The Midway SF Presents
Max Cooper 3D/AV
+ Machinedrum
Peter Blick
21+
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper Biography
Strip away the awe-inspiring AV spectacles, the peak-time DJ voyages in front of huge crowds the world over, the lofty certifications bestowed upon him by platforms of both academia and electronica - at the core, Max Cooper's mission as a musician, a DJ and an interdisciplinary artist is all about provoking a greater understanding. So why is the man himself a touch misunderstood?
For once, this is a case of scaling down, rather than up. There is no need to over-play the hand; Max Cooper has been a prominent culture figure of the 2010s. Few have been so successful in interrogating and furthering the intersection between electronic music, visual art, technology and science in the past ten years. As a DJ and live performer, he has featured at nearly every major festival and club that one could list. An instalment in the BBC Essential Mix series; a Cercle livestream inside the Musee Bourdelle that reached hundreds of thousands of fans; 'Glassforms', a reinterpretation of Philip Glass' work; and even a collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, mapping projections onto an 18th century castle, variously speak to his thrum of high-profile activity in recent years. Cooper has an arms-length wingspan of achievement. Yet the grand question that keeps his mind ticking as the 2020s begin is, in his own words, "a question of communication."
Cooper wants to present a diverse palette of experiences without diminishing them - to show you his world on multiple levels, without it ever appearing daunting. And it shouldn't be daunting: Cooper's music is lush, emotive and grand, and the way he brings this to life, using everything from binaural sound positioning to 360? visual panelling, is meticulous, technical and often powerful to behold. But all the elements are highly accessible. You could, after all, walk through the Aether installation Cooper worked on with Architecture Social Club, or feel the ripples on your fingers when 4DSOUND speakers pushed swells of bass and soaring arpeggios outward from his equipment and into the physical space.
All this adds up to a classic case of electronic exploration that makes use of available technology while referencing that which came before it, and does so in a human way. Cooper points to the groundbreaking artistry of Chris Cunningham's music videos, and the marriage of score and cinematography in the motion picture Koyaanisqatsi, as blueprints for what he sets out to achieve. "There are often no characters and no speaking, it's just really impactful storytelling through the medium of abstract visuals and audio," he says. "That is what I fundamentally aim for. I want to communicate something strong. I want to make an impact on people. And if something is fruitful, I am keen to learn. It's all a matter of trying as much as possible."
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper has carved out a unique position for himself as an artist, merging electronic music, visual art and science through installations, live audio-visual and immersive sound experiences. His label, Mesh, the embodiment of these passions, releasing music which is part of wider collaborations in the arts and sciences.
Born in 1980 and raised in Belfast, Cooper pursued music as well as science, earning a PhD in computational biology in 2008, while crystallizing his complex yet melodic sound, and his impressive run of singles dating back to 2007. Since then he has developed his live performances with a focus on sensory immersion, with surround sound live shows 4D Sound, Hyperform, a 360 audio and visual surround dome experience with Canadian artist Maotik, his surround club show featured at Berghain, Aether, and collaborations with Future Wife and Zaha Hadid architects.
As a DJ, his contributions to the BBC's long-running Essential Mix series in 2015 and Balance's mix compilation in 2018 showcase his long history as a selector dating back to the late 90's as a resident, and contextualized his striking sound amidst his peers. His productions and performances have earned him many merits including several RA top100 listings in both the live and DJ categories.
Max has also collaborated with contemporary classical composers Michael Nyman, Tom Hodge and Nils Frahm, and most recently with Bruce Brubaker to rework Philip Glass scores in a live context, including shows at Cité de la Musique in Paris and Sonar in Barcelona.
Cooper has built a significant catalogue, the debut album 'Human' (2014) featured stunning vocal contributions from Kathrin DeBoer and Braids' Raphaelle Standell-Preston, was a sweeping and cinematic work that employed aggression and nuance in equal doses.
