Zubin Kanga Performs Venables Answer Machine Tape, 1987

***Zubin Kanga performs the London premiere of Answer Machine Tape, 1987, a major work for piano and multimedia by Philip Venables, created in collaboration with dramatist Ted Huffman. It focuses on visual artist David Wojnarowicz, whose answering machine tape becomes a window onto the 1980s New York art scene, its queer community, and the devastating effects of the AIDS crisis.***

As part of Zubin Kanga’s Cyborg Soloists research project, the work uses new sensor technology – the Keyscanner created by the Augmented Instruments Laboratory – allowing the piano to function as a typewriter to transcribe, comment on and illuminate the messages. In Answer Machine Tape, 1987, the audience eavesdrops into a private world, messages are transliterated into a musical fabric, become character studies, become reflections on a community, become attempts to decipher meaning. Transcription, and its failure in the face of extreme difficulty, becomes a poignant metaphor for the AIDS crisis and its devastating effect on a generation.

Answer Machine Tape, 1987 was composed by Philip Venables in collaboration with dramatist Ted Huffman and programmer Simon Hendry.

Age restriction: this event is suitable for ages 16+

***This event will last approximately 45-60 minutes, without an interval.***

Presented by Kings Place.

This is a 16+ event.