Holly Herndon PROTO Audiovisual Performance Holly Herndon brings immersive live show PROTO to Sonic Acts in which fellow musicians and programmers, as well as a choral ensemble, are regurgitated by an AI‘baby’ whose input strangely adds humanity to Herndon’s most human arrangement yet. Since opening for Radiohead in 2016, Herndon has redrawn the map of laptop music, addressing grand themes like the future of all life from a hopeful place. Holly Herndon’s third full-length album PROTO isn’t about A.I., but was largely created in collaboration with her A.I. ‘baby’, Spawn. A contemporary ensemble of vocalists, developers and an inhuman intelligence housed in a DIY souped-up gaming PC created the record of live vocal processing and timeless folk singing that emphasises alien song craft and new forms of communion. The project responds to what Herndon calls the protocol era – ideological battles over the future of A.I. protocols, centralised and decentralised internet protocols, and personal and political protocols – compelling us to question who we are and what we are heading towards. Holly Herndon is a composer, musician and sound artist based in Berlin. Herndon received her MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College, Oakland, California and PhD in composition from Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. Her music is primarily computer-based and often uses visual programming languages Max/MSP, with which she creates custom instruments and vocal processes as in her first full-length LP Movement (2012, RVNG, intl.). Herndon lost trust in electronics after the publicising of NSA monitoring of Americans’ online behaviour, filtering into her follow-up Platform (2014, RVNG, Intl.) for which Dutch design studio Metahaven directed a video. Her most recent full-length album introduces an AI ‘baby’ that produces responses to audio material in PROTO (2019, 4AD).Website Holly Herndon. Photo courtesy of the artist. Progress Bar at Paradiso Sat 22 Feb 22:30 — 05:00 Progress Bar is a club night dedicated to communal desire and collective joy, showcasing a growing community of artists who occupy clubs to empower through sound. Moving fluidly between rave and reggaeton, breakcore and ballroom, this special edition of the monthly club night features energetic hybrid performances, game demonstrations and live audiovisual premieres by some of club music’s most defiant voices permeating all corners of Paradiso.Spatial media design is developed by Karl Klomp, Dirty Brown and Leeza Pritychenko. Discover More Artists: Ale Hop Anthea Caddy Cõvco Ex Continent Felicity Mangan All Artists