In Place | Photo Credit: Michelle Reid
Open Labs
Deepening the creative process through community exchange
Co-presented and produced by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in Joint Residency at Mana Contemporary
Free admission, registration strongly encouraged: Register Here
*Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
Open Labs is a flexible, monthly platform for High Concept Labs' Artists in Residence to share, test ideas, and develop perspective on their work.
Irene Hsiao: IN PLACE: REFLECTION/PROJECTION
Sunday, October 16, 12:00 pm-4:00 pm
An interactive installation with durational performance and live projection mapping by HCL Fellow Irene Hsiao and collaborators, Maddie Ma and Max Li
Presented by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in Joint Residency at Mana Contemporary
IN PLACE: REFLECTION/PROJECTION by HCL Fellow Artist Irene Hsiao and collaborators, Maddie Ma and Max Li, transforms High Concept Labs into an interactive installation with durational performance and live projection mapping during October’s Mana Contemporary Open House.
Projections include films created by artists Michelle Reid and Stephanie Patsula of the live performance of IN PLACE: DRAWING YOU OUTSIDE project on Jackson Park’s Wooded Island by Hsiao in collaboration with dancers Helen Lee, Amanda Maraist, Wannapa P-Eubanks, Darling “Shear” Squire, musicians Menghua Guan, olula negre, Scott Rubin, and visual artist Christine Forni; videos created in place at HCL by Diego Campos; and a community video project, In Place: Medium, Image, Landscape, begun during Hsiao’s residency at the Smart Museum of Art.
IN PLACE: REFLECTION/PROJECTION is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Special thanks to Jackson Park Advisory Council, Smart Museum of Art, and High Concept Labs, Louise McCurry, Karen Szyjka, Erik Peterson, C.J. Lind, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla, Mallory Yanhan Qiu, and Angee Lennard.
About the Artist
Irene Hsiao creates performances with visual art in museums, galleries, and public spaces, a practice that includes site-specific interaction with visual artworks and experimental engagement with artists, institutions, and the public. Her work includes durational improvisation, interactive installations, dances for stage, video, and virtual performance. She is a Fellow at High Concept Labs, a 2022 Artist in Residence at 21c Museum Hotel, the inaugural Artist in Residence at the Smart Museum of Art in 2020 and 2021, and a 2020 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist. She has received 2022 Individual Artist Awards from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and City of Chicago Department of Culture & Special Events.
Maddie Ma is a transmedia designer based in Chicago. She draws her inspiration from Conditional Design, Light and Space Movement, and Conceptual Art. After studying Fine Art at UC Irvine for two years, she transferred to the Art Center College of Design and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree of Art in Graphic Design in 2020. Ever since Feb. 2022, she holds regular projection art performances in collaboration with various local artists at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago.
Max Li arrived in the US as a 10th grader. During his undergraduate study at the University of California Irvine, he worked as a documentary photographer. At that time, he traveled extensively and intimately encountered numerous cultural settings, which shaped his cross-cultural perspective on the differences between domestic and foreign experiences. After acquiring a BFA in honor, he moved to New York City to work for portrait photographer Mark Seliger while running a tintype studio in the lower east side of Manhattan. By doing photographic work at the studio, on-site, and in the street, Max engaged himself with an ultra-wide spectrum of personalities. In the spring of 2021, Max acquired his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Chicago focusing on an interdisciplinary artistic practice. Interested in a wide range of mediums, he is currently based in Woodlawn, a community on the south side of Chicago. His studio is hosted by the 1st Presbyterian Church of Chicago.
Roell Schmidt is a film and performing arts producer, administrator, and maker who currently co-produces with individual artists (Irene Hsiao, Sam Lewis) and collaborates with nonprofit organizations (Chicago Children’s Museum, Constellation Performing Arts, Honey Pot Performance, Ragdale Foundation, Soham Dance Space). She directed Links Hall from 2009 to 2019, a decade that included establishing its venue partnership with Mike Reed and Constellation, receiving the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, and developing artistic exchanges with artists and partners throughout Chicago, the US, and Cuba, Haiti, Japan and The Netherlands. She holds an MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute and developed her lifelong interest in cooperative organizational models at St. Louis Neighborhood Unschool. She hopes to contribute to a healthy arts ecosystem that is fair, compassionate, generous, and risk-taking—or would like to be.