Then Emergence in 2016, zoomed out to look at the building blocks that make up the world around us. Involving collaborations with mathematicians, scientists and visual artists, the project is summarised at http://emergence.maxcooper.net. Lush and subtle with a glowing melodic streak that runs throughout, Emergence is a document of pure sonic alchemy that only Cooper could present in such an intriguing form.
2018 saw the release of Cooper's third studio album, critically acclaimed 'One Hundred Billion Sparks', which began with a period of complete isolation and rebuilding his studio in the Welsh countryside, and resulted in a body of work which interrogates notions of identity whilst profiling the complex mechanisms that make us all wonderfully unique.
Since the release of One Hundred Billion Sparks, Max has toured an 270 immersive audio-visual show which employ the roof and walls to envelop the audience in his world of visuals. Alongside a busy touring schedule, 'Aether', the light field installation of countless shimmering points born of a collaboration with Architecture Social Club, is being exhibited and toured as a bold new form of live audio-visual experience, hovering overhead the audience, creating 3-dimensional moving forms in sync with music.
show less
Max Cooper 3D/AV
+ Machinedrum
Peter Blick
21+
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper Biography
Strip away the awe-inspiring AV spectacles, the peak-time DJ voyages in front of huge crowds the world over, the lofty certifications bestowed upon him by platforms of both academia and electronica - at the core, Max Cooper's mission as a musician, a DJ and an interdisciplinary artist is all about provoking a greater understanding. So why is the man himself a touch misunderstood?
For once, this is a case of scaling down, rather than up. There is no need to over-play the hand; Max Cooper has been a prominent culture figure of the 2010s. Few have been so successful in interrogating and furthering the intersection between electronic music, visual art, technology and science in the past ten years. As a DJ and live performer, he has featured at nearly every major festival and club that one could list. An instalment in the BBC Essential Mix series; a Cercle livestream inside the Musee Bourdelle that reached hundreds of thousands of fans; 'Glassforms', a reinterpretation of Philip Glass' work; and even a collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, mapping projections onto an 18th century castle, variously speak to his thrum of high-profile activity in recent years. Cooper has an arms-length wingspan of achievement. Yet the grand question that keeps his mind ticking as the 2020s begin is, in his own words, "a question of communication."
Cooper wants to present a diverse palette of experiences without diminishing them - to show you his world on multiple levels, without it ever appearing daunting. And it shouldn't be daunting: Cooper's music is lush, emotive and grand, and the way he brings this to life, using everything from binaural sound positioning to 360? visual panelling, is meticulous, technical and often powerful to behold. But all the elements are highly accessible. You could, after all, walk through the Aether installation Cooper worked on with Architecture Social Club, or feel the ripples on your fingers when 4DSOUND speakers pushed swells of bass and soaring arpeggios outward from his equipment and into the physical space.
All this adds up to a classic case of electronic exploration that makes use of available technology while referencing that which came before it, and does so in a human way. Cooper points to the groundbreaking artistry of Chris Cunningham's music videos, and the marriage of score and cinematography in the motion picture Koyaanisqatsi, as blueprints for what he sets out to achieve. "There are often no characters and no speaking, it's just really impactful storytelling through the medium of abstract visuals and audio," he says. "That is what I fundamentally aim for. I want to communicate something strong. I want to make an impact on people. And if something is fruitful, I am keen to learn. It's all a matter of trying as much as possible."
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper has carved out a unique position for himself as an artist, merging electronic music, visual art and science through installations, live audio-visual and immersive sound experiences. His label, Mesh, the embodiment of these passions, releasing music which is part of wider collaborations in the arts and sciences.
Born in 1980 and raised in Belfast, Cooper pursued music as well as science, earning a PhD in computational biology in 2008, while crystallizing his complex yet melodic sound, and his impressive run of singles dating back to 2007. Since then he has developed his live performances with a focus on sensory immersion, with surround sound live shows 4D Sound, Hyperform, a 360 audio and visual surround dome experience with Canadian artist Maotik, his surround club show featured at Berghain, Aether, and collaborations with Future Wife and Zaha Hadid architects.
