Automata Garage is a multimedia sculptural installation pres ented by Automata Studio that will be on display at UC Irvine’s Experiment al Media Performance Lab (xMPL) 2–6 p.m. on May 29\, and 30\, 2026. Automa ta Studio is a transdisciplinary platform for the object-based collaborati on between University of Michigan-Flint faculty Ash Arder and UC Irvine M. F.A. student Beatrice Schleyer. Their dialogue explores non-human agency p rimarily through the modification of found car parts. As the psychological and physical relationships humans have with their cars are particularly p oignant\, the automotive medium is a fertile field of interrogation into t he anthropomorphism of machines and the potential that lies beyond it.
Automata Garage features seven headlights from a Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (1999–2004) which will function as performers\, responding to the movemen ts of the audience through the space. The installation features further ac tivation by a soundscape composed by ICIT Ph.D. candidate Reed Wixson\, me lding sounds from technical and organic bodies to give voice to the object -collaborators.
By allowing these assemblages to take center stage a nd express their own agency in response to the audience\, the viewer is in vited to reconsider their relationship to technology\; if we begin to trea t the built world as a part of our eco-system rather than being merely ins trumental\, perhaps we can find more a more considerate approach to the no n-human entities we live and work with.
Ash Arder (she/they) is a transdisciplinary artist whose research-based approach works to expose\, deconstruct or reconfigure physical and conceptual syste ms — especially those related to ecology and/or industry. Ash manipulates physical and virtual environments to explore materials\, mark making\, mec hanical portraiture and sound design as tools for complicating dynamics of power between humans\, machines and the lands they occupy.
Ash is i ncluded in the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art \, and has recently exhibited at the Swiss Institute\, Cranbrook Art Museu m\, California African American Museum\, Amant and NXTHVN. She is a 2026 C reative Capital State of the Art Prize awardee\, 2025 Knight Foundation Ar ts + Tech Fellow and 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow. She received an MFA from t he Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Reed Wixson’s (they/th em) music is a curiosity-fueled exploration of the sonic potential inheren t in objects and environments. Employing technology\, improvisation\, fiel d recordings and found objects\, they construct evocative and immersive pi eces that are often informed by the sounds and processes of nonhuman world s. Their music challenges the listener to attend deeply to sonic detail\, and to find interest and beauty in sounds that are often otherwise overloo ked.
Their work has been performed at NIME\, ICMC\, NYCEMF\, SEAMUS and New Music Gathering\, and by ensembles such as Line Upon Line Percussi on and Unheard-of//Ensemble.
They hold a Master of Arts in compositi on from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Music degree with a compo sition emphasis from Texas Tech University. They are a Ph.D. candidate in Integrated Composition\, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California\, Irvine\, where their advisor is Kojiro Umezaki.
She is cur rently an M.F.A. candidate in Art at the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In addition to her research and studio practice\, she offers pr actical\, technical and conceptual support to the community at UCI in her roles as a teacher’s assistant\, graduate liaison for academic year 2025–2 6 and grad student researcher in the sculpture area.
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260529T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260529T180000 LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T221011Z SUMMARY:Automata Garage TRANSP:OPAQUE X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:Automata Garage is a multimedia sc ulptural installation presented by Automata Studio that will be on display at UC Irvine’s Experimental Media Performance Lab (xMPL) 2–6 p.m. on May 29\, and 30\, 2026. Automata Studio is a transdisciplinary platform for th e object-based collaboration between University of Michigan-Flint faculty Ash Arder and UC Irvine M.F.A. student Beatrice Schleyer. Their dialogue e xplores non-human agency primarily through the modification of found car p arts. As the psychological and physical relationships humans have with the ir cars are particularly poignant\, the automotive medium is a fertile fie ld of interrogation into the anthropomorphism of machines and the potentia l that lies beyond it.
Automata Garage features seven headl ights from a Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (1999–2004) which will function as per formers\, responding to the movements of the audience through the space. T he installation features further activation by a soundscape composed by IC IT Ph.D. candidate Reed Wixson\, melding sounds from technical and organic bodies to give voice to the object-collaborators.
