Join us this Thursday night for the second Sky Pesher concert as part of Target Free Thursday Nights: Summer Edition. Up next is electronic duo Beatrix*JAR (Bianca Pettis-Beatrix and Jacob Aaron Roske -JAR) who create fuzzy sound collages with glitch beatboxes, rewired toys, circuit-bent keyboards, and other mutant sound machines. Beatrix*JAR’s performances are high energy dance parties so come on out and move to the funky Fisher-Price driven beats, relax on the Greenspace and enjoy a drink with friends.
If you are unfamiliar with the circuit bending process please check out this great piece for MAKE magazine’s television program featuring a demonstration by Bianca. The circuit bending movement is quickly gaining popularity and I can personally attest to the dwindling cache of old Casio keyboards, Speak & Spell’s and kiddy drum machines at local thrift stores.
If you didn’t make it to the last Sky Pesher concert with Lookbook here is a rundown of this unique concert experience. Five Minnesota bands will venture out of the clubs for performances inside and around artist James Turrell’s meditative Sky Pesher installation in the greenspace to the west side of the Walker. Sky Pesher concerts are free events, however there will be two different, but equally enjoyable ways to experience these exclusive, one-night-only sets from some of the area’s hottest music-makers.
- 1. A limited audience will be seated surrounding the band inside the Sky Pesher interior. The interior seating is very limited and available on a first come basis. Tickets will be released at the Bazinet Lobby desk at 6pm the evening of the performance. You must be present to receive a ticket (so if your friends want to get a ticket too…they need to be here).
- 2. There is unlimited space on the exterior of the Sky Pesher on the Walker Greenspace. Tickets are not needed for experiencing the concert outside the Sky Pesher. There will be speakers to hear the performance while watching the sunset and enjoying your favorite beverage from the cash bar (note: drinks will not be allowed inside the Sky Pesher). Spread out, bring your blanket or lawn chairs and enjoy the beautiful summer evening to a live soundtrack.
After the approximately 45 minute performance in the Sky Pesher the band will emerge and gather near the Sky Pesher entrance for a short Q&A and perhaps a bonus performance.
Event Schedule
5:00 Target Free Thursday Nights Begin – Free Gallery Admission
7:30 Bar opens on the Greenspace
8:30 Sky Pesher Concert with Beatrix*JAR
9:45 Last Call
Again…the event is FREE, however seating in the Sky Pesher is limited on a first come basis available only in person at the Bazinet lobby desk the night of the performance. Seating outside the space is unlimited. A cash bar will be available in the outdoor seating area. Blankets and lawn chairs are allowed. Another suggestion for this week is…things that glow-in-the-dark.
For this week’s Sky Pesher concert I asked Jacob and Bianca to list their favorite Circuit Bending Workshop experiences…and a few of the resulting creations.
Having recently been accused by a fan of being altruistic sound artists, we decided instead to give you a list of our Top Ten Circuit Bending Workshops. We started offering workshops to encourage others to do it to. We taught our first workshop in our old studio apartment in downtown Minneapolis – the 3 kids that came circuit bent their Talking Elmo, Wiggles Guitar and a Casio SK-1, when it was over we couldn’t stop smiling. – Beatrix*JAR
Top Ten Workshops
1. Ong King Arts Center: Honolulu, HI
Circuit Bending in Hawaii, need we say more? We saw several different Casio Keyboards come out at this workshop and based on our experiences at the thrift stores in Honolulu, we’ve christened Hawaii – the Island of Lost Toys!
2. The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
One of the first places we were ever flown to for our work! We performed at the museum’s first Thursday event that included an Art Technology Fashion show – with designers from San Diego and Tijuana. The workshop took place on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at the Museum’s Ocean room which looked out on the La Jolla coastline. There is something special about circuit bending with the ocean near…
3. The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD 
“Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself.” That’s us – self taught with personal vision! AVAM invited us out to host a workshop and performance for a “Couples Night” at the museum!
4. Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation 
An afterschool program right here in Minneapolis. This was the first workshop we taught in which we invited the kids to play our machines. The kids held up signs with the number 10 written on them like Olympic Judges and expressed themselves with our gear the sonic results were amazing.
5. High Mayhem, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sunday morning Circuit Bending with a bunch of bohemian artists in beautiful Santa Fe, our “Ah ha” moment!
6. Walker Art Center Culture Camp
We worked with students to “design” their toys from the outside. A really fun and unique experience.
7. Zeum, Art Technology Museum in San Francisco
Circuit Bending with families – adults and kids working hand and hand!
8. The Andy Warhol Museum & the CAPA Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh 
Circuit Bending in the name of Warhol.
9. Wexner Art Center, Columbus, Ohio
The Wexner placed us in a room and we hosted seven sold out workshops. “You guys are HOT!”
10. Erie Art Museum, Erie PA
We made our first news appearance on the Erie Morning News and met the Mayor. We’ve been back to Erie twice – it’s a really warm and unique town with a great museum.
TOP THREE TOYS TO CIRCUIT BEND:
The funny thing about our favorite toys is that they don’t have official names, usually they just say “Made in China” – so we’ve assigned them names below:
1. GOLDEN TOY
2. ANIMAL ORGAN
3. LITTLE KEYBOARD
Mark your calendars for the remaining three concerts of the Sky Pesher series.
July 2: Mandrágora Tango
This vibrant collective is dedicated to preserving tango music as well as translating it into
fresh yet nostalgic forms.
July 23: Machinery Hill
Deftly combining ska, klezmer, Celtic music, rock, and American folk, Machinery Hill’s style
“hurtles all over the musical map with impish delight” (Star Tribune).
August 27: Solid Gold
Summer winds down in style with an experimental performance by this trio, which creates gorgeous collisions between digital and analog instrumentation by mixing heavy beats with surprising twists on Americana. This is the culminating event of mnartists.org’s daylong field day extravaganza.
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