Thessia MachadoToward the Unsound

Indulging in the physical nature of sound and connecting it to natural phenomena, New York–based visual/sonic artist and performer Thessia Machado builds a meta-instrument whose reverberations tap into the expressive potential of a place. Throughout the installation, a DIY circuit of electrical wire vines, speaker blooms, and light-sensitive tendrils overtake a massive section of the gallery; The Arts Club’s electromagnetic profile generates content for a series of audio vignettes; and the aural is made visual through sculptural depiction of soundwaves and frequency spectra as architectural interventions. Machado’s practice has evolved organically from sculpture to sound, eventually aligning with the legacy of experimental music and hand-made instruments. Toward the Unsound takes us through an abridged progression of her practice from one art form to another, concluding with a festival of noise-based performance.

This exhibition is curated by Jenna Lyle.

Catalogues from the exhibition can be purchased in the Arts Club of Chicago online shop.

Thessia Machado’s installations and video pieces have been exhibited in New York, London, Philadelphia, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Berlin, and Athens. She has been awarded residencies at Homesession, Barcelona, the NARS Foundation, NY, I-Park, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the Vermont Studio Center. Machado is a recipient of fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Experimental Television Center, The Bronx Museum, and the American Academy in Berlin. In 2017 she was a recipient of an Artists Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.