Critical Sounds Symposium Performance: Evicshen (Victoria Shen)

San Francisco-based sound artist Victoria Shen, performing as Evicshen, brings her singular practice to the GLPAC E&A Theater in an evening performance. Working with analog modular synthesizers, hand-cast vinyl records, and self-invented instruments, Shen channels "chaotic sound" to probe the edges of embodiment, noise, and meaning. Expect a visceral, boundary-dissolving set that refuses the conventional coordinates of experimental music.

About the artist

Victoria Shen (A.K.A. Evicshen)

Sound artist, experimental music performer, and instrument-maker | San Francisco

Shen's sound practice is concerned with the spatiality/physicality of sound and its relationship to the human body. Her music features analog modular synthesizers, vinyl/resin records, and self-built electronics. Eschewing conventions in harmony and rhythm in favor of extreme textures and gestural tones, Shen uses what she calls "chaotic sound" to oppose signal and information, eluding traditionally embedded meaning.

Shen’s multimedia practice extends beyond musical composition and performance to include installation and non-traditional methods of distribution. Her DIY approach to deconstructing the concepts of “materiality, value and mass production” both integrate and re-contextualize the formats of the readymade and assemblage techniques. For example, the album art for her debut LP, Hair Birth, utilizes copper to transform the cover into a loudspeaker through which the record can be played. In 2021, Shen produced a series of cut-up records in cast resin embedded with found materials, functioning not only as playable music media but as unique art objects. For recent performances, she pioneered the use of Needle Nails, acrylic nails with embedded turntable styluses, which allow her to play up to 5 tracks of a record at once. Needle Nails, Levitating speaker, and her Noise Combs are some of the objects created by her as part of an extensive repertoire of innovations in the design of sound augmentation. These sculptural elements invite the viewer to unpack one’s relationship with the material possibilities for creating sound.

About Critical Sounds

Critical Sounds is a symposium and festival exploring the intersection of sound studies, electroacoustic music, and experimental performance. Bridging academic inquiry with artistic practice, the program features a keynote lecture, live performances, practice-based research, and workshops—including a special session with Chicago’s own DJ Lady D. All events are free and open to the public.

Presented by the Composition and Sound Practices Program & SPIL (Sound Practices and Intermedia Lab), Department of Music | University of Chicago, in partnership with Arts + Public Life, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, Patchbent, and Experimental Sound Studio.

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