They Shoot Lasers, Don’t They? Performance and Discussion
TROY (01/04/2022)—The Arts Center of the Capital Region is kicking off the new year with a special pre-exhibition performance and discussion on Thursday, January 6th at 6 p.m. with artist Adam Tinkle and audio research scientist/electronic musician Joe Mariglio, who form the duo They Shoot Lasers, Don’t They?. Tinkle’s exhibition Screenbathing will open in the Arts Center’s black box theater and foyer gallery on January 20th.
They Shoot Lasers, Don’t They? will present an evening of invention, research, and sonic discovery around the question of laser microphony. The pair’s performance combines Mariglio’s handbuilt laser microphones with the tactile heave of low-frequency sound, dancing dishes of water, and cymatic projections. Tinkle and Mariglio have been working together since 2014.
Said to be the tool of Cold War spies, laser microphones pointed at windows, through fluids, or from great distances can record sounds that traditional microphones cannot detect–yet the technology has largely been forgotten. Stay after the performance for a Q&A and hands-on demo of the laser instruments, including some tips to build your own.
The exhibition Screenbathing will install a forest of screens and screen-bodies from January 20th-February 12th to invite contemplation of the lives we lead on and off screens, and of the light and color that screens cast upon our lives. Adam Tinkle’s work asks us to imagine our screens as sources of energy and light–elemental forces which might prove helpful and healthful, or not.
There will be an opening reception on January 20th from 6-8 p.m. to celebrate the show with a collective A/V bath and screen-taming ritual, followed by an informal gallery talk and a conversation about screenlife, screenlight, and the demands that new technologies place on our speculative and spiritual faculties. The space will be activated periodically throughout the exhibition with performances and informal public programming.
Adam Tinkle will also offer the opportunity to explore and perhaps alter your relationship to screenlight through a one-on-one, artist-guided experimental session available by appointment on selected Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the exhibition. Please go to https://calendly.com/adamtinkle to reserve a time slot.