Event calendar

Meanie Productions Showcase
Jul
26

Meanie Productions Showcase

Meanie Productions brings to Elastic an artist showcase highlighting both traveling and Chicago artists. The eight band bill spans from punk aggression of Bussy Kween Power Trip, the hip-hop of A Weirdo from Memphis, and experimental stylings of Manasseh. We'll kick things off at 5pm! See you there.

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'Ecstatic Hyperbole' Visual Gallery Exhibition Opening
Jul
27

'Ecstatic Hyperbole' Visual Gallery Exhibition Opening

*+:。.。Ecstatic Hyperbole。.。:+*, a duo exhibition of Sarah Kim and Zante Moore, opens July 27, 2025, at Elastic Arts. Presenting installation, video and interactive works, the exhibition follows the textures of memes and media tropes that permeate throughout our lives on screens. Questioning the lines of subjectivity and positionality in internet culture: what bleeds through to the other side from url to irl? Bringing up questions of origin, authority, and digital decay, the show examines the overwhelming pace of digital spaces that vastly shapes our shared language and identities.

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Improvised Music Series: Janna Lee + Ben Willis, Joe Morris' Counter Spectacle
Jul
31

Improvised Music Series: Janna Lee + Ben Willis, Joe Morris' Counter Spectacle

Janna Lee is the vocalist of Snek Trio, a psychedelic free jazz party band, with Reid Karris and Erik Sowa. "The One That Got Away," her third solo album on Black Ring Rituals, was number three in The Wire's list of best noise releases of 2023. Ben Willis plays bass, produces music, and creates collaborative media. Janna and Ben will perform duo.

Joe Morris’ Counter Spectacle is

Joe Morris - bass
Aaron Kaufman-Levine - alto saxophone
Garrett Frees - tenor and soprano saxophone
Charlie Watson - trumpet
Caroline Jesalva - violin
Nick Alvarez - drums

8:30 Janna Lee + Ben Willis

9:30 Joe Morris’ Counter Spectacle

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

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AfriClassical Futures: Gwen Laster
Aug
3

AfriClassical Futures: Gwen Laster

AfriClassical Futures proudly presents Guggenheim Award-winning violinist Gwen Laster and her powerhouse ensemble featuring Damon Banks (bass) and Isaiah Spencer (drums/percussion). The ensemble will play original compositions and arrangements inspired trough the lens of the African Diaspora.

Experience a soul-stirring performance of original music rooted in African mythology, social justice, and the rich tapestry of the African Diaspora.

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Improvised Music Series: Seth Andrew Davis/Alexander Adams/Bob Bucko Jr/Will Yager + ASY Quartet
Aug
7

Improvised Music Series: Seth Andrew Davis/Alexander Adams/Bob Bucko Jr/Will Yager + ASY Quartet

Chicago-Iowa-Kansas City-Chicago noise improv quartet of Alexander Adams, Seth Andrew Davis, Bob Bucko Jr., and Will Yager make a rare appearance.

Andrew Scott Young leads an improvising quartet leaning into aesthetics from rock and jazz fusion



Andrew Scott Young leads a quartet with himself plus Dave Miller, Luke Polipnick, Jacob Fawcett.

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CLEAT Series: Zander Raymond, Nick Meryhew
Aug
8

CLEAT Series: Zander Raymond, Nick Meryhew

This month’s CLEAT Series features two solo Chicagoan artists stretching into two very different approaches to spatial electronic audio. Zander Raymond’s music is rooted in improvisation, utilizing modular synthesizers and open-source sound computers to sample, warp, and build sonic images that embrace non-linear approaches to composition. He’s released music on Moon Glyph, Sound as Language, Florabelle, Cached.media, among others.

Nick Meryhew is an experimental musician, arts educator, improviser, and passionate home cook. Their work explores environmental sound in physical and virtual spaces, noise as an extreme and quotidian phenomenon, and the elastic relationships between sound recording and time keeping. They currently perform solo and with Tallulah Bankheist, Heavy Tiny, Paradise Complete, Sandpusher, and STOMACHS. They run a silly net label called Ham Bag Records.

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Body of Noise - Fetter Album Pre-Release Party w/ Club Drippy, Desert Liminal, Odette, Girly***
Aug
10

Body of Noise - Fetter Album Pre-Release Party w/ Club Drippy, Desert Liminal, Odette, Girly***

The Elastro series welcomes the wonderful Fetter back to our space as they celebrate with a Pre-Release Party of their new album that comes out in October. They’ve invited some friends to the party, including live performances from Club Drippy, Desert Liminal and Odette. We’ll also have Girly*** DJ’ing all night along. Let’s go!

