There’s a lot to admire about the way New Media Contemporary approaches the performance and art space. From the massive projections and visual installations along all the walls, to the massive long-string instrument that runs the length of the venue, they live up to the “new” in their name.
Such was the vibe at last Saturday night’s “early show / late show” event at their spot just outside of Deep Ellum on Exposition Ave. The night featured classically-trained cutting-edge artists Leoncarlo, Buffi Jacobs and Scott Tixier. Featured visual artists were Virginia L. Montgomery, Melanie Clemmons, Zak Loyd, KT Duffy and Christopher Meerdo whose exhibitions will stay up until the end of the month.
“We’re trying to provide a space where all of these different communities can kind of connect, and everybody works together and sees new art in different ways; in new ways,” NMC founder James Talambas said before the music started for the late night show. “That’s why we have to visual show up while we have performances going on. I thought that was really important to have this kind of cross-section and this melding of different kind of genres. All based around technology or the avant-garde, or progressiveness.”
The music started with Denton artist Leoncarlo, who set the mood with expansive and methodically expressed soundscapes, transporting the audience into his own personal film score. Every time he added or manipulated an element, the composition became more lush and savory. Playing from selections of his album Still Forms, favor fortuned the patient crowd willing to listen intently and dive into a place of new horizons with sonic textures that billowed over the audience.
New York-based Buffi Jacobs followed, whose set was complete with projection mapping images directly cast onto her white carbon fiber cello by Dallas visual artist Joel Olivas. The two have been working together to build out a vision that embodies Jacobs’ work in a transformative way through visual adaptations. Her set brought the gut-wrenching emotive elements only a bass instrument can provide; the notes strike in a deep rumble, penetrating listeners to the core in a remarkably grounding way.
French jazz violinist Scott Tixier closed out the show with an avant-garde improvisation performance that “reflects on reevaluating values and rediscovering oneself through another’s eyes,” casting projections of childhood videos intertwined with a shot of his significant other’s eyes. It symbolized “the power of love and its transcendence into questioning the very thing that was once defining us.”
Tixier plays like a man in a trance, pulling these notes from the depth of his spirit to narrate a lifelong journey. All eyes and ears in the room hung on every note, following Tixier down his personal rabbit hole. The last song was a collaboration of all three performing artists, capping off the night in harmony among friends and peers.
New Media Contemporary is a special place. They have carved out a home dedicated to the innovative, avant-garde, leading-edge technologies and elevated artistic pursuit. The warmth and inviting energy of the space made it the perfect place for the intense vulnerability of presenting something different than the norm. If there was a keyword of the night, it would have been “gratitude.” Everyone in the room was thankful to be there – as heard throughout the night from organizers, performers and guests.
When talking about opening the location Deep Ellum-adjacent (in December) versus other places in the city, Talambas said, “We’re showing art that would not go well in the Design District. It’s not made to go over your couch. It’s different than that. It’s to reach forward.”
Find upcoming events on New Media Contemporary’s website, including July 20 with jazzy psych group Otherworlders, jazz /lo-fi classic psych-influenced beatmaker Botany (you may know him from Austin band Octopus Project), and current assistant principal bassist for the Fort Worth Symphony Paul Unger. Tickets starting at $20.
Check out live videos from the show at the bottom of this article.
Jessica Waffles is a freelance photographer/videographer and regular contributor to KXT.
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