The quartet of Jeff Chan, Michael Perkins, Ausberto Acevedo, and Jacob Fawcett will make its debut at the Improvised Music Series. Blending Indigenous, Latin American, Asian, Electronic, Folk, and European Classical roots, the group brings a wide range of influences to the forefront, all while connecting through a shared love of swing, post-bop, free jazz, and free improvisation.This debut collaboration promises a night of open dialogue, and deeply felt groove.

Erez Dessel and Aaron Kaufman-Levine form a dynamic and innovative musical duo that bridges genres and traditions. Pianist Dessel and saxophonist Kaufman-Levine bring their unique voices into a shared space, exploring their original compositions and song forms through the lens of open improvisation. Their collaboration thrives on a deep mutual respect and an adventurous spirit, resulting in sounds that echo the human experience.

8:30 Dessel / Kaufman-Levine Duo

9:30 Chan / Perkins / Acevedo / Fawcett

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

Tone Glow is excited to announce "Rotating Signals: The Contemporary Korean Avant-Garde," a program of 10 short films highlighting the current landscape of experimental film in Korea, as well as from those in the Korean diaspora around the world. The past few years have shown a renaissance in Korea's local film scene, due in no small part to legendary filmmaker Lee Jangwook leading workshops at SPACE CELL in the early 2020s, which inspired and taught younger filmmakers to create innovative works on 16mm. This would lead to the founding of different organizations, including Lothringen, who staged the ABBFF Byeongyeong Film Festival in 2024, and Sorigrim, which has hosted numerous screenings since their founding last year.

Notably, the latter is a venue for this year's EXiS, the annual Korean experimental film festival currently spearheaded by Inhan Cho. Some of the films in this program have been shown at (or will show at) EXiS, while others represent the different strains of Korean filmmaking as it has been shaped by the different institutions and communities where directors attended and/or currently live. This event does not intend to showcase the entire breadth of the Korean experimental film scene today, but instead provide a snapshot during a crucial time in its history. As such, this program is being shown in multiple cities around the US as a celebration of the Korean avant-garde's growth and unceasing creativity. All films will be shown digitally.

Join us for a night of Balinese gamelan and dance, as Augustine Esterhammer-Fic premieres his recent documentary work from Bali, along with live dance and music performances by Pak I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda and Indonesian Dance of Illinois. The audience will be able to interact with various Balinese instruments as well.

This event is for Elastic Arts and is supported by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Join us for the show Nu Afrika Sound with Spicy Khasso!

Spicy Khasso (Mahiri Fainké) is a vibrant Malian, Senegalese, and Jamaican-American artist. As a keeper of tradition, a modern young Djeli (Griot) if you will, Khasso reimagines ancestral art through a psychedelic lens-merging heritage with futurism. Their sound, led by Kora (23-string harp) and Djembe, fuses traditional Mandingue music with jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms, diasporic folklore, rock, Afrobeat, and more. In October 2024, Khasso founded the FoReign DestinEton Arkestra—a 15+ member international collective using music and culture to connect and inspire.

Join us for Nu Afrika Sound—a performance and community bantamba (gathering place) for creatives, artists, and kindred spirits. This all-ages event, led by a multi-instrumentalist trio featuring Daniel Persaud and Julian Pujols Quall, explores African-rooted music across genres.

FREE and open to the public

All ages welcome | Food + Refreshments provided Come listen, dance, laugh, and celebrate community!

Feral Nebula is a free improvised trio including Norman Long (electronics), Peter Maunu (guitar/violin/mandolin),  and Erik Sowa (drums/percussion).  Sasha Semina is a multimedia artist who specializes in immersive sound involving audio-reactive projection, interactive media, and vocal live-processing techniques.

Tone Glow is excited to present “The Place Between Our Bodies,” a showcase of queer short films made between 1965 and 1984. These works provide striking, unsparing depictions of gay and lesbian intimacy. The program will feature three films by the pioneering feminist director Barbara Hammer, all of which have not been digitized. The event will also include poetic works by José Rodriguez-Soltero and Coni Beeson, raw portraits by Curt McDowell, and Michael Wallin’s tremendous The Place Between Our Bodies, which Todd Haynes (Carol, Safe) once said “seems to come from another planet, another epoch, in its frank and tender extrapolation of gay sexual hunger and the kindling of a first relationship.”

returning is a shared excavation and exploration of developmental trauma, mental health, and healing. It is an immersive 16-channel soundscape, performance, and participatory somatic workshop. The evening features Leana Allen, Sofía Gabriel, Jordan Knecht, and Farah Salem.

