Shona Macnaughton is an artist who performs, each live event is structured around a state, institutional or labour process. Collaging contemporary character archetypes of tone and movement with political histories, she works with direct address to audiences which result in pathologically awkward connections. Performing with Casey Miller somewhere between hum and hiss, quivering modulations and tonal ritual. Occasionally plays as Stones if asked politely. Can bring concrete machines, jittering loops, reactive synthesis and whispering voices.
Weston Olencki is a composer, musician, and audio engineer originally from South Carolina, living now in Berlin. Their recent music deals with the non-linear relationships and unexpected resonances between experimental sound, geography, historicity, and (mostly American) musical traditions. They have presented work at the Borealis Festival, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Lampo, Black Mountain College, Roulette Intermedium, Jalopy Theatre, among others. Various recording projects have been released by Carrier Records, Dinzu Artefacts, SUPERPANG, Tripticks Tapes, PAGANS, Full Spectrum, Hideous Replica, Sound Holes, and Astral Spirits. Their latest recording/performance project, Old Time Music, was featured on Bandcamp Daily’s Best Experimental Music of 2022. http://www.
Laura Cocks is a flutist who works in a wide array of environments as a performer of creative and experimental music and “creates intricate, spellbinding works that often have a visceral physicality to them.” Laura is the executive director and flutist of TAK ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen), with whom Laura makes musics “that combine crystalline clarity with the disorienting turbulence of a sonic vortex” (WIRE Magazine).They are also a member of Talea Ensemble, noted for their “astonishing fluidity,” “compelling lucidity, ” and “precise control” (the New York Times). As a soloist, improviser, and chamber musician, they have performed with musicians such as DoYeon Kim, Shara Lunon, Timothy Angulo, Luke Stewart, Wendy Eisenberg, Lester St. Louis, Brandon Lopez, and Madison Greenstone, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Sun Ra Arkestra, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others in NYC and abroad.
Finlay Mackay is a Glasgow-based performance artist whose practice explores physicality, storytelling, and audience engagement. Over the past two years, his work has been deeply influenced by the world of professional wrestling, particularly its ability to blend narrative and spectacle to create an immersive experience. Through performance, he examines how violence, and character-driven storytelling fosters audience participation through a collective suspension of disbelief. His previous work has explored bodybuilding, the manosphere, piss, folk tales, pub entertainment, and double acts. His 2024 Degree Show work saw him fight his collaborator, Jacob Raymond in the ring.
