This afternoon of live performance reimagines works central to the legacy of Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), a non-profit organization founded in 1967 that paired artists from New York’s avant-garde with the innovative engineers at Bell Laboratories—a groundbreaking venture celebrated in the archival exhibition Sensing the Future.
Deborah Hay’s Solo Two (2024) is a revisioning of solo (1966), a dance she choreographed for 9 Evenings: Theater and Engineering, an event organized by Robert Rauschenberg and Bell Laboratories' electrical engineer and visionary Billy Klüver. Staged in the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue in New York City, the sensational and experimental event became the launchpad for the formation E.A.T. and its later activities. A cofounder of the legendary Judson Church Dance Theater, Hay worked with engineers to set dancers aloft on remote-controlled moving platforms among spatialized audio and other elements that aimed to realize a non-hierarchical visual field.
Almost 60 years later, Hay has embraced the opportunity to return to solo, via Solo Two. Paying homage to her original work, this revision draws upon the past while also reflecting the present. For inspiration, Hay looked back to writing and video footage from the 1960s but also constructed a work that is informed by the instances of art and life that have shaped her today. Solo Two is a dance for 11 performers including 6 dancers, 4 musicians, and 1 conductor with specially constructed moving platforms and newly configured elements that respond to the specific site of the Getty Center’s courtyard.
Composers Inside Electronics (CIE) is a group of composer/performers dedicated to the composition and live collaborative performance of electronic and electro-acoustic music, originally formed in 1973 with David Tudor. Here, CIE realizes two key works conceived and performed by Tudor for E.A.T.’s Pepsi Pavilion at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan. Realized at the Getty by CIE performers John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, and Michael Johnsen, Tudor’s compositions draw on custom-designed sound modulators, microphone feedback, and environmental sound systems.
Performed by Jessica Humphrey, Ann Carlson, Dan Froot, Karen Schaffman, Jessica Emmanuel, Leslie Seiters, Luke Fischbeck, Sam Rowell, Shelley Burgon, Chris Hadley, and Jonathan Hepfer. Costumes by Nancy Stella Soto. Engineering by Joseph Stewart.