Please join us for a quiet listening window from 7pm-8pm.
An engaged activation will begin at 8pm, lasting approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.
There will be scents present in the space.

At June’s Elastro series we welcome Kentucky-based artist Flanger Magazine presenting a piece on the 16-channel CLEAT system, a duo from Daniel Van Duerm and Fred Jackson Jr, and a solo performance from vocalist Janna Lee. Flanger Magazine creates relaxed and intimate improvisations embracing analog synth and folk sounds alike. The artist creates light experimental music that recalls the twisted folk of contemporaries Brannten Schnüre, the less structured explorations of the Advisory Circle, and even Graeme Miller and Steve Shill's warm and inviting Moomins music. Van Duerm / Jackson will utilize grand piano, electronics, woodwinds, and percussion to spontaneously compose dynamic compositions that highlight both artists’ ability to straddle melody and dissonance. Janna Lee is a Chicago artist who uses her voice to explore various facets of herself, and blur the line between angel and demon. Her solo work combines harsh noise and haunting vocals that probe the dark recesses of a woman's psyche. She loves to confront uncomfortable things in her solo practice to make sense of them and heal herself.

An evening of rhythmic intensity from two different lenses: we present Brochure’s electro-acoustic group along with Fred Jackson’s Double Helix

A variety of outrageous, silly, and interactive performances featuring puppets and more! The People's Puppet Fest's FIRST EVER Puppet Slam! Be a part of unorthodox Chicago history! Support these great local artists!

Featuring performances by PRIMITIVE DESTRUCTION OF THE FUTURE, Gretchen Hasse, & Jacqueline Wade.

OFF SITE @ Solidarity Triangle - N Kimball Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

Celebrating Juneteenth, our first Outreach event of 2025 features Rocio “Chio” Cabrera, Dark Matter Resident Mayda del Valle, Anthony-Michael Stokes, and alumni resident Leah Lara. In collaboration with the youth theater group Los Logansitos, this event will showcase a puppetry and theater performance for all to enjoy.

The event is FREE and open to the public at Solidarity Triangle. Join us 12pm-4pm

At this month’s CLEAT Series we’ll have a solo performance from Laurentse, a duo of series curator Sam Clapp and Jake Leech, then a fixed media choir composition from Kate In!

Detroit pianist Michael Malis gives a solo performance followed by a new electro-acoustic quartet STOMACHS (Mabel Kwan, Carol Genetti, Nick Meryhew, and Bill Harris)

Shake Shook Shaken is a theater/movement workshop series produced by Julie Meckler. The series is designed for people to gently bring body awareness, allowing participants to open up, explore outside of their comfort zone, bond with each other, create and show. By playing with these concepts using our bodies, voices, words, and each other, we will explore our own awareness and sensitivity as artists and people. 

Shake Shook Shaken is a dream of what a safe space could allow. A vision of a place for everybody to gather, look at each other, play and create in a non judgmental, trauma-informed way. It’s an invitation, a journey within and out, a surprise. Each workshop is unique. This month we’ll have Emily Beisel and Julie leading on the topic of PRESENCE.

No prior dance or acting experience is necessary, just willingness to move and exhale. This workshop series is for anyone and everyone.

At this month’s Pleiades Series we’ll hear two solo sets from prolific Chicago artists. Experimental sound artist and musician Nicole Alonso is Mrs. Hands. Her work blends sampling, field recordings, electronic manipulation, and live performance to explore themes of space, memory, and identity.

Butt Mommy (Nat Strickland) uses performance art, noise, viola, found recordings, loops, synths, and field recordings to mirror the rich, darkly chaotic lives of the Filipino diaspora. They explore expressions of resistance, unity and escalation, veering back and forth between playfulness, grief, satire and rage.

After the solo sets we’ll have the classic open jam for all femme/trans/nonbinary artists. Bring an instrument, your body, your voice, and join in! Email pleiades@elasticarts.org to reserve a spot, or show up at the beginning of the night for sign-up.

