Paul Hertz presents new visual, audio, and intermedia works created with his new free, libre open source software library for Processing, PixelAudio.

This ensemble performance in Bond Chapel assembles a group of musicians who appeared on the original recordings, playing through the new works live as compositions for the first time and taking them as launchpads for further improvisation.

In this presentation, Hara Alonso will share some of the work she has been doing during her residency at ESS, extending the piano through preparations and modular synthesizers.

Explore the synthesis of code, sound and moving images in this multimedia presentation and demo with Lisa Glenn Armstrong.

Join us for a garage sale of epic proportions featuring synthesizers, DIY and boutique noisemakers, records, vintage A/V equipment, refreshments, performances and camaraderie galore.

Visda Goudarzi will teach creative coding with audio. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to follow along.

Art as Civic Ritual is a Long-Table discussion, a participatory, non-hierarchical conversation for, with, and among the public about art making as a ritual for civic work, and a process for radical democracy. Featured guests  — artists, activists, and civic leaders Tonika Lewis Johnson, Faheem Majeed, Bindu Poroor, and Gibran Villalobos join the conversation to thicken and galvanize our dialogue.

Xadie James will explore their set up using triggers or contact microphones attached to drums. They will go through a step-by-step process of how to set up triggers using a Digital Audio Workstation, using anything you can attach to a microphone to make an instrument or play back found sounds.

Join us on October 5 for a collective action disseminating 600 lawn signs throughout Chicago as part of the multi-city counter campaign Exorcism = Liberation.

A panel discussion on multichannel sound work with Gabi Kinlock, Kim Nucci, Regina Martinez, and Beth Bradfish, moderated by ESS engineer Kate In.

Legendary sound collage group Negativland and “real-time cinema” visual artist SUE-C collaborate to bring you their latest audio-visual performance

This video documents a singular performance, which featured original images by Mazurek projected onto the Adler Planetarium’s domed ceiling and the Exploding Star Orchestra’s hypnotic interpretations of music from their album Lightning Dreamers (International Anthem, released 2024).

Join us in the Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room for a special Florasonic opening performance by Macie Stewart and Lia Kohl. The installation will play following the live performance.

Join us on Friday, September 13th at ESS for a night of synthesizer music.

The urban + nature sonic pavilion is an auditory exhibition that explores how the sounds of nature are hidden and embedded in the soundtrack of the city.

ESS hosts a Meet & Greet/Q&A/Art Show featuring past Million Tongues Photos/posters. This event is a pre-party for the following two nights of the festival at Empty Bottle.

The urban + nature sonic pavilion is an auditory exhibition that explores how the sounds of nature are hidden and embedded in the soundtrack of the city.

To begin, the floral artist envelopes the performer from  head to toe in fresh flowers. The woman covered in flowers  is a realization of French symbolist artist Odilon Redon’s  (1840-1916) concept of the fille-fleur. Standing immobile  for one hour, she emulates a still-life painting and  at the same time projects power as she holds her ground.

Two performances in one afternoon: Sandra Binion’s Yellow at Noon performed with Jeb Bishops, plus Improvisations with Sarah Clausen, Lia Kohl, and Peter Maunu.

Join us the public opening of a solo exhibition and soundscape by current Hong Kong Artist-in-Residence Johnny Au Kin-wai. Johnny will speak about his work at 5:30. Refreshments will be provided.

What's the Difference? is a video by artist Sandra Binion made in LaJolla, California in 1979 and recently rediscovered in her archive. Staring into the camera, she states her simple premise: to smoke a cigarette, then smoke a joint, and compare the two.

A DJ Night hosted by guest DJ Lia Kohl at middle brow. Featuring selections from the Creative Audio Archive.

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

Join us for this improvisation session featuring current and past Chicago Jazz String Summit artists. 

Join us for the opening reception of In Relation to [Ferns]. This collaborative sound installation arose from the graduate seminar “Sound, Performance, and Land” at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, co-taught by Bill and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Visiting Professor Raven Chacon and Whitney Johnson