While we can’t gather on the Walker hillside for our annual Sound for Silents event, we invite members to join us on YouTube Live for an exclusive preview of the virtual program. This 50-minute online screening features a mix of experimental films and new scores commissioned from local artists Beatrix*Jar, Andrew Broder, Lady Midnight, Cody McKinney, and Dameun Strange. Each artist selected a piece from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection to score, including works by filmmakers Bruce Baillie, Tom DeBiaso, Rock Ross, Robert Banks, Buki Bodunrin, Mark Bradford, and Kara Walker.
During this special member preview, you will be able to chat live with artists Beatrix*Jar, Cody McKinney, and Dameun Strange as well as Walker curators Doug Benidt and Michael Walsh. A link to this event will be emailed to Walker members on Friday, August 7. The full program will become available online to the public on August 20.
Please note that this program contains mature content.
Beatrix*Jar is an art collective/dynamic duo made up of couple/creative collaborators Bianca Janine Pettis (Beatrix) and Jacob Aaron Roske (JAR). Formed in 2003, Beatrix*Jar works in tandem on video projects, music videos, sound art residencies and classes, circuit-bending workshops, live performances, albums, DJ sets, sound and set design for performance, audio playgrounds, community engagement, curatorial endeavors, sewing projects, screenprinting, murals, art installations, interactive sound collage, and more.
Andrew Broder is a lifelong resident of Minneapolis, who has been a cutting battle DJ, improviser, soundtrack composer, working sideman, producer, remixer, beat-maker, poet, beauty creator, and songwriter. He has released records on renowned indie labels and worked with numerous artists, such as Bon Iver, Poliça, Marijuana Deathsquads, Dua Saleh, FPA, Armand Hammer, Serengeti, the National, Dave King, and others.
Cody McKinney is a composer, bassist, and sound artist living in Minneapolis. For the past four years, along with electronic musician John Keston, McKinney has performed and curated sound/simulacra, a monthly experimental music series promoting free improvisation and collaboration between artists of differing disciplines.
Lady Midnight is an ethereal vocalist and performance artist who draws upon her multidisciplinary background in visual art, dance, and Afro-indigenous roots to create work that is a power for change and confronting trauma. Lady Midnight is one half of the group Parables of Neptune, a duo with Afrokeys (former keyboardist of Atmosphere), and was named Best Twin Cities Vocalist of 2017 by City Pages. As Lady Midnight, she has recorded with international touring artists Bon Iver, P.O.S, and Brother Ali, and has performed with internationally acclaimed icons Common, Moby, Andra Day, and Aloe Blacc, among others.
Dameun Maurice Strange is a sound artist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer whose conceptual chamber works, choral pieces, and operas are focused on stories of the African diaspora, often exploring Afrofuturist themes. Strange expresses the beauty and resilience of the Black experience through sound, music, and poetry. Previously, he worked as a program associate at the Bush Foundation and most recently served as the executive director of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association.
