Wide Open Spaces

Gorinto, the Mercury Cafe's Wednesday-night performance hodgepodge curated by Corey Elbin, is still showing signs of life after Elbin's departure, thanks to the Gorinto community, which is pulling together to curate shows individually. Tonight, longtime metro-area musician/multimedia artist Mark McCoin will serve up Automatica, a culminating performance by students in...

By Susan Froyd

April 26, 2012

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Gorinto, the Mercury Cafe's Wednesday-night performance hodgepodge curated by Corey Elbin, is still showing signs of life after Elbin's departure, thanks to the Gorinto community, which is pulling together to curate shows individually. Tonight, longtime metro-area musician/multimedia artist Mark McCoin will serve up Automatica, a culminating performance by students in his class, New Directions in Digital Arts, or NDiDA, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who've been working up to the final program by performing at various venues on campus. "The motivating force behind the class is to set up performances, and that sort of kicks everyone in the tail to come up with pieces that come together in the wide-open field of possibilities. My desire was to provide a container or platform for my advanced students in different disciplines to perform and work outside the parameters of their chosen disciplines," he explains. "And the Merc is an interdisciplinary kind of place to begin with."

So the multimedia installation Automatica -- based originally on the idea of automatic, or spontaneous, writing -- promises to be many things, featuring "sound, moving image, creative movement and dance, sculptural aspects and video projection," including the use of interactive cameras that track movement in real time. "We expanded on the idea, using it as it pertains to the automatic nature of technology," McCoin notes. It's heady stuff, not to mention mind-blowing and fun; get right in the middle of it beginning at 8 p.m. at the Merc, 2199 California Street. Admission is $5 at the door, and food is available for an additional $5. Go to www.mercurycafe.com.
Wed., May 2, 8 p.m., 2012

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

Contact: Susan Froyd

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