Films by
Diego Campos is a photographer and Photo Editor based in Chicago. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography at Parsons: The New School for Design in New York. His fashion photography work often explores bold camera angles, vibrant color, contrast, and tends to be playful and imaginative. When he is not looking through the viewfinder, he is dancing Spanish Classical, Flamenco, and playing the castanets.
Stephanie Patsula is an artist from Treaty 6 Territory ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ - Amiskwacîwâskahikan, Edmonton, Alberta. She holds an MFA in Intermedia from the University of Alberta. The projects Patsula creates are focused across a variety of processes, meeting at an intersection of lens, installation and performance work and are mediated by both physical and digital locations. She is interested in the metaphor vehicle of vessels and how the body gives material form to personal and abstract experience. Patsula’s work prioritizes embodied research, exploration of site(s), reciprocity through sound and symbology, while attempting to approach concepts of relational ethics, cultural ritual and spirituality. In addition to her art practice she aims to foster connections within the arts community, working with project spaces and arts incubators to activate sites with programming, interventions and events.
Michelle Reid graduated from The Ohio State University in the Spring of 2013 receiving her BFA in Dance. In addition to her dance studies, she spent two semesters learning dance for camera which served as the catalyst for her journey in photography. After graduating, Michelle moved to Chicago to pursue a career in dance. Since then she has performed with Joel Hall Dancers, Aerial Dance Chicago, Lyric Opera, Banks Performance Project, Winifred Haun and Dancers, and Brendan Fernandes. In 2016, Michelle began her journey as a photographer with a focus on dance portraiture and events. She has photographed for various companies in Chicago and nationwide such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago, Satellite Dance (Nashville), and Ruth Page. Michelle has recently begun to explore dance for camera again after a commission from Banks Performance Project for their “Fall Film Series,” as well as a film collaboration with Symbiosis Arts.
Community video artists inspired by Irene Hsiao’s prompts in response to In Place: Medium, Image, Landscape at the Smart Museum of Art include:
Bril Barrett and M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Harold Washington Cultural Center parking lot, Chicago, IL
Members of Allison Beaulieu’s 4th Grade Visual Art class at UChicago Laboratory School, Chicago, IL
Kara Brody, Glacial Park Nature Preserve in Ringwood, IL
Derric Clemmons, lakefront SE side of Chicago, IL
Ava Chen, Adelaide, Australia
Susan Chung, Providence, RI
Rebekah Enderle, San Francisco, CA
Anna Halprinʻs Scoring and Performance Lab response 11.15.21 Sue Heineman reading questions Ryan Reid and Kecya Felix Donnelly responding
Anna Halprinʻs Scoring and Performance Lab response 11.15.21 Darcie Luce reading questions Sherri Mills and Marguerite Etemad responding
Felicia Holman, 12th St Beach, Chicago, IL
Irene Hsiao, Chicago, IL
Liz Luse and Clara, Cochran Park, Chicago, IL
Lydia Jekot
Corinne Imberski, River Park, Chicago, IL
Berna Lee, Kowloon Peak, Hong Kong
BL, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Amanda Maraist, Mars Hill, NC
Riley, Maldives
Zach Pine, Live Oak Park, Berkeley, California, US on the land of the Muwekma Ohlone
Lauren Reed, Lenapehoking, or Brooklyn, NY during an eclipse
Elijah Richardson, Union Station, Chicago, IL
Nora Sharp, Avondale, Chicago, IL
Kinnari Vora, El Paseo Community Garden, Chicago, IL
Mykale Williams, South Bend, IN
Erin Peisert, Julian Otis, Wannapa P-Eubanks, Cristal Sabbagh, Chicago, IL
M Wu, Atlanta, GA