Amidst the complexity of a city in flux, MUTEK.SF returns from a successful first year as continued advocates for the San Francisco arts and music community, presenting a festival full of innovative programming like nothing else in the United States. Taking place across a diverse set of venues and featuring an array of stunning artists from around the globe as well as local visionaries, MUTEK.SF is proud to announce the second round of artists set to join the lineup. The festival is presented in several tracks, starting with A/Visions, highlighting the most avant-garde and artful audiovisual and multi-sensory works in electronic arts and music. Nocturne keeps the energy moving with late-night sounds and sights dedicated to contemporary rule-breakers and legendary tastemakers. The festival concludes with Experience, an all-day, genre-bending extravaganza defining the spirit of the festival’s commitment to our community of creators. Following a tradition of groundbreaking programming and unique experience building, we are pleased to continue the legacy of excellence that began with MUTEK in Montreal 20 years ago.
NEW ARTISTS ANNOUNCED: Camila Magrane (US) Cere Davis (US) disnovation.org (FR) Doc Sleep (US) ecco screen (US) Echo Beach (CA) Graintable (US) Jason Charney (US) Jens Vetter (AT) Lefto (BE) Legowelt (DE/NL) Marc Schroeder (US) Renzo Gorrio (US/MX) Shed (DE) SOLPARA (US) Yağmur Uyanık & Joey Verbeke (US/TR)
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS AND DETAILS
A/Visions 1 takes place at California Academy of Sciences for their NightLife in Space series on May 2nd featuring full dome presentations Sphere by Robert Koch & Mikael le Goff and Indivisible from Canadian art collective susy.technology in their state-of-the-art planetarium (*planetarium passes required). Musical performances include ambient sets from Montreal’s Echo Beach, Nova Scotia’s JOYFULTALK, and DJ sets from SOLPARA and Michael Claus. A/Visions 2 follows on Friday at the Herbst Theatre featuring a rare performance by legendary electro outfit Dopplereffekt, a West Coast premiere of Warp Records pianist Kelly Moran’s immersive A/V performance, and the North American premiere of Dökk, a piece by Italian art studio fuse*, who mix aerial performance and technological prowess for a unique, visually striking experience. The final A/Visions 3 takes place in a converted church and showcases French experimental artist Freeka Tet and his piece UV101 (FKA Face Tag), as well as guided meditation and ambient experience with composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and soothing synth songs from her recent release Tides: Music for Meditation and Yoga.
Late night programming begins on Friday with Nocturne 1 at 1015 Folsom. We are transforming this mainstay of the SF music scene into our own late-night playground, with an immersive installation by Marpi and inspired live performances from international artists like GAIKA (performing his live A/V set), Norwegian duo Smerz, German innovator and Raster-Noton father Byetone, renowned local artists BLEIE & Chelley Sherman, Abandoned Footwear, and many more. Nocturne 2 continues the late-night experience on Saturday with a world premiere from Sepehr, the West Coast premiere of Halal & Relaxer (featuring the inimitable Aurora Halal and Daniel Martin-McCormick), a live performance from legacy Detroit duo Ectomorph, a West Coast live A/V premiere from the woozy soundscapes of Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement (Vatican Shadow and Low Jack), an exceptionally rare performance from Berlin-based Shed, Australian composer and sound artist Lawrence English, and a special collaborative live performance from CLUB CHAI co-founder Lara Sarkissian with Khatch on duduk woodwind and frame drum.
Sunday closes out the festival with Experience, an all-day party at the massive, multi-use complex The Midway showcasing the diversity in programming and style that has come to define the MUTEK culture. This final celebration boasts two dance floors, a slew of art installations and a culinary guest chef—stay all day and wind down with us as we dance the festival to a close. Live performers include CYRNAI (Dark Entries label), the NA premiere of The Hacker presenting Amato Live, Tayhana (of NAAFI label collective), a special live set from synth legend Legowelt, and many more. Alongside these live performers, EXPERIENCE will feature an impressive array of art installations from various artists across the globe, including renowned French’s installation media artist disnovation.org presenting Online Culture Wars, and Gold Currents, a new work from local artist ecco screen.
We are also honored to represent our city’s incredible commitment to food by offering a specially programmed Culinary track, in partnership with the Future Food Institute and led by this year’s culinary ambassador Anthony Myint, a recent James Beard semifinalist and famed restaurateur behind Mission Chinese, The Perennial, Commonwealth, and other endeavors. A portion of the proceeds from the festival will go to ZeroFoodprint, an organization supporting carbon positive farming.
MUTEK.SF would not be possible without the generous support of our partners, including Wunderbar Together and Deutschland Jahr USA, a campaign celebrating German-American Friendship and the wonderful cultural relationship our countries continue to share. We are honored for their incredible support.
SF debut: Amnesia Scanner (FI/DE), Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith presents Tides (US), Kode9 & Koji Morimoto (UK+JP), Steve Hauschildt + Martin Tzonev (US)
Additional announcements on artists, participating venues and Digi Lab programming will be coming in April.
Visit the official website for more details. Follow along on Facebook, on Twitter or on Instagram for updates.
