Oct 8, 2019

Mario Diaz de Leon is a NYC-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and educator whose work encompasses modern classical, experimental electronic, extreme metal, and creative improvised music. Cycle and Reveal, released in September on Denovali, is his fourth full-length modern classical LP. His longtime collaborators include ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Talea Ensemble, TAK Ensemble, and Mivos Quartet—many of whom collaborated on Cycle and Reveal. Diaz de Leon is also a member of the electroacoustic improvisation trio Bloodmist and a co-founder, with bassist Samuel Smith, of the electronic metal duo Luminous Vault. In anticipation of his October 24 performance with The Kitchen at Queenslab, we spoke to Diaz de Leon about his work fusing electronic and acoustic ... Read On

Oct 2, 2019

How does language shape—or even program—our lives? What happens to language when it is translated and transcribed through apps or other modes of technology? In what ways are social biases encoded in these translations? These are among the questions James Allister Sprang raises in his ongoing project Turning Towards a Radical Listening . Currently in residence at The Kitchen, Sprang is in the process of developing a new iteration of this project that will give shape to these inquiries through a sculptural sound-based installation and performances. As a central aspect of his project, Sprang has invited three poets to take part in public conversations with him: Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Tracie Morris, and M. NourbeSe Philip. During these events, the writers will read selections from... Read On

Sep 30, 2019

For five weeks from today through the end of October, artist James Allister Sprang is in residence in The Kitchen’s first-floor space, developing a new iteration of his ongoing project Turning Towards a Radical Listening . Sprang will begin his residency by organizing a sound-based sculptural installation, which will become a stage for public conversations with poets Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Tracie Morris, and M. NourbeSe Philip regarding their understandings of language and its interior codes. Recorded exchanges from these discussions will become the sound material for Sprang’s installation, with performances during the final two weeks of his residency consisting of the recordings being run through voice-to-text software and other applications to highlight—and potentially to make new... Read On

Sep 20, 2019

“From the Archives” is a series that spotlights The Kitchen’s history. As a complement to our Archive website, these posts offer focused reflections on the artists, exhibitions, events, and institutional practices that have defined and shaped The Kitchen since its founding in 1971. The Kitchen has a history of acting as a hotbed for artistic experimentation: it has staged early exhibitions of numerous artists who later went on to gain prominence. One such artist is John Miller, who is best known as a visual artist and critic and whose artwork is distinguished by a sometimes tongue-in-cheek critique of society and by a subversion of the boundaries between media. Miller’s first exhibition at The Kitchen, Recent Work , opened in April 1983. It was his second solo exhibition as a youn... Read On

Sep 12, 2019

For our Fall 2019 season, The Kitchen returns in a sense to our loft-culture roots, with artists recasting and redefining our spaces according to the changing contours of their individual projects. Following the lead of artists is hardly new for The Kitchen. During the past decade, we’ve periodically given over our entire building to individual artists such as ANOHNI, Charles Atlas, Gretchen Bender, Ralph Lemon, and, most recently, Kevin Beasley as their installations forged groundbreaking institutional languages. But this season we will take this approach a step further: artists’ projects over the course of their engagements will move from residency to open studio to final presented performance and/or exhibition, continually changing the function of the spaces they inhabit. W... Read On