Eighth Blackbird Presents: "An Evening with Xuan" Dec. 1

“Eighth Blackbird Presents: The Chicago Artists Workshop” (CAW) series continues with “An Evening with Xuan,” 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. The live streamed conversation with Xuan, moderated by Eighth Blackbird’s Lisa Kaplan and Matthew Duvall, will be accompanied by video selections of Xuan’s work. Limited in-person seating is available. For more information visit eighthblackbird.com.

“We chose to present this show on the global day of GivingTuesday to highlight the work of our Blackbird Creative Lab alumna, of which Xuan is one. Because Xuan is a multimedia artist, we needed something other than a traditional concert format to showcase her artistic practice,” says Eighth Blackbird founding member and executive director Lisa Kaplan.

Videos scheduled to be featured in “An Evening with Xuan” include:

• a short "visual music" film for “these broken wings part 1” composed by David Lang made of gouache paintings. Lang’s composition is included on Eighth Blackbird’s most recent album, “Singing in the Dead of Night,” released this past June.
• “Turadh” a music video made for composer Annika Socolofsky, performed by Parhelion Trio. (all Eighth Blackbird Lab Fellow). Xuan’s ambient lighting and experimental video editing helped present the piece in an elegant new light.
• videos of Xuan’s live works:
  • a video of a live set collaboration between Chaos Hands, a trio formed at the Blackbird Creative Lab, known as genre-bending discipline-defying, with sound artist Allison Wright, drummer Nicole Patrick, and Xuan on visuals;
  • “[redact]” music video based on a composition by Nina Shekhar. Its airing in “An Evening with Xuan” constitutes the video’s premiere. The work attempts to capture the way the human brain reacts to trauma, burning certain details of the event into memory while blocking out other details to protect itself from the emotional and physical pain of the trauma.

“Our conversation will address Xuan’s creative process and purpose of her work. Lisa and I will provide the backstory around the creation of the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab. The three of us will talk about how it fosters the concept of collaboration and how the experience has informed Xuan's work since. The audience will also have the opportunity to submit questions.” says Eighth Blackbird founding member and artistic director Matthew Duvall.

Xuan’s work focuses on the distinct interconnectivity between sound and image, and encompasses experimental animation, narrative documentary shorts, music videos, abstract scenography, interactive installations and real time audio-visual programming. With a background as a contemporary classical pianist, she actively develops innovative, cross-disciplinary projects that broaden the immersive scope of new music through technology.

Xuan is an alumna of the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab and has collaborated with artists such as Glenn Kotche, Pierre Jodlowski, Michael Burritt, Gemma Peacocke, Annika Socolofsky, Third Coast Percussion, Nois Quartet, Parhelion Trio, Rubiks Collective, and Ensemble Garage. These collaborations have led to performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MCA Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution, University of South Carolina, Carnegie Mellon University, Constellation, SF Jazz, Le Poisson Rouge, and the Indie Grits Film Festival. Recent projects in interactive design have been exhibited at the ErsterErster Gallery in Berlin, DE, the ibug Urban Art Festival in Reinchenbach, DE, and Design Biennale 2019 in Zürich, CH. Xuan is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has studied Media Spaces at the BTK University of Art and Design in Berlin.

“An Evening with Xuan” will be staged 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Eighth Blackbird production facility located at 4045 N. Rockwell St. This event also features limited in-person seating. Tickets: $20, but options include choosing a price as well contributing as a supporter. For tickets and more information visit eighthblackbird.org.