LOCALS! Experimental Variety Show at VSW

Thursday July 24, 7-9pm

Join us for the first annual LOCALS! Experimental Variety Show – a showcase of media, performance and everything in-between by artists from the Rochester region. This one-night event will take place in the VSW Theater and include short films, projections, performances and an assortment of audio-visual acts that highlight the diverse creative community in Rochester.

Featured artists include: Ben Westlake and Aydin Ture, Matthew Ehlers, Louis Chavez and Demian DinéYazhi´, George Mechalke, r.nuuja, W. Michelle Harris, Vinh Nguyen, Christine Banna, shonen book, Curt Markham, Nicole Diroff, Julie Chen, Rui Da Costa, and Lorne Covington.

Event Details:

When: Thursday July 24th, 2025, 7-9 pm

Where: VSW Theater, 36 King Street Rochester NY (in person)

Tickets: $10 (non-members) / free (members)

 

*Please note: this program contains nudity and mild flashing

 

Program

(In the Gallery)
Neon Swim II by Lorne Covington

An interactive projection of generative graphics. Users’ motions and gestures, tracked with depth cameras, will create swirling patterns of liquid light that feed into evolving fractal universes.

(In the Theater)

Eidolon of A-Ngoh: Lingering by Julie Chen

Live performance, audio, 14 min

Eidolon of A-Ngoh, animates what remains of my mother Peggy Chen’s life (her cremains) and her identity (her clothing), by creating a new phantom of A-Ngoh, as both a gallery installation and a costume for performance. Here, I am processing the death of the person who once gave me life, and the many lives she had led.

Spontaneous Composition by Nicole Diroff 

Digital Video, 4 min

Swirling colors on screen with a reoccurring gear motif, accompanied with piano and synth. Originally an expanded cinema performance with live projections and music.

Reciprocity Failure by Ben Westlake & Aydin Ture 

Super 8mm to Digital Video, 3 min

When fantasy is confronted by reality, the barriers between the two realms break down, and all that remains is disillusion. Inspired by the sculptures of artist Aydin Ture.

r.nuuja

Live demonstration, 10 min

r.nuuja will demonstrate some of the tools and techniques that he has developed over the years to manipulate, glitch and misuse the Facebook 3D Photo format via live, unnarrated experimentation.

Night of Reflection by Curtiss Markham

16mm to Digital Video, 6 min

A vampire creates her own reflection, but the reflection has a will of its own, in this homage to silent horror movies. Filmed on 16mm, hand-processed and edited at Visual Studies Workshop in 2019.

Untitled (We is O.K.) by Louis Chavez & Demian DinéYazhi’ 

Digital Video, 5 min

“As queer boys, we identified heavily with the politics and aesthetic of riot grrrl culture; the topics of sexuality, feminism, patriarchy, and female empowerment spoke to us in ways that traditional male standards never could. We learned about and expressed ourselves through mixtapes, zines, records, film, and punk shows… all of which were greatly influenced by the riot grrrl and queercore subcultures of the late 80s and early 90s.

In this work, we pay homage to this subculture with personal writings and a riot grrrl radio mixtape about growing up in small towns and being influenced by radical feminism and riot grrrl in order to explore your queerness and masculinity. It’s a mixtape. It’s a wet dream. It’s a dream come true.”

Rebellion Becomes Duty by Rui Da Costa

Digital Video, 7 min

“Rebellion Becomes Duty” is a character-driven documentary centered on Tallis, a lifelong activist and organizer for 50501 Rochester. The film visually blends intimate interview footage with dynamic protest scenes from the “No Kings Day” event on June 14th, at 12 Corners in Brighton, NY.

Flawless Ladies (petite) by W. Michelle Harris

Video, Performance, 10 min

“Celebrate #BlackGirlMagic with a dance party! Flawless Ladies (petite)” is a live-mixed VJ set of trippily altered video imagery of Black women (known and unknown) and girls over an irresistible medley soundtrack of Black divas from Rosetta Tharpe to Beyoncé.

I Had To by Vinh Nguyen

Digital Video, 6 min

“I Had To” is an experimental film that explores my Vietnamese background in order to bridge generational gaps created by a defining war.

Holding Myself as a Baby by George Mechalke

Live performance, digital projection, audio, 5 min

Retreat Into the Swamp by Christine Banna

Digital Video, 6 min

Retreat Into the Swamp is an independent, experimental animation documenting the slow collapse of a stump into a swamp. By combining LiDAR scans of the stump taken over the course of a year with analog animation techniques, the film creates an assemblage of both documentary evidence and a translated, subjective experience of decay.

Matt & His Dad Visit Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum by Matthew Ehlers

Digital Video, 6 min

In the quiet town of Jupiter, Florida there once was a museum created by the legendary Burt Reynolds. It contained his personal collection of memorabilia from his life and career and welcomed visitors from around the world. But in 2012 this magical place was demolished to make way for a parking lot. Fortunately, filmmaker Matthew Ehlers and his father were able to sneak a camera into the museum and document this amazing cultural oddity for future generations.

shonen book 

Live AV glitch performance, 10 min

“It’s-a me, Mario!”