What's On

Sonica: Robert Henke - CBM 8032 AV

Date 29th Sep 2023 7.00pm - 8.15pm Price £20/£10 Location Tramway Book tickets 0845 330 3501 0845 330 3501 Bookings subject to transaction fees: £1.50 online, £1.75 by phone

Drawing together the worlds of art and engineering, the ultra-modern and the techno-historical, Robert Henke’s new work uses five Commodore computers first released in 1980 – machines that were cutting edge at the time – and reanimates the now prehistoric-seeming visuals of forty-plus years ago: blocky polygons, scrolling waves and screeds of glowing green-on-black text.

While these visuals, and the computers’ processing power, seem relics of a bygone age to us, Henke gleefully works within and against these enforced technical limitations, coaxing forth dynamic new forms on giant screens and showcasing these systems’ startlingly dynamic capabilities.

From clunky programming languages emerge endlessly visuals, while Henke’s bristling live soundtrack likewise brings together the analogue and the digital, collapsing four decades of technological innovation into one mind-expanding audiovisual display.

Produced by Studio Robert Henke 2016 - 2023 with contributions and technical assistance by Ralf Suckow, Sebastian Wolf, Anna Tskhovrebov, Mihály Podobni, Michael Sollinger and others.

Duration: 1 hr plus 10 minute intro by the artist

Image: CBM 8032 AV at The Barbican, London. Photo - Mihaly Podobni