VOLUME presents a very rare performance by acclaimed artist and electronic musician Terre Thaemlitz. Terre will present selections from Soulnessless, her 32 hour opus described as the “world’s longest album in history.” Described by Thaemlitz as “a deconstruction of notions of spirituality, meditation, superstition, and religiosity perpetuated through audio marketplaces that insist upon judging audio in relation to “authenticity” and “soul,”Soulnessless is comprised of several “cantos,” each of which explore themes such as gender transitioning, immigration, Catholicism, and labor.

The performance starts with a 5-10 minute slide show, where Thaemlitz explains the scale and format of the Soulnesslessproject, followed by an 80 minute performance of Cantos I-IV.  The evening will conclude with a 30-45 minute Q&A with the audience.

The event will commence with a reading by LA based writer Félix Solano Vargas from his recent publication, Crunchy Eggs,  a series of micro-fiction and prose about growing up in a Chicano Jehovah’s Witness household, family, queer trauma and survival. This work is also place based, about Riverside,CA and brown trans labor.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Terre Thaemlitz is an award winning multi-media producer, writer, public speaker, educator, audio remixer, DJ and owner of the Comatonse Recordings record label. Her work combines a critical look at identity politics – including gender, sexuality, class, linguistics, ethnicity and race – with an ongoing analysis of the socio-economics of commercial media production. He has released over 15 solo albums, as well as numerous 12-inch singles and video works. Her writings on music and culture have been published internationally in a number of books, academic journals and magazines. As a speaker and educator on issues of non-essentialist Transgenderism and Queerness, Thaemlitz has lectured and participated in panel discussions throughout Europe and Japan. As of January, 2001, he resides in Kawasaki, Japan.

Félix Solano Vargas is a writer and visual artist. He was born and raised in Riverside, CA. Vargas is a queer working-class transman of color. As a young brown butch dyke, he got his start as a grassroots activist in the Inland Empire. He has a deep background in community organizing and convening. Vargas received his B.A. in English from the University of California Riverside.  His work is often place-based and satirical. His chapbook Crunchy Eggs (2014) was published through Econo Textual Objects. Vargas’ community work is centered on affordable and comprehensive healthcare access for transgender and gender non-conforming communities, specifically of color, in and around Los Angeles.