During three months of creation, these residency artists have explored sound movement, texture, and spatialization within Audium’s unique, pitch-black 176-speaker space. The theater has been transformed into an otherworldly experience grounded in Bay Area roots. The resident artists have designed their own original spatial works and will perform their sound movement live. The show extends beyond the speaker space, spilling out into the lobby with elements of sound, electronics, poetry, graffiti and projection surrounding the audience from the moment they enter the building.

The second edition of Audium’s popular NEW VOICES artist-in-residence show is here; featuring live performances by Sharmi Basu, Alex Abalos and Ronald Peabody. This time, the theater’s 176-speaker environment will tell the stories of Bay Area Filipino culture, African immigrant origins, and a sci-fi tale where the world’s caregivers have all disappeared. 

During three months of creation, these residency artists have explored sound movement, texture, and spatialization within Audium’s unique, pitch-black 176-speaker space. The theater has been transformed into an otherworldly experience grounded in Bay Area roots. The resident artists have designed their own original spatial works and will perform their sound movement live. The show extends beyond the speaker space, spilling out into the lobby with elements of sound, electronics, poetry, graffiti and projection surrounding the audience from the moment they enter the building.

How the show (New Voices II) sounded:

The 2022/23 Residency Artists:

Alex Abalos is an electrician, musician, sound artist, instrument fabricator and synthesizer nerd who enjoys piecing together unlikely partners, instruments, found sounds, and venues, creating unique and meaningful experiences that help neighborhoods think outside of their barriers and boundaries. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay to a working class, immigrant family with a mentality of “working with what you got,” Alex attributes his success to his DIY attitude. Realizing later in life that he could use this as a tool to connect with people, he brings his passion for music to alternative educational spaces where he can bridge the gap between the avant garde music that he loves and the street culture that he grew up in.

Alex Abalos is an electrician, musician, sound artist, instrument fabricator and synthesizer nerd who enjoys piecing together unlikely partners, instruments, found sounds, and venues, creating unique and meaningful experiences that help neighborhoods think outside of their barriers and boundaries. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay to a working class, immigrant family with a mentality of “working with what you got,” Alex attributes his success to his DIY attitude. Realizing later in life that he could use this as a tool to connect with people, he brings his passion for music to alternative educational spaces where he can bridge the gap between the avant garde music that he loves and the street culture that he grew up in.

Alex Abalos has composed a six-chapter “encyclopedia of sound”- Soliloquy of Chaos– that chronicles the diverse, often-unrecognized sounds of San Francisco. Each evening, a different chapter of Abalos’s opus will be performed, thus making for a different experience each evening.

Sharmi Basu (they/them) is a South Asian American multimedia performance artist, curator, composer, arts advocate, and organizer born and based on occupied Ohlone Land aka Oakland, CA. They create sound and performance pieces that investigate the emotional landscape of people in struggle. Their performance project, Beast Nest, transmutes trauma and chronic illness through vast sonic world building. They received their MFA from Mills College and host workshops internationally that center on sound healing, decolonization, conflict & accountability, as well as technical skill-shares. Their organizational work is dedicated to mutual aid and advocating for the rights of arts workers and artists.

Sharmi Basu (they/them) is a South Asian American multimedia performance artist, curator, composer, arts advocate, and organizer born and based on occupied Ohlone Land aka Oakland, CA. They create sound and performance pieces that investigate the emotional landscape of people in struggle. Their performance project, Beast Nest, transmutes trauma and chronic illness through vast sonic world building. They received their MFA from Mills College and host workshops internationally that center on sound healing, decolonization, conflict & accountability, as well as technical skill-shares. Their organizational work is dedicated to mutual aid and advocating for the rights of arts workers and artists.

Sharmi Basu’s “Care is a Sinkhole” is an encompassing sci-fi audio work outlining the complexity of caregiving for people in struggle. It tells the story of a society reliant on caseworkers for its most marginalized people. As all caseworkers have disappeared into a sinkhole, an underground group tries to find remaining relics to recreate networks of care.

Ronald Peabody is a music artist and designer from Staten Island, New York. Expressing himself through visual and digital art, installations, and sound, Ronald tells stories of life through his first-generation African-American eyes. His music, under the alias Angelnumber 8, ranges from sounds of 70s Dancehall, 90s rock, and modern electronic music. Now based in Richmond, CA, Ronald combines these elements with his experience through art, fashion, and music culture to provoke uncommon feelings and thoughts.

Ronald Peabody is a music artist and designer from Staten Island, New York. Expressing himself through visual and digital art, installations, and sound, Ronald tells stories of life through his first-generation African-American eyes. His music, under the alias Angelnumber 8, ranges from sounds of 70s Dancehall, 90s rock, and modern electronic music. Now based in Richmond, CA, Ronald combines these elements with his experience through art, fashion, and music culture to provoke uncommon feelings and thoughts.

In Ronald Peabody’s AFRICALIEN, the audience is invited to observe and decipher a subject’s recorded brain activity after a traumatic plane event. Relating to the randomness of brain activity, Peabody asks for one’s acceptance of beauty in confusion.

Scenes from Orientation Week: