Monday, Feb 4 at 7pm
Philly’s most talented artists perform new material from shows they are working on in this fast-paced sampling of contemporary theater, dance, performance art, and everything in between. Scratch Night is hosted and curated by a different artist each month, and features four to six short performances by local companies and artists, offering an inside look at the future of performance.
This month’s Scratch Night, hosted by Eugene Lew, will feature works in progress by Shani Aviram, Maria Murphy, James Sprang, Clint Takeda, Will Owen, and Taji Nahl.
60 minutes
Free RSVP, $5 Suggested Donation
About the Host
Eugene Lew is primarily engaged in the production, organization, management, transformation, design, performance, (attempted) capture, storage, and playback of sound/music – preferably in collaboration with others, in real life. The fleeting moment, aggregate independent decision-making, and stochastic phenomena are especially fascinating and vital to his practice and general existence. He seeks experiences that cannot be captured (or sought), but might be witnessed/overheard if one just so happens to be in the right place at the right time to step into the constant cycle of remembering/forgetting/
About the Performers
Takeda by Clint Takeda
The project I will be showcasing incorporates my noise/art performance persona Double Wig, agent of distortion and sonic subterfuge, transforming into Takeda, destroyer of harmonic delusion and agent of blissfully wig-free rock – my future form of ecstatic music. This will be a celebratory un-wigging and teasing peek at the coming Boogie glaze craze. “I’m Wig-free!”
Photo by Maya Angela
Polymath – Morphological Phase 98 by Ra’oof Atelier/ Taji R. Nahl aka TR7
Morphological Phase 98 – Polymath; is a site-responsive navigation of juxtaposition upon stage, screen & sound design. TR7’s works question hyper- visibility and invisibility in human engagement & social commentary. As an agency of reflection, the experience of the visual and sonic installation reflects the artist’s preparing to face what is beyond.
Turning Towards A Radical Listening by James Allister Sprang
James Allister Sprang’s Turning Towards a Radical Listening is a durational sonic experience in which a poem is written via speech-to-text technology and altered DJ equipment. GAZR, a poet who has aligned himself with the histories of black music production, shares and manipulates samples from a wide range of recordings. From intimate, challenging, and radically vulnerable sonic fragments a soundscape is quilted.
Listening (to) Cyborgs by Maria Murphy
Co-founder of Listening (to) Cyborgs Maria Murphy explores the paternalistic U.S. surveillance state through Daddy culture.
A new track inspired by the writing of Laurie Penny, combines elements of techno and noise. A call to imagine a future beyond patriarchy. Featuring the voice of Avery Trufelman.
Photo by Sarah Dalinger
Community Electric Toothbrush Choir by Will Owen
A community choir of experimental vocal music accompanied by the drone of electric toothbrushes. Members each provide their own electric toothbrushes, the toothpaste is provided by Will, the choir director. This practice was first developed during a residency at the ARoS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark in 2018.