Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty are multi-platform artists (regularly collaborating under the name AutomaticRelease) working at the intersection of interdisciplinary performance, multimedia installation, documentary, and experimental film.
Recent projects include "All Over Everywhere," a live cine-performance conjured through the interplay of otherworldly video and sound, intoned words, movement, and spectral glitches. This innovative work is a requiem for an imperiled planet, a hymn to the natural world, and a response to the anxieties and losses of the past two years.
Currently, they are developing "All That Is Seen in Unseen," an interdisciplinary live performance installation and opera investigating the boundaries of truth and reality, and the multifarious effects of technology on our collective human consciousness. Shaun and Lauren are also working on "Lessons in Lost Time," a highly visual and poetic feature film focusing on a woman (a psychologically fraying actress) experiencing a neurological breakdown that results in mysterious bouts of amnesia, mutating identities, and blackouts.
Other works by the duo include their feature-length documentary Standing By: Gatz Backstage about ERS's epic production Gatz, Keep Your Electric Eye on Me, a multimedia performance seen at HERE (2014), as well as a self-generating video installation, Atmospheres & Accidental Ghosts (NY Electronic Arts Festival, 2015).
Their work has been presented in NYC, nationally, and internationally at venues such as BAM, The Brooklyn Museum, Abrons, The Chocolate Factory, Anthology Film Archives, Tokyo Wonder Site, and the Venice Biennale. They have received numerous awards including grants, fellowships, and residencies from the NEA, NYSCA, NYFA, LMCC, Jerome Foundation, Harvestworks, Asian Cultural Council, Signal Culture, Yaddo, MacDowell, BAU Institute/Camargo Foundation, and the Bogliasco Foundation.