As a DJ, his contributions to the BBC's long-running Essential Mix series in 2015 and Balance's mix compilation in 2018 showcase his long history as a selector dating back to the late 90's as a resident, and contextualized his striking sound amidst his peers. His productions and performances have earned him many merits including several RA top100 listings in both the live and DJ categories.
Max has also collaborated with contemporary classical composers Michael Nyman, Tom Hodge and Nils Frahm, and most recently with Bruce Brubaker to rework Philip Glass scores in a live context, including shows at Cité de la Musique in Paris and Sonar in Barcelona.
Cooper has built a significant catalogue, the debut album 'Human' (2014) featured stunning vocal contributions from Kathrin DeBoer and Braids' Raphaelle Standell-Preston, was a sweeping and cinematic work that employed aggression and nuance in equal doses.
Then Emergence in 2016, zoomed out to look at the building blocks that make up the world around us. Involving collaborations with mathematicians, scientists and visual artists, the project is summarised at http://emergence.maxcooper.net. Lush and subtle with a glowing melodic streak that runs throughout, Emergence is a document of pure sonic alchemy that only Cooper could present in such an intriguing form.
2018 saw the release of Cooper's third studio album, critically acclaimed 'One Hundred Billion Sparks', which began with a period of complete isolation and rebuilding his studio in the Welsh countryside, and resulted in a body of work which interrogates notions of identity whilst profiling the complex mechanisms that make us all wonderfully unique.
Since the release of One Hundred Billion Sparks, Max has toured an 270 immersive audio-visual show which employ the roof and walls to envelop the audience in his world of visuals. Alongside a busy touring schedule, 'Aether', the light field installation of countless shimmering points born of a collaboration with Architecture Social Club, is being exhibited and toured as a bold new form of live audio-visual experience, hovering overhead the audience, creating 3-dimensional moving forms in sync with music.
The Midway SF Presents
Max Cooper 3D/AV
+ Machinedrum
Peter Blick
21+
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper Biography
Strip away the awe-inspiring AV spectacles, the peak-time DJ voyages in front of huge crowds the world over, the lofty certifications bestowed upon him by platforms of both academia and electronica - at the core, Max Cooper's mission as a musician, a DJ and an interdisciplinary artist is all about provoking a greater understanding. So why is the man himself a touch misunderstood?
For once, this is a case of scaling down, rather than up. There is no need to over-play the hand; Max Cooper has been a prominent culture figure of the 2010s. Few have been so successful in interrogating and furthering the intersection between electronic music, visual art, technology and science in the past ten years. As a DJ and live performer, he has featured at nearly every major festival and club that one could list. An instalment in the BBC Essential Mix series; a Cercle livestream inside the Musee Bourdelle that reached hundreds of thousands of fans; 'Glassforms', a reinterpretation of Philip Glass' work; and even a collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, mapping projections onto an 18th century castle, variously speak to his thrum of high-profile activity in recent years. Cooper has an arms-length wingspan of achievement. Yet the grand question that keeps his mind ticking as the 2020s begin is, in his own words, "a question of communication."
Cooper wants to present a diverse palette of experiences without diminishing them - to show you his world on multiple levels, without it ever appearing daunting. And it shouldn't be daunting: Cooper's music is lush, emotive and grand, and the way he brings this to life, using everything from binaural sound positioning to 360? visual panelling, is meticulous, technical and often powerful to behold. But all the elements are highly accessible. You could, after all, walk through the Aether installation Cooper worked on with Architecture Social Club, or feel the ripples on your fingers when 4DSOUND speakers pushed swells of bass and soaring arpeggios outward from his equipment and into the physical space.
All this adds up to a classic case of electronic exploration that makes use of available technology while referencing that which came before it, and does so in a human way. Cooper points to the groundbreaking artistry of Chris Cunningham's music videos, and the marriage of score and cinematography in the motion picture Koyaanisqatsi, as blueprints for what he sets out to achieve. "There are often no characters and no speaking, it's just really impactful storytelling through the medium of abstract visuals and audio," he says. "That is what I fundamentally aim for. I want to communicate something strong. I want to make an impact on people. And if something is fruitful, I am keen to learn. It's all a matter of trying as much as possible."
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper has carved out a unique position for himself as an artist, merging electronic music, visual art and science through installations, live audio-visual and immersive sound experiences. His label, Mesh, the embodiment of these passions, releasing music which is part of wider collaborations in the arts and sciences.
Born in 1980 and raised in Belfast, Cooper pursued music as well as science, earning a PhD in computational biology in 2008, while crystallizing his complex yet melodic sound, and his impressive run of singles dating back to 2007. Since then he has developed his live performances with a focus on sensory immersion, with surround sound live shows 4D Sound, Hyperform, a 360 audio and visual surround dome experience with Canadian artist Maotik, his surround club show featured at Berghain, Aether, and collaborations with Future Wife and Zaha Hadid architects.
As a DJ, his contributions to the BBC's long-running Essential Mix series in 2015 and Balance's mix compilation in 2018 showcase his long history as a selector dating back to the late 90's as a resident, and contextualized his striking sound amidst his peers. His productions and performances have earned him many merits including several RA top100 listings in both the live and DJ categories.
Max has also collaborated with contemporary classical composers Michael Nyman, Tom Hodge and Nils Frahm, and most recently with Bruce Brubaker to rework Philip Glass scores in a live context, including shows at Cité de la Musique in Paris and Sonar in Barcelona.
Cooper has built a significant catalogue, the debut album 'Human' (2014) featured stunning vocal contributions from Kathrin DeBoer and Braids' Raphaelle Standell-Preston, was a sweeping and cinematic work that employed aggression and nuance in equal doses.
Then Emergence in 2016, zoomed out to look at the building blocks that make up the world around us. Involving collaborations with mathematicians, scientists and visual artists, the project is summarised at http://emergence.maxcooper.net. Lush and subtle with a glowing melodic streak that runs throughout, Emergence is a document of pure sonic alchemy that only Cooper could present in such an intriguing form.
2018 saw the release of Cooper's third studio album, critically acclaimed 'One Hundred Billion Sparks', which began with a period of complete isolation and rebuilding his studio in the Welsh countryside, and resulted in a body of work which interrogates notions of identity whilst profiling the complex mechanisms that make us all wonderfully unique.
Since the release of One Hundred Billion Sparks, Max has toured an 270 immersive audio-visual show which employ the roof and walls to envelop the audience in his world of visuals. Alongside a busy touring schedule, 'Aether', the light field installation of countless shimmering points born of a collaboration with Architecture Social Club, is being exhibited and toured as a bold new form of live audio-visual experience, hovering overhead the audience, creating 3-dimensional moving forms in sync with music.
read more
Max Cooper 3D/AV
+ Machinedrum
Peter Blick
21+
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper Biography
Strip away the awe-inspiring AV spectacles, the peak-time DJ voyages in front of huge crowds the world over, the lofty certifications bestowed upon him by platforms of both academia and electronica - at the core, Max Cooper's mission as a musician, a DJ and an interdisciplinary artist is all about provoking a greater understanding. So why is the man himself a touch misunderstood?
For once, this is a case of scaling down, rather than up. There is no need to over-play the hand; Max Cooper has been a prominent culture figure of the 2010s. Few have been so successful in interrogating and furthering the intersection between electronic music, visual art, technology and science in the past ten years. As a DJ and live performer, he has featured at nearly every major festival and club that one could list. An instalment in the BBC Essential Mix series; a Cercle livestream inside the Musee Bourdelle that reached hundreds of thousands of fans; 'Glassforms', a reinterpretation of Philip Glass' work; and even a collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, mapping projections onto an 18th century castle, variously speak to his thrum of high-profile activity in recent years. Cooper has an arms-length wingspan of achievement. Yet the grand question that keeps his mind ticking as the 2020s begin is, in his own words, "a question of communication."
