SPECIAL EVENTS

Aurora Picture Show presents the 8th Annual Media Archeology Festival Thursday, September 15 through Saturday, September 17, 2011 in Houston. Taking place at venues across the city, including Downtown and the Museum District, the festival is presented in collaboration with the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. This multi-media festival showcases artists who use, manipulate, recycle and reinvent electronic media to create live multidisciplinary performances.

This year, the festival explores the ideas of games and play from the past and present. Games are social tools for interaction, community building, and entertainment that have traditionally permeated media in various ways—all the way from chess, charades and hula-hoops, to role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and now to the World of Warcraft, one of the most successful multi-player role playing video games of recent times. This year’s festival Rewind – Play – Fast Forward examines new forms and contexts of performance-based art informed by games through visuals, interactivity and strategy.

For the second night of the festival, we invite you to Performing and Playing in Bits With Robert Toth,  another memorable night of Media Archeology at The Menil Collection with multiple projections of video games of the past and a live performance. Houston artist Robert Thoth presents the live cinema performance “The Chip Tune Crooner” during which he will perform popular songs from the 1960s to 1980s which are accompanied by a low tech 8-bit orchestra created from vintage computer parts, complete with large pixel-art music videos projected behind him. The videos are manipulated from video games such as SIMS and Road Attack Race Car in sync with the content of the music performance.

In addition to Robert’s performance, Aurora will present a cornucopia of video games available to audiences to play and compete in a festive and larger than life capacity out under the stars. Take a seat in an IKEA chair and watch the community come out for a night of games. Food trucks will be on-site selling yummy treats and the Pedal Party will again host rides through the neighborhood. Be sure to stop by the Aurora Video Library for samplings sponsored by Saint Arnold Brewery. Special thanks to New Images Networks truck for their support of this program.

Robert Thoth is a filmographer, composer and conceptual artist who has performed at numerous arts festivals, and is the co-founder of Houston’s Freneticore Theater.

This festival is presented in collaboration with the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, with additional support provided by IKEA Houston and The Downtown District. Media sponsors include 29-95.com, KUHF 88.7 FM, Glasstire and Saint Arnold Brewery. Gift bag sponsors include: Katz Coffee, GHCVB, Whole Foods Market and others.