By allowing these assemblages to take center stage and express their own agency in response to the audience\, the viewer is invited to reconsider their relationship to technology\; if we begin to treat the built world as a part of our eco- system rather than being merely instrumental\, perhaps we can find more a more considerate approach to the non-human entities we live and work with.
Ash Arder (she/they) is a transdisciplinary ar tist whose research-based approach works to expose\, deconstruct or reconf igure physical and conceptual systems — especially those related to ecolog y and/or industry. Ash manipulates physical and virtual environments to ex plore materials\, mark making\, mechanical portraiture and sound design as tools for complicating dynamics of power between humans\, machines and th e lands they occupy.
Ash is included in the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art\, and has recently exhibited at the Sw iss Institute\, Cranbrook Art Museum\, California African American Museum\ , Amant and NXTHVN. She is a 2026 Creative Capital State of the Art Prize awardee\, 2025 Knight Foundation Arts + Tech Fellow and 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow. She received an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Their work has been performe d at NIME\, ICMC\, NYCEMF\, SEAMUS and New Music Gathering\, and by ensemb les such as Line Upon Line Percussion and Unheard-of//Ensemble.
They hold a Master of Arts in composition from Stony Brook University and a Ba chelor of Music degree with a composition emphasis from Texas Tech Univers ity. They are a Ph.D. candidate in Integrated Composition\, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California\, Irvine\, where their advi sor is Kojiro Umezaki.
Beatrice von Rague Schleyer (she/her) is an artist working primarily in sculpture and photography. Her work denaturalizes the boundary between the human body and technology\, r aising questions about their intersubjectivity. Her sculptural assemblages and close-up portraits of damaged automobiles invite the audience to slow down and begin to psychologically metabolize the collaboration between hu mans and machines.
She is currently an M.F.A. candidate in Art at th e UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In addition to her research and studio practice\, she offers practical\, technical and conceptual supp ort to the community at UCI in her roles as a teacher’s assistant\, gradua te liaison for academic year 2025–26 and grad student researcher in the sc ulpture area.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:34653663-3466-4765-b635-653434383138 DTSTAMP:20260520T071314Z CLASS:PUBLIC CREATED:20260518T213140Z DESCRIPTION:Automata Garage is a multimedia sculptural installation pres ented by Automata Studio that will be on display at UC Irvine’s Experiment al Media Performance Lab (xMPL) 2–6 p.m. on May 29\, and 30\, 2026. Automa ta Studio is a transdisciplinary platform for the object-based collaborati on between University of Michigan-Flint faculty Ash Arder and UC Irvine M. F.A. student Beatrice Schleyer. Their dialogue explores non-human agency p rimarily through the modification of found car parts. As the psychological and physical relationships humans have with their cars are particularly p oignant\, the automotive medium is a fertile field of interrogation into t he anthropomorphism of machines and the potential that lies beyond it.
Automata Garage features seven headlights from a Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (1999–2004) which will function as performers\, responding to the movemen ts of the audience through the space. The installation features further ac tivation by a soundscape composed by ICIT Ph.D. candidate Reed Wixson\, me lding sounds from technical and organic bodies to give voice to the object -collaborators.
By allowing these assemblages to take center stage a nd express their own agency in response to the audience\, the viewer is in vited to reconsider their relationship to technology\; if we begin to trea t the built world as a part of our eco-system rather than being merely ins trumental\, perhaps we can find more a more considerate approach to the no n-human entities we live and work with.
Ash Arder (she/they) is a transdisciplinary artist whose research-based approach works to expose\, deconstruct or reconfigure physical and conceptual syste ms — especially those related to ecology and/or industry. Ash manipulates physical and virtual environments to explore materials\, mark making\, mec hanical portraiture and sound design as tools for complicating dynamics of power between humans\, machines and the lands they occupy.
Ash is i ncluded in the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art \, and has recently exhibited at the Swiss Institute\, Cranbrook Art Museu m\, California African American Museum\, Amant and NXTHVN. She is a 2026 C reative Capital State of the Art Prize awardee\, 2025 Knight Foundation Ar ts + Tech Fellow and 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow. She received an MFA from t he Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Reed Wixson’s (they/th em) music is a curiosity-fueled exploration of the sonic potential inheren t in objects and environments. Employing technology\, improvisation\, fiel d recordings and found objects\, they construct evocative and immersive pi eces that are often informed by the sounds and processes of nonhuman world s. Their music challenges the listener to attend deeply to sonic detail\, and to find interest and beauty in sounds that are often otherwise overloo ked.
