New AV performance and artist talk with Klara Lewis, Nik Colk Void and Pedro Maia at Conflux festival

In their latest collaboration Klara Lewis and Nik Colk Void explore the outer edges of the space occupied within their respective solo projects. Guitars, synths, euro rack modular systems, voice, sampling and outboard processing are presented uncompromisingly when Lewis and Void's single approaches unite in a playful collage of sonic U-turns intertwining Pop and Noise bringing together their versions of tender techno and brutal ambient.

Presenting their latest collaboration live, Lewis and Void are accompanied by the live visuals of Pedro Maia, following his 16mm analogue film manipulations as a point of departure, pushing the possibilities of materiality and form of the analogue and live medium.

The three artists will present their new AV performance on Friday the 3rd of June, with an artist talk ahead of the performance as part of the Conflux conference program.

Klara Lewis and Nik Void are two musicians with a great deal in common. In a roundabout way, both come from the world of experimental rock and post-punk: Lewis as the daughter of Graham Lewis from seminal British band Wire; Void as guitarist and vocalist in KaitO before joining industrial disco group Factory Floor. Both are signed to the influential Editions Mego label, which has been Lewis’ home since 2014, with Void joining a few years later in partnership with Editions Mego chief Peter Rehberg as NPVR.

Earlier in the year Editions Mego released Void’s debut solo album, Bucked Up Space, a record produced from live improvisations – in collaboration with the audience, she says – and methodical studio processing. It’s one of the last scheduled Editions Mego releases following the sudden passing of Rehberg in 2021.

Collaboration is central to Void’s practice, something she shares with Lewis, who has worked with film composer Simon Fisher Turner and multidisciplinary artist and musician Rainier Lericolais on a series of live performances of their updated soundtrack to Walter Ruttmann’s classic 1927 silent film, Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt.

Despite developing divergent solo sound practices – in Lewis’ case, as an emotive manipulator of field recordings; for Void, through unconventional encounters with a range of analog and digital tools – both rightly earn the title of “sound sculptress”, and have each navigated the art space and the night club with equal aplomb. Indeed, it was during a show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London that they first came into each other’s remit. Lewis supported Factory Floor for the premier of the group’s second DFA album, 25 25, in 2016, resulting in a flurry of collaborative shows in the UK the following year.

In 2020 the pair were invited by Semibreve Festival in Portugal to refine their collaboration during an artist in residency. Together with analogue filmmaker and “live cinema” artist Pedro Maia, Lewis and Void will present their new audiovisual live show (evolved from the Semibreve residency) at WORM during Conflux festival on Friday 3 June. Ahead of the trio’s performance, as part of the Conflux conference program, writer and music journalist Holly Dicker will moderate an artist talk with Klara Lewis and Nik Void followed by a short presentation of selected works by Pedro Maia.

Program 2022

  • Performances

    Conflux festival offers a variety of innovative experimental music, live audio visual performances and performance art. Experience a cross-section of internationally renowned artists hailing from the front lines of digital culture and adventurous music.

    The program invites the audience to enter abstract and digital worlds through numerous screen setups and analogue light spaces. By presenting genre-defying performances the artists within this program will put our senses to the test and explore the relation between live audio visual composition and the festival theme: 'Exit Human'.

    Artists
    Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void + Pedro Maia
    Helm
    (visuals by Tatsuya Fujimoto)
    Flora Yin Wong
    Mark Fell & Will Guthrie
    Animistic Beliefs & Jeisson Drenth
    CACHE/SPIRIT
    Lichun Tseng & Robert Kroos
    Ebb and Flow
    Dadub & FAX
    Hypersynchronous
    Marco Donnarumma
    Corpus Nil
    Dylan Cote & Pierre Lafanechère
    Earthsatz
    Nikki Hock
    ISSIZ
    BJ Nilsen
    Acidic Male
    Pinar Demirdag and Sofia Crespo
    Panspermia
  • Exhibitions

    The exhibitions show artworks and installations that emerge at the intersection between science, art and technology. In some of the works, technology is being used to give us a dark glance on how our future could evolve. Other works experiment with new forms of sensory perception and strive to activate the imagination that arises when encountering abstract fields of light and sound. These installations explore the limits of our senses by using fast rotating mechanisms, stroboscopic light and multichannel speaker setups.

    Opening times exhibitions at V2_, UBIK and Slash Gallery:
    Thursday 19:00h - 22:00h, Friday till Sunday 14:00h - 21:00h

    Opening times exhibition at Plein 1940:
    Friday till Sunday 22:00h - 00:00h

    Artists
    Carla Chan
    Drifting Towards the Unknown
    Joanie Lemercier
    View From the Moon
    Marnix de Nijs
    AOR-200 Autonomous Oil Reserve
    Cocky Eek
    Void
    Macular
    Cylinders
    Mariska de Groot
    Hidden Patterns
    Marco Broeders
    The Open Loop
  • Club Nights

    In a time in which our societal freedom is heavily under discussion, a space for escapism becomes more and more important. Since the dawn of time humans felt the need to immerse into dance rituals where sound and the human body interact. Club culture caters for this need and provides a space where escapism, trance and full body immersion in sound and light relate to technology.

    Conflux explores the current state of electronic dance music by inviting a few of the most innovative electronic and techno-driven musicians and local talents who experiment with the boundaries of club culture and dance floor rituals. With these nights Conflux strives to push the limits of the sonic pallet, combining the worlds of nocturnal sound with mind-bending visual experiments.

    Artists
    Pessimist
    Umwelt
    Samuel Kerridge
    Unit Moebius
    Mad Miran
    Genyten
    RAFF
    Marsman
    Das Ding
    Rita Maomenos
    Zohar
    Slick Chick
    Ruwedata
    Inge K
    Blondewednesday
    Acidic Male
  • Conference

    Thinkers, artists and performers reflect on the festival theme: 'Exit Human'. Through lectures, talks, and discussions the conference will focus on the transformation of nature and society by reflecting on current social developments within art, technology, and science.

    We are slowly but surely moving towards the post-Anthropocene. How will humans adapt to the constant changing world around us? What changes will we see on both a global level and on a biological level?

    Artists
    Stefan Sorgner
    Lisanne Buik
    Matthew Fuller
    Geocinema Network
    Visual Methodologies Collective
    Roel Dobbe
    Marco Donnarumma
    Klara Lewis & Nik Colk Void + Pedro Maia
    Dylan Cote and Pierre Lafanechère
    Cocky Eek
    Pinar Demirdag
    Jeisson Drenth
    Lawrence Lek's Sinofuturism
    Lawrence Lek's Geomancer
    Lawrence Lek's AIDOL
    Eric Parren
    Holly Dicker
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