Thursday, June 26th at 8pm, ISSUE is pleased to present Phantom Orbit, an immersive performance by Qiujiang Levi Lu in collaboration with experimental musician Ka Baird. Staged within an 18-speaker dome at NYU Brooklyn’s “The Garage” space, it is presented in partnership with Harvestworks. Lu’s residency is supported by Harvestworks’ Technology Immersion Program (TIP) and is part of an ongoing program collaboration between two organizations that are committed to supporting the creation and presentation of experimental performance practices while sharing resources.
Expanding on Lu’s earlier work 钟 Zhong (The Clock), developed at Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm, the piece harnesses four custom-built motion-capturing wearables to sculpt sound in real time. As gestures carve through space, sonic fragments are flung across the dome. Rooted in feedback, Phantom Orbit uses hyper-directional microphone signals and a choreography of spiritual movements to conjure an experientially unique field. Lu and Baird navigate this kinetic soundscape as co-conductors of an ever-changing, dialectical performance with ritualistic improvisations.
Qiujiang Levi Lu (卢秋江) is a NYC-based performance artist, experimental musician, composer, and educator. Their work transforms the body into a sonic object through interactions with movements and audio technology, exploring identity, sound, and space. Lu designs customized feedback systems with cyborg-like body augmentations inspired by Objectophilia/animism. These include special microphones, speakers placed within bodily orifices, and an augmented amplified laptop. Their resulting performances consist of choreographed, ritualistic improvisations building upon ancient Chinese drumming traditions to manifest body dysmorphia, sexuality, spirituality, and mortality. As the second-prize winner of the International Electronic Music Competition 2023, their works have been featured internationally, including MATA Festival, High Zero Festival, The Poetry Project, E-Flux, IRCAM Forum, and Center for Performance Research. Lu has also been an artist-in-residence at ISSUE Project Room, Harvestworks TIP, Reforesters Laboratory, and Elektronmusikstudion Stockholm. Lu is currently a lecturer in the Department of Music at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ka Baird is a performer, sound artist, musician, and composer based in New York City. They are known for their live performances, which include extended voice and microphone techniques combined with electronics and psychoacoustic interplay of flutes and other woodwinds. They create a present tense sound with a vigorous, ritualistic delivery that seeks extreme release through physical exertion and psychic extension. They have performed at Unsound Festival (Krakow, PL), Lampo (Chicago, IL), MoMA PS1 (Queens, NY), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn, NY), The Kitchen (NYC), The Institute of Contemporary Art (Philadelphia, PA), TUSK Festival (Newcastle, UK), KRAAK (Brussels, BE), Le Guess Who (Utrecht, NL), Intonal Festival (Malmo, SE) and the LA Philharmonic. They have been artist-in-residence at We Jazz Festival (Helsinki, FI), Sonoscopia (Porto, PT), Inkonst (Malmö, SE), Experimental Sound Studio (Chicago, IL), and Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY). They have been a recipient of the Foundation of Contemporary Art's Emergency Grant, a Jerome Foundation Artist-In-Residence at Roulette Intermedium, and is currently a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow through 2023-25.
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