, Ray Price, Paula Nelson, Seth Walker, Victrola, Jo’s House Band and the Robert Kraft Trio. But he, too, enjoys the avant grade. He’s been a member of the Dialtones since their early days as well as playing with Chad Raines’ (Amanda Palmer) experimental dance rock outfit, The Guilty Pleasures. He was so interested in making the sounds he was searching for that he designed and built his own analog noise-creator, The Deuce, which is included in the EMQ instrumentation line-up. In EMQ, Greene translates his bass skills to the Moog, while also providing other synth sounds.
About Jerome Morrison:Jerome Morrison has a Masters of Arts Degree in New Media Studio from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. There he delved into ways to expand the boundaries of interactive gaming technologies in order to create immersive, interactive experiences. He was the 2013 winner of the Appalachian Student Research Forum in Digital Media for his pseudoholographic interactive art installation, “The HiFi God,” where people were able to interact with a godlike projection. Since moving to Austin, he has collaborated with Steven Fishman on the “Obelisk” project, created pseudoholographic visuals for the Crash Alchemy dance troupe, and joined up with Elizabeth McQueen to create an interactive art collective named PsiPlay.For more information, please see:For more information or to become a member of the Museum of Human Achievement, please visit: www.themuseumofhumanachievement.com/member.
MEDIA NOTE:For media inquiries or for press RSVPS, please contact the team at Juice Consulting:
Heather Wagner Reed Amber LaFrance