Cooper wants to present a diverse palette of experiences without diminishing them - to show you his world on multiple levels, without it ever appearing daunting. And it shouldn't be daunting: Cooper's music is lush, emotive and grand, and the way he brings this to life, using everything from binaural sound positioning to 360? visual panelling, is meticulous, technical and often powerful to behold. But all the elements are highly accessible. You could, after all, walk through the Aether installation Cooper worked on with Architecture Social Club, or feel the ripples on your fingers when 4DSOUND speakers pushed swells of bass and soaring arpeggios outward from his equipment and into the physical space.
All this adds up to a classic case of electronic exploration that makes use of available technology while referencing that which came before it, and does so in a human way. Cooper points to the groundbreaking artistry of Chris Cunningham's music videos, and the marriage of score and cinematography in the motion picture Koyaanisqatsi, as blueprints for what he sets out to achieve. "There are often no characters and no speaking, it's just really impactful storytelling through the medium of abstract visuals and audio," he says. "That is what I fundamentally aim for. I want to communicate something strong. I want to make an impact on people. And if something is fruitful, I am keen to learn. It's all a matter of trying as much as possible."
~~~~~~~~
Max Cooper has carved out a unique position for himself as an artist, merging electronic music, visual art and science through installations, live audio-visual and immersive sound experiences. His label, Mesh, the embodiment of these passions, releasing music which is part of wider collaborations in the arts and sciences.
Born in 1980 and raised in Belfast, Cooper pursued music as well as science, earning a PhD in computational biology in 2008, while crystallizing his complex yet melodic sound, and his impressive run of singles dating back to 2007. Since then he has developed his live performances with a focus on sensory immersion, with surround sound live shows 4D Sound, Hyperform, a 360 audio and visual surround dome experience with Canadian artist Maotik, his surround club show featured at Berghain, Aether, and collaborations with Future Wife and Zaha Hadid architects.
As a DJ, his contributions to the BBC's long-running Essential Mix series in 2015 and Balance's mix compilation in 2018 showcase his long history as a selector dating back to the late 90's as a resident, and contextualized his striking sound amidst his peers. His productions and performances have earned him many merits including several RA top100 listings in both the live and DJ categories.
Max has also collaborated with contemporary classical composers Michael Nyman, Tom Hodge and Nils Frahm, and most recently with Bruce Brubaker to rework Philip Glass scores in a live context, including shows at Cité de la Musique in Paris and Sonar in Barcelona.
Cooper has built a significant catalogue, the debut album 'Human' (2014) featured stunning vocal contributions from Kathrin DeBoer and Braids' Raphaelle Standell-Preston, was a sweeping and cinematic work that employed aggression and nuance in equal doses.
Then Emergence in 2016, zoomed out to look at the building blocks that make up the world around us. Involving collaborations with mathematicians, scientists and visual artists, the project is summarised at http://emergence.maxcooper.net. Lush and subtle with a glowing melodic streak that runs throughout, Emergence is a document of pure sonic alchemy that only Cooper could present in such an intriguing form.
2018 saw the release of Cooper's third studio album, critically acclaimed 'One Hundred Billion Sparks', which began with a period of complete isolation and rebuilding his studio in the Welsh countryside, and resulted in a body of work which interrogates notions of identity whilst profiling the complex mechanisms that make us all wonderfully unique.
Since the release of One Hundred Billion Sparks, Max has toured an 270 immersive audio-visual show which employ the roof and walls to envelop the audience in his world of visuals. Alongside a busy touring schedule, 'Aether', the light field installation of countless shimmering points born of a collaboration with Architecture Social Club, is being exhibited and toured as a bold new form of live audio-visual experience, hovering overhead the audience, creating 3-dimensional moving forms in sync with music.
show less
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