Bill Hsu's Art/technology Projects
Bill Hsu's art/technology projects

I work with electronics and real-time animation systems. I am interested in real-time performance systems that have some of the live, tactile qualities of good human musicians playing acoustic instruments. My work mostly involves using gestural interfaces to control synthesis, and building systems that interact with human performers. In particular, I am inspired by improvisers who have developed rich palettes of extended techniques.

I've built systems, tools, installations and compositions in collaboration with Peter van Bergen, John Butcher, James Fei, Matt Heckert, and Lynn Hershman, among other fine musicians; I've performed in the San Francisco Bay area, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Karlsruhe (Germany), Berlin, London, and Porto (Portugal). I am a founding member of the Beanbender's collective, which organized over 150 concerts of new music in the San Francisco Bay area.

with John Butcher at CNMAT,
Berkeley, 6/13/2008


Media/Press:

Audio clips for interactive music improvisation system
Audio-visual improvisation system demos
Audio reactive animations
Selected videos from Fete Quaqua, London, 8/17-19, 2008
Video excerpt of performance with John Butcher at ZKM, Karlsruhe, May 2006
Videos of Matt Heckert's machines (I wrote software for the Rotifiers (Centripetal Sound), Fencers, and Chainboxes (SFEMF 2005))
Interview with John Littler at mstation.org


Recent and upcoming technology/art activities:

Performance at Steim, Amsterdam, 5/26/2010
Installation at Ohrenhoch Gallery, Berlin, 4/11 and 4/18, 2010
Performance with Birgit Ulher and friends, Stark Bewölkt in der Hörbar, Brigittenstrasse 5, Hamburg, 4/7/2010
Performance with Birgit Ulher and Gino Robair, Artists' Television Access, San Francisco, 2/19/2010 [more info]
Performance with Nelson Hiu, O-veg, Hong Kong, 1/15/2010

2009:
Processing class at Noisebridge, San Francisco, 12/10/2009
Performance at MIX festival, New York, 11/22/2009
Performance with John Butcher and Gino Robair, Artists' Television Access, San Francisco, 10/14/2009 [more info]
Performance with Moe Staiano at Music for the Eyeful series, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, 9/10/2009
Songs for Dynamical Systems Workshop, London, 8/3 - 6, 2009
Performance and Presentation at SMC 2009, Porto, Portugal, 7/23 - 25, 2009
Paper presentation at NIME 2009, Pittsburgh PA, 6/4 - 6, 2009
Performance with James Fei at Harvestworks Festival, Roulette, New York, 5/16/2009

2008:
Residency with James Fei at Harvestworks, New York, 12/2008
Presentation with Matt Heckert at Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous, San Francisco, 9/8/2008
Paper presentation at ICMC 2008, Belfast, 8/24 - 29, 2008 [download paper]
Performance at QuaQua/Mopomoso Festival, London, 8/17 - 19, 2008 (see also http:/www.mopomoso.com )
Performance with Chris Heenan on Salon Bruit radio show, Berlin, 8/6/2008
Performance with John Butcher and David Wessel, at CNMAT (UC Berkeley), Berkeley CA, 6/11/2008
Speech processing for Lynn Hershman Leeson's Global Mind Radar/Reader installation, San Jose Museum of Art, 5/10 - 8/31, 2008
[also at Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco, through 11/29]
Performance with James Fei and Moe! Staiano, at Climate Theater, San Francisco, 2/26/2008
Performance with Hideo Ikegami, Takuji Kawai, and Brett Larner, at Flying Teapot, Tokyo, 1/13/2008
Performance with Nelson Hiu, Wilson Tsang, and friends, at Y-space, Hong Kong, 1/5/2008

2007:
Performance with James Coleman at MIX Festival, New York, 11/18/2007
Performance with Sean Meehan and friends at Fifth Annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival, 21 Grand, Oakland CA, 6/9/2007
Poster and performance (with Sean Meehan) at NIME 2007, New York, 6/6 - 6/8, 2007
Performance with Andre Custodio, Val Mih, and Alex Yeung, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, 2/15/2007

Selected events before 2007
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