Monday, July 20
7pm
Free, no RSVP required
Performances by Hairbone, Oliver Ackermann, You-On, and Keith Fullerton Whitman & Chuck Bettis. DJ Eric Wrenn. Visuals by Wavefield. Projections by Bradley Eros.
Artists Space
Abasement #88
Hairbone is the New York-based power duo of artists Raúl de Nieves and Jessie Stead. For over a decade, Hairbone has inflicted their carnivalesque live shows everywhere from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to dozens of ephemeral basement venues worldwide. Each unique, narrative multimedia performance features frontman de Nieves inhabiting new personae in a sculptural actionist mode, brandishing oversized, text-emblazoned props like picket signs, synthesized with layers of Stead’s synthetic percussion and tangled electronic sampling. A protest music without didacticism, Hairbone often proceeds to destroy their own constructions as their improvised, near-opera burlesque freak shows unfurl.
Oliver Ackermann is an American musician, producer, and sound designer best known as the founder and frontman of A Place To Bury Strangers and the founder of the acclaimed effects company Death By Audio. For more than two decades, his work has occupied a singular space at the intersection of experimental music, noise, post-punk, and shoegaze, earning him recognition as one of the most innovative voices in contemporary underground music. Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Ackermann developed an early fascination with electronics and sound manipulation, a pursuit that would shape both his artistic and technical practice. Through A Place To Bury Strangers, he has built an international reputation for immersive recordings and transformative live performances that explore the physical and emotional extremes of sound. As the founder of Death By Audio, Ackermann has designed groundbreaking audio tools used by musicians worldwide, establishing the company as one of the most respected names in independent effects design. His broader work encompasses production, collaboration, instrument design, a DIY venue, and a longstanding commitment to experimental culture and artistic innovation. Whether performing, building instruments, or creating new sonic environments, Ackermann's work is driven by a continuous exploration of the possibilities of sound, technology, and perception.
You-On is a collaboration between Masami Tomihisa and Jim White. Their first album New Side was released June 2026 on 12XU. Abasement will be their second live performance. Masami Tomihisa is a pianist, composer and improviser based in New York City. She is also half of the duo Masaaki. Ecological concerns prevent us from publishing drummer Jim White’s entire associated discography; his most recent solo album, his second such LP for Drag City, Inner Day was released in the Autumn of 2025.
Keith Fullerton Whitman is a performer of “Live” Electronic Music based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn; his work is governed by the outcome of ongoing experiments with Generative & Algorithmic frameworks in both the Analog & Digital Domains, blurring the lines between improvisation & composition while openly embracing an agnostic & (often) contrarian approach to setting & genre.
Chuck Bettis was raised in the fertile harDCore soil, nourished within Baltimore's enigmatic avant garde gatherings, and currently blossoming in New York's experimental realms. His unique blend of electronics and throat has led him into various collaborations with great musicians from around the globe.
Eric Wrenn is an art director based in New York. He has been collecting records since 1997.
Wavefield is a collaborative DIY art organization focused on polymedia and video art.
Bradley Eros, as always, (since the very beginning of Abasement (.001)) will project their "hand-made" analog slides, and/or film ~ all night long! *** "eau de cinema", 'musique plastique', "philosophical jaywalker", "Eros C'est L'amour!"
Abasement has been curated by Joseph Frivaldi and Robert Mayson since 2015.