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Improvised Music Series: Leave A Message, Plasmosonic Trio
Aug
14

Improvised Music Series: Leave A Message, Plasmosonic Trio

Two immersive improvisation experiences tonight: LEAVE A MESSAGE invites audiences to share their words and listening ears in an ambient instrumental space; Dave Gordon’s Plasmosonic Trio highlights AACM percussionist Dushun Mosley, in collaboration with Gordon and Stefan Moore’s radical expansion of the group sound through Elastic’s multichannel CLEAT system.

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AIRMW Arts Initiatives Presents: Hana Fujisaki
Aug
15

AIRMW Arts Initiatives Presents: Hana Fujisaki

Hana Fujisaki is a Chicago-based keyboardist, composer, music director and educator. She began her musical journey studying organ and contemporary music at Yamaha Music School in Japan. She moved to the U.S. and studied jazz and Latin music under Pat Coil, Jim Trompeter and Jeremy Kahn, ultimately earning her B.M. from Roosevelt University and M.M. from Northwestern University.

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Novella Neruda Presents: An Afro’s Chimera | Tha Shrine of Tha Black Prima Donna
Aug
16

Novella Neruda Presents: An Afro’s Chimera | Tha Shrine of Tha Black Prima Donna

A Black Dadaist rite. A fractured fugue of spectacle + spirit.⠀

Summoned through sonic revolt, ancestral glamour, and devotional film, Tha Shrine honors Tha Black Prima Donna as altar, cipher, and archive.

Here, the screen becomes sacred.

Time folds into rupture.

Myth is improvised.

This is Black Dadaism as dream logic, refusal, and ecstatic survival—a tempo of emergency where memory fragments, identity liquefies, and the surreal becomes sovereign.⠀

Venerate the surreal. Witness the spectacle. Enter the shrine.

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Freedom From and Freedom To
Aug
23

Freedom From and Freedom To

FFFT returns for its second iteration of sound and movement collaborations for 2025! Freedom From and Freedom To is an exploration and celebration of artistic circumstance. Movement and sound improvisors from all around Chicago gather in front of a live audience, where they are grouped by chance. Each group performs an improvised set. We fuse diverse artistic backgrounds and practices to create unique and fleeting worlds. There will be a special opening set from musicians Joey Meland, and Eva Supreme alongside dancer Aaliyah Christina. Following we’ll have 6 x 15 minute sets from on-the-spot lottery chosen ensembles. Don’t miss this!

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Elastro: Cole Pulice + TBA
Oct
19

Elastro: Cole Pulice + TBA

Elastro is excited to welcome Cole Pulice with a trio for an October vist. The saxophonist/composer/improviser Pulice traffics in shimmering, otherworldly beauty. On Land’s End Eternal, their first album for Leaving Records (releasing May 9th), the Oakland-based artist expands their compositional palette beyond signal-processed saxophone to include layers of electric guitar and lush choral arrangements. The result is a prismatic collection of pastoral chamber jazz in six parts. Cole’s previous release, a 22-minute electroacoustic odyssey titled If I Don’t See You in the Future, I’ll See You In the Pasture (Longform Editions, 2023), was named ‘Best New Music’ by Pitchfork and included in the publication’s Best Songs Of The 2020s. Cole has also released a smattering of solo and collaborative work on beloved labels including Moon Glyph, Aural Canyon and Cached Media. Their performance history includes appearances at Pitchfork Music Festival (UK), Rewire (NL), ÜBERJAZZ (DE), Drone Not Drones (US), & Noise Pop Festival (US).

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AIRMW Arts Initiatives Presents: Dawn Xiana Moon
Jul
25

AIRMW Arts Initiatives Presents: Dawn Xiana Moon

A seductive and passionate voice, evocative songwriting, and formal training make Dawn Xiana Moon one of the most distinctive Asian-American singers of her generation. The Singapore-born musician has performed in 10 states and released two solo albums; she fuses elements from traditional Chinese music with jazz and alt folk pop, resulting in a musical brew in French, English, and Mandarin Chinese that draws influences from sources as disparate as Han Dynasty literature and Americana.

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Nace / Abrams, Rempis / Ra
Jul
23

Nace / Abrams, Rempis / Ra

We look forward to hosting a first time duo between guitarist Bill Nace and Chicago stalwart Joshua Abrams on Wednesday 7/23. Nace has collaborated with Joe McPhee, Steve Gunn, Thurston Moore, Yoko Ono, Okkyung Lee, and Kim Gordon. With Gordon, Nace is part of the experimental electric guitar duo Body/Head. Abrams heads up the band Natural Information Society, and his collaborations include work with Fred Anderson, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Hamid Drake, Nicole Mitchell, Evan Parker, Jeff Parker & Matana Roberts.

It’s been a bit since we’ve hosted our old friend Dave Rempis in the space, so we’re extra happy to see him back in duo form with his frequent collaborator Avreeayl Ra. This will be a special show. Join us!

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Pleiades Series: Volta,  Hertzwitches + Graphic Score Workshop
Jul
21

Pleiades Series: Volta, Hertzwitches + Graphic Score Workshop

We’re continuing our July spotlight on touring artists with a show featuring guests from Mexico City! This event is a special collaboration with the Volta sound series—presenting the Chicago edition of Hertzwitches, an improvisation exploring sound through analog instruments and transmission-based dialogue - featuring Veronica Anne Salinas (CHI), Juanjosé Rivas (CDMX), and Amanda Gutiérrez (CDMX)

Following the performance, all attendees are invited to take part in a graphic score workshop led by Amanda Gutiérrez and Juanjosé Rivas.  Through expanded listening, spontaneous composition, and collective soundmaking, the workshop will explore inherited sonic memory and noise as creative rupture.

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Elastic Outreach Event w/ Aliyah Jones + Avin Hannah Smith @ Oakland Museum & Garden
Jul
12

Elastic Outreach Event w/ Aliyah Jones + Avin Hannah Smith @ Oakland Museum & Garden

Indigo at The Garden will be our second Outreach event of 2025! Featuring live music by the amazing Aliyah Jones, and an Interactive art installation and work by Dark Matter Resident Avin Hannah Smith This event is FREE to all attending, highlighting the amazing space and work of artists within the Oakland neighborhood.

Bring a blanket, a chair and your family to enjoy some sounds and beautiful visuals!

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CLEAT Series: 40 Channel Night w/ Shawn Decker + Stephan Moore
Jul
11

CLEAT Series: 40 Channel Night w/ Shawn Decker + Stephan Moore

It's 40-Channel Night at CLEAT!

We're trying something new. Acclaimed Chicago sound artist Shawn Decker has created a 24-channel system of hand-built speakers. Tonight, this system will join in a duet with the CLEAT 16-channel system, creating a 40-channel speaker orchestra that will surround the audience from above and below. Solo and duet sets will blend into each other continuously in this hour-long concert.

Join us for this incredibly unique night of spatial sound!

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Pleiades Series: Lex Leto, Jane Marie Rogers
Jul
9

Pleiades Series: Lex Leto, Jane Marie Rogers

We’re thrilled to kick off July with the first of two shows featuring touring artists!  This one brings together musicians from across our fellow Midwest cities. Lex Leto (Iowa City) will perform a set of electronic slumber pop followed by Jane Marie Rogers (Detroit) whose work inhabits betweennesses: finding spaces between safety and pain, stillness and motion, gentleness and intensity.  

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Improvised Music Series: Dessel/Kaufman-Levine duo, Chan/Perkins/Acevedo/Fawcett
Jul
3

Improvised Music Series: Dessel/Kaufman-Levine duo, Chan/Perkins/Acevedo/Fawcett

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

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Tone Glow Presents "Rotating Signals: The Contemporary Korean Avant-Garde
Jul
2

Tone Glow Presents "Rotating Signals: The Contemporary Korean Avant-Garde

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.

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A Night of Balinese Gamelan & Dance
Jun
29

A Night of Balinese Gamelan & Dance

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.

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 Nu Afrika Sound w/ Spicy Khasso
Jun
27

Nu Afrika Sound w/ Spicy Khasso

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!

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Improvised Music Series: Feral Nebula, Sasha Semina
Jun
26

Improvised Music Series: Feral Nebula, Sasha Semina

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.

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Tone Glow Presents “The Place Between Our Bodies"
Jun
25

Tone Glow Presents “The Place Between Our Bodies"

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.”

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CLEAT Series: Returning
Jun
22

CLEAT Series: Returning

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.

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Elastro: Flanger Magazine, Daniel Van Duerm / Fred Jackson Jr., Janna Lee
Jun
20

Elastro: Flanger Magazine, Daniel Van Duerm / Fred Jackson Jr., Janna Lee

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.

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People's Puppet Slam
Jun
14

People's Puppet Slam

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.

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Elastic Arts Outreach Program - A Juneteenth Celebration
Jun
14

Elastic Arts Outreach Program - A Juneteenth Celebration

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

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Shake Shook Shaken: Presence w/ Emily Beisel + Julie Meckler
Jun
8

Shake Shook Shaken: Presence w/ Emily Beisel + Julie Meckler

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.

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Pleiades Series: Butt Mommy, Mrs. Hands
Jun
6

Pleiades Series: Butt Mommy, Mrs. Hands

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.

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Making Multichannel Music w/ Matt Test
Jun
3

Making Multichannel Music w/ Matt Test

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.

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🐜 𝒵𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝐵𝓊𝑔... 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓂 Zine + Craft Fest
May
31

🐜 𝒵𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝐵𝓊𝑔... 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓂 Zine + Craft Fest

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. 

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CLEAT Series: Madeline, QTC + D BARS, Chaepter/Dani Jean-Baptiste/Seth Andrew Bearman
May
30

CLEAT Series: Madeline, QTC + D BARS, Chaepter/Dani Jean-Baptiste/Seth Andrew Bearman

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

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