Big words and noise to star in Minneapolis gallery show

Florian Hecker, "Chimerization," 2012, 3-channel electroacoustic sound, loudspeaker system. Image copyright The Artist, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London.

Never shy about touting its intellectual bonafides, Midway Contemporary Art has announced an installation and performance series that promises to synthesize "multiple fields of study, including sound, philosophy, mathematics, and linguistics." During the month-long run of "Exploring Compositional Epistemologies," seven artists will beaver about at Midway trying to patch those academic disciplines together while "developing a web of exchanges between modes of reasoning and experimentation." (January 16 - February 14, free. Midway Contemporary Art, 527 2nd Av. S.E., Minneapolis. www.midwayart.org)

It's a big agenda, and it appears electronics will be involved. Plus a smattering of "rave culture," some mutant digital data, a lot of torqued lingo, sonic mash-ups, and maybe even recreational drugs. As the gallery explains:

"Exploring Compositional Epistemologies brings together essential figures of contemporary sound philosophy. Illusive and seemingly immaterial sonic forms become corporeal entities within the gallery through the intricate psychoacoustics of Florian Hecker's 3-channel installation. Guerino Mazzola, whose work has been compared to Iannis Xenakis', calls into question the correlation between gesture and topological sonic structures. Curtis Roads' intuitive compositional narratives simultaneously dissolve and assemble sound within sound. In James Hoff's audio and visual work, digital data is virally corrupted, revealing diverse and unpredictable patterns of behavior. Generic tropes of rave culture are devoured, deconstructed and regurgitated as mutated forms in Roc Jiménez de Cisneros' playfully visceral performance. With his 'philosophy on acid' approach, Reza Negarestani examines the links between analytic pragmatism, artificial intelligence and artificial speech."

Free exhibition: Florian Hecker, "Chimerization/ Hinge," 4 p.m.- 9 p.m. Wednesday -Friday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays.

Free events: James Hoff talk and performance of "Blaster," 7 p.m. January 16. Guerino Mazzola presentation "Towards Creative Gestural Control of Music Concepts," 2 p.m., January 24. Curtis Roads presentation "Rhythmic Processes in Electronic Music" and 8-channel performances of "Epicurus" and "Then." 3 p.m. Jan. 24. Roc Jimenez de Cisneros performance "Holes in Sound," 7 p.m., Jan. 30. Florian Hecker and Reza Negarestani presentation, 7 p.m. February 12.