Their work has been performed at NIME\, ICMC\, NYCEMF\, SEAMUS and New Music Gathering\, and by ensembles such as Line Upon Line Percussi on and Unheard-of//Ensemble.
They hold a Master of Arts in compositi on from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Music degree with a compo sition emphasis from Texas Tech University. They are a Ph.D. candidate in Integrated Composition\, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California\, Irvine\, where their advisor is Kojiro Umezaki.
She is cur rently an M.F.A. candidate in Art at the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In addition to her research and studio practice\, she offers pr actical\, technical and conceptual support to the community at UCI in her roles as a teacher’s assistant\, graduate liaison for academic year 2025–2 6 and grad student researcher in the sculpture area.
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T180000 LAST-MODIFIED:20260518T221011Z SUMMARY:Automata Garage TRANSP:OPAQUE X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=TEXT/HTML:Automata Garage is a multimedia sc ulptural installation presented by Automata Studio that will be on display at UC Irvine’s Experimental Media Performance Lab (xMPL) 2–6 p.m. on May 29\, and 30\, 2026. Automata Studio is a transdisciplinary platform for th e object-based collaboration between University of Michigan-Flint faculty Ash Arder and UC Irvine M.F.A. student Beatrice Schleyer. Their dialogue e xplores non-human agency primarily through the modification of found car p arts. As the psychological and physical relationships humans have with the ir cars are particularly poignant\, the automotive medium is a fertile fie ld of interrogation into the anthropomorphism of machines and the potentia l that lies beyond it.
Automata Garage features seven headl ights from a Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (1999–2004) which will function as per formers\, responding to the movements of the audience through the space. T he installation features further activation by a soundscape composed by IC IT Ph.D. candidate Reed Wixson\, melding sounds from technical and organic bodies to give voice to the object-collaborators.
By allowing these assemblages to take center stage and express their own agency in response to the audience\, the viewer is invited to reconsider their relationship to technology\; if we begin to treat the built world as a part of our eco- system rather than being merely instrumental\, perhaps we can find more a more considerate approach to the non-human entities we live and work with.
Ash Arder (she/they) is a transdisciplinary ar tist whose research-based approach works to expose\, deconstruct or reconf igure physical and conceptual systems — especially those related to ecolog y and/or industry. Ash manipulates physical and virtual environments to ex plore materials\, mark making\, mechanical portraiture and sound design as tools for complicating dynamics of power between humans\, machines and th e lands they occupy.
Ash is included in the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art\, and has recently exhibited at the Sw iss Institute\, Cranbrook Art Museum\, California African American Museum\ , Amant and NXTHVN. She is a 2026 Creative Capital State of the Art Prize awardee\, 2025 Knight Foundation Arts + Tech Fellow and 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow. She received an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Their work has been performe d at NIME\, ICMC\, NYCEMF\, SEAMUS and New Music Gathering\, and by ensemb les such as Line Upon Line Percussion and Unheard-of//Ensemble.
They hold a Master of Arts in composition from Stony Brook University and a Ba chelor of Music degree with a composition emphasis from Texas Tech Univers ity. They are a Ph.D. candidate in Integrated Composition\, Improvisation and Technology at the University of California\, Irvine\, where their advi sor is Kojiro Umezaki.
Beatrice von Rague Schleyer (she/her) is an artist working primarily in sculpture and photography. Her work denaturalizes the boundary between the human body and technology\, r aising questions about their intersubjectivity. Her sculptural assemblages and close-up portraits of damaged automobiles invite the audience to slow down and begin to psychologically metabolize the collaboration between hu mans and machines.
She is currently an M.F.A. candidate in Art at th e UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts. In addition to her research and studio practice\, she offers practical\, technical and conceptual supp ort to the community at UCI in her roles as a teacher’s assistant\, gradua te liaison for academic year 2025–26 and grad student researcher in the sc ulpture area.
END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR