ISSUE Project Room 2023 Gala - Sold Out!

In Fall 2023, ISSUE Project Room celebrates its 20th Anniversary, orbiting around our annual Gala on Wednesday October 11th. During the 20th Anniversary, between phases of renovation, ISSUE returns to our 22 Boerum Pl. theater for a special series of events.

The evening includes a pre-concert cocktail reception with catering from EventfullNYC, beverages from Circa Brewing Co., Heights Chateau and Topo Chico plus desserts from Pixie Scout. The Gala concert features presentations from a wide-diversity of artists that epitomize ISSUE’s history.

If you are in the position to do so, please consider making a donation of any amount meaningful to you in support of our 20th Anniversary.

The 2023 Gala includes two first-time collaborations between pioneering practitioners and current Artists-In-Residence (AIR). Using their natural voices to explore the acoustical properties of the 22 Boerum space, vocalists/composers/sound artists: 2006 AIR with Ne(x)tworks and member of ISSUE’s Artistic Advisory Council, Joan La Barbara & 2023 AIR BINT create an immersive experience, moving around and through the audience before arriving at the microphones, generating a unique sonic event; and cultural theorist and poet Fred Moten & 2023 AIR Jean Carla Rodea will present a vocal improvisation featuring poetry, electronics, and sound design comprised of field recordings by the artists.

Guests will be greeted by artwork from Suzanne Fiol, Self Portrait with Apple, 1995 which was displayed by ISSUE in 2019 as part of the Ten Years Alive exhibition, plus Eva Davidova’s series of augmented reality prints: Vinson and Catherine in the Garden. The prints on display are sequences from animations, which are encoded to reveal - when viewed on audience’s devices - animated choregraphies through augmented reality with sound by Matthew D. Gantt.

The evening will open with a cocktail hour that includes archival presentations of three works coordinated in partnership with Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center, a long-time collaborator of ISSUE. The presentations, Global Mode > from Eva Davidova, As If Reality? from Bergsonist and I Love Everything from Keke Hunt (Just The Right Height) were presented by ISSUE following each artist engaging in Harvestworks’ Technology Immersion Program (2020 - 2023).

Drinks will be served at the famous Judy Chicago's Man Cave Sports Bar, which features artists Laurie Berg, Mariana Valencia & Lime Rickey International bartending. In lieu of sports, the bar will play an ever shifting, realtime disintegration of the fabric of reality on three big screen monitors. And then don't miss the halftime show at the bar: a meandering diptych, sure to delight.

Additional presentations include an evocation and acknowledgement from 2023 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow evil dentist (David Farrow & Alice Gerlach) plus a solo vibraphone performance from ISSUE Artistic Advisory Council member Sarah Hennies, who has worked with the organization over a number of years - including premiering the acclaimed Contralto (2017). For 20 years Hennies has been exploring the vibraphone, continually revealing new musical and acoustic possibilities. Her performances reveal an emotional dimension in addition to the psychoacoustic, inner ear phenomena that the sounds provoke.

The evening will conclude with a rare live presentation of electronic music pioneer Laurie Spiegel’s Harmonic Algorithm 2020 from Spiegel & composer and artist Seth Cluett. The work was first created through a computer algorithm coded by Spiegel in 1981. In September, 2020 - during the COVID-19 pandemic - Cluett spatialized the piece at the 22 Boerum Pl. theater. Recorded as a 360 degree video presentation, the 2020 version can be experienced in ISSUE’s archive. Working in dialogue with Spiegel on the multi-channel loudspeaker array, Cluett restages a diffusion of the work taking advantage of the unique theater acoustics.

Since its inception in 2003 under the vision of late Founder Suzanne Fiol, ISSUE has evolved from a small East Village garage, to a grain silo on the Gowanus Canal, to a project space in The Old American Can Factory, to now owning our 22 Boerum Pl. theater as an internationally-recognized leader for fostering experimental cross-disciplinary performance. In celebration of 20 years of experimental programming, ISSUE’s 2023 Gala marks a milestone moment to support the organization.

Please join us in recognizing this important milestone in our history.

For sponsorship opportunities and any questions regarding the 2023 Gala please contact Ted Dodson at ted@issueprojectroom.org or (718)-330-0313 

ISSUE’s 2023 Gala is proudly supported* by 
The Steven Buscemi and Jo Andres Charitable Fund 
Charmaine Lee    Joe & Nancy Walker

Jay Brown & Zhou Qiao   Creative Business Inc.   Downing Frames   Robert Eigen

Robert Longo   R. Luke DuBois & New York University   Michael & Donna Sternberg   Thompson LLP   Thea Westreich Wagner

Marcus Brauer & Nancy Henriksson    Dustin Dis & Kelso Wyeth   Toni Dove   Daniel Grunebaum & AvanTokyo    

Richard Kamerman   Herb Leventer   Patrick Murphy   Dennis Mykytyn    

Ropes & Gray LLP   Alexander S.C. Rower & Elan Gentry   Roderick Schrock   TD Bank  John Vlahoplus & Uma Muthu    WORKac 

and in-kind support from:

ISSUE Project Room 20th Anniversary Media Partner:

*as of October 2, 2023