Elastic director Adam Zanolini presents his ensemble celebrating the life and work of AACM artists; a new trio lead by Jake Wark kicks off the evening.

At this third edition of PPP we have Zaira Castillo, Angelo Hart, Paul Giallorenzo w/ Jeff Milam, Angelo Hart, Josh Harlow, and hosted by the one and only Sharon Udoh. Sharon will perform a short set with pianist Mabel Kwan (on synthesizer!) to open the night!

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Join us for a late spring afternoon of crafts and zines! In conjunction with the current exhibition of Serena Hocharoen's TV FOR A BUG at Elastic Arts, we're excited to announce an indie zine + craft fair as our closing celebration. Along with the craft fair, Hocharoen will be inviting people to contribute to the online World of Text live. There will also be a communal craft table for people to make zines and crafts together. 

This night at Elastic is a collaborative event focusing on total electronic immersion. Using the 16-channel CLEAT system, QTC and D BARS will DJ Minimalist Techno Vinyl Face 2 Face as their outputs get live mixed on the CLEAT. They will be joined by instrumentalists D Jean-Baptiste, Seth Andrew Bearman, and Chaepter. Closing the night will be a set from DJ Madeline

Two duo acts forefronting improvised approaches to avant-rock and electronic music, with special visiting (returning) guest Dave McDonnell.

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

Join us for The Ooze, a night of dance curated by J e l l o curator Mya McClellan! Witness talented artists sharing their unique solo works, then dive into guided improvisation led by Mya. We’re thrilled to have Drew Lewis DJ again.

Scott Rubin’s Digital Hands presents the imaginary exploration of a solo masked performer traversing questions of identity, meditation, and control through use of a camera-instrument.

The Dysnomia duo (James Ilgenfritz and Teerath Majumder) emerged from a need to critique received notions about machine learning, intellectual labor, and conceptual autonomy. Using a 5-string contrabass in a just intonation scordatura together with transducers and machine learning, the duo explores sound through the lens of trans-humanism, investigating the agency of the interface itself.

$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.

HEAVENSWARE is an audio//visual experience in Logan Square, Chicago, featuring the best in live hardware music.

Tone Glow and Employees Only are excited to present “Grin and Bear It: Cinema of the Dark Clown,” a multimedia event centered on the figure of the dark clown in experimental moving image. The festivities will take place on Friday, May 16th at 7PM and will be broken into three programs: 1) an analog film showcase of iconic works from Jack Smith and Luther Price, 2) videos highlighting the dark comedy of Hester Scheurwater, Ximena Cuevas, Anne McGuire, and Paul & Marlene Kos, and 3) a series of lyrical 16mm films from Jean Sousa, Donna Cameron, and Fred Worden. The evening will also include two live clowning and puppetry performances from local artist Justin D’Acci. Throughout the event, the clown is found in conceptual, queer, and feminine forms, in criminality and pranksterism, in metaphorical explorations of the circus’ beauties and sorrows.

Guitarist extraordinaire Luke Polipnick brings a new quartet. Mark Nagy performs with his interdisciplinary ensemble.

Portland artist Carl Diehl presents the Chicago premiere of Painless Magic, his 65 minute documentary that chronicles the histories of his grand-uncle — the late, great Chicago magician, vaudevillian, and comedy emcee, Werner “Dorny” Dornfield (1892 -1982). This kaleidoscopic account of curiosity, camaraderie, and creativity shimmers with ephemera from the Golden Age of stage magic and beyond, and intrigues with anecdotes from magicians, historians, & Dorny’s oldest surviving relatives.  

In conjunction with Experimental Sound Studio and the CLEAT Series we continue our series of artist-led introduction workshops exploring spatial audio.

The workshops are approximately 2 hours and will begin with a demonstration and discussion of each individual artist’s approach to multichannel sound. In the second half of the workshops, participants will have an opportunity to experiment with multichannel sound techniques on the 16-channel CLEAT system installed at Elastic.

No prior experience with multichannel sound necessary! You will need to bring your own laptop to actively participate in the second half of each workshop, however you are also welcome to simply listen and observe without a laptop.