High Concept Labs Announces 2024 Resident Artists

Written By info at High Concept Labs

High Concept Labs (HCL), a Chicago-based artist residency program that centers experimentation, discovery, exchange, and risk, announces the 2024 Artists in Residence: Bradford Chin, Christopher Knowlton, Haruhi Kobayashi, Carissa Lee, and KT Shivak. 

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KT Shivak
KT Shivak

HCL will support KT in the development of The One Horn, a piece featuring a lifesize rhinoceros puppet based on a real animal from history that sparked an obsession both to possess it and to consume its image. The piece is inspired by the paradox of a rhino in Renaissance Europe, stolen from its habitat and transplanted on a sailing ship, to a palace, a combat arena, and eventually sent to its final destination: Vatican City.

Haruhi Kobayashi
Haruhi Kobayashi

HCL is supporting Haruhi Kobayashi in the development of Sonic Playground, an evolving multi-channel sonic sculptural artwork. Haruhi’s explorations will revolve around the pursuit of acoustically intricate sonic sculptural forms, enriched by collaboration and cultural diversity. Through extensive experimentation, she will probe the acoustic properties of spaces to find balance between content and environment.

Christopher Knowlton
Christopher Knowlton

With support from High Concept Labs, Christopher Knowlton is exploring the deification of new technologies, the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for dance, and the distinction between generative and extractive AI.

Carissa Lee
Carissa Lee

HCL will be supporting Carissa Lee in the development and expansion of a performance art piece that centers around the experiences of women. Carissa Lee’s work is about Black exhalation. Building on work initially performed at Steppenwolf Theater, Carissa will use this residency as an opportunity to deepen the narrative, introduce new themes, and expand the scope of the work. Carissa’s research will center around her family archive.

Bradford Chin
Bradford Chin

With support from HCL, Bradford Chin, will be exploring the use of Audio Description (“AD”) as the primary generative device in creating and presenting a dance work. Using text-based, non-body-specific movement instructions (“descriptors”) to construct the choreographic arc and the narrative and emotional landscape of the performance, Bradford will facilitate efforts toward a Disability Justice politic.

The Artist in Residence (AIR) program is HCL’s flagship, 12-month residency that supports artists to develop time-based work. Artists receive a stipend, no-cost studio space, and professional photo and video documentation, along with tailored curatorial, development, and marketing support. The AIR program is juried by a panel of Artistic Advisory Council members, which includes arts practitioners, critics, writers, and thinkers, including many HCL alumni. 

These five Artists in Residence are joining five Fellow Artists in Residence (FAR): Sofía Gabriel del Callejo, Helen Lee, Regina Martinez, Allen Moore, and Rigo Saura. The FAR program invites alumni of our Artist in Residence program to continue for a second full year to further their projects and deepen their practice.

2024 Fellow Artists in Residence 

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Rigo Saura
Rigo Saura

As Rigo transitions to a Fellow Artist in Residence, HCL will be supporting the continued development of his Research Lab series. This innovative initiative, informed by Rigo’s seasoned experiences as a facilitator, strives to be a haven for artistic movers driven by curiosity and a passion for uninhibited self-expression.

Sofía Gabriel del Callejo
Sofía Gabriel del Callejo

HCL is supporting Sofía to develop collective actions with collaborators from Mexico City and Chicago. She is also continuing Ciclos, a series of performances with Sofía Fernández Díaz that plays with the idea of performance as a ritual to honor the innate female connection with nature by creating large scale paintings using the body, organic materials and crafted tools.

Helen Lee
Helen Lee

In her second year with HCL, Helen will use curiosity to pull apart and lean into joy and grief and find proliferation within them. She will experiment with risk and failure in the process of looking at grief and joy and to find play in the process of not knowing what will be discovered.

Regina Martinez
Regina Martinez

HCL continues to support Regina in developing an audio-visual live performance series guided by the name, holding stones. Each gathering presents a sound story set to experimentations with multi-channel light, shadow and video projection.

Allen Moore
Allen Moore

HCL proudly supports Allen Moore in the ongoing development of The Black Arcade Collaborative, a groundbreaking audio and visual exploration delving into themes of grief, black mortality, afrofuturism, and the sonic aesthetic of the black imagination. The project encompasses a multifaceted approach, incorporating the merging of sound and visual elements.

This cohort includes artists working across a variety of disciplines including movement, performance art, dance, puppetry, sound, new media, augmented reality, and multimedia. While the research interests and creative practice of each artist are unique, there are many shared concerns such as the ethical use of emerging technologies and the integration of access tools into the creative development of new work. 

“At HCL we are very fortunate to be a resource for, and have interest from, such a wide range of amazing artists who are at a particular point in their process at which they come to us for additional support. We only host a few artists at a time, but place high value on showing up where we can for the community with great care in the processes involved in making great art,” shares HCL’s Artistic Director, Aquil Charlton. 

Throughout 2024, these artists will receive support as they move through the various stages of developing new work: from research to rehearsals to presentation. Charlton states, “Each year we have the opportunity to deepen our investment in the arts community in Chicago and beyond, and we look forward to rising to that call every time.”

With HCL’s mission grounded in promoting visibility for the creative process, resident artists will be able to meaningfully connect with public audiences through Open Labs, a platform for artists to share developing projects, test ideas, and gain perspective on their work through conversations with audiences. 

Additionally, in conjunction with their 15th Anniversary, HCL will present a variety of work-in-progress presentations, premieres, and public engagements throughout 2024 inviting audiences to witness the creative process and innovative work of these artists.

2024 Artistic Advisory Council AIR Review Panel

Majel Connery
Juelle Daley
Douglas R. Ewart
Miranda Gonzalez
Rika Lin
Meida Teresa McNeal
Zachary Whittenburg

info at High Concept Labs
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