Write up for Apple Music Episode

:The best thing about #LIVINGROOMTODAY (www.livingroom.today) is that it’s an event carte blanche. Created as the antithesis to the exclusivity of the art world, #LIVINGROOMTODAY seeks to redefine the contemporary living room in the face of the wave of technology that has so destroyed the sanctity of such a livable, communal space. Through the use of technology, #LIVINGROOMTODAY goers are connected in person (at the physical event) and online (via simulcast recording) to a world that seeks to remove the constraints of ignorance culture through humble interaction and discussion. Complete with couches, end tables, lamps and cocktails, #LIVINGROOMTODAY establishes itself as an installation for interested individuals to connect, share and grow through answering the question asked in every living room of old, “So, what’s new with you?”

In both its physical presence as a monthly interactive art installation, and its worldwide presence in the collective unconscious of cyberspace, #LIVINGROOMTODAY exists as an IRL-URL multimedia platform charged with two objectives: Organization and Emersion. Reclusive xenophobes, fashionistas, up-and-comers in the New Media art world, people in their bedrooms in Ireland, subversive kangaroos and RoboCop all join hands to interact with the sensory-indulgent redefinition of the contemporary art installation. In #LIVINGROOMTODAY, Audio/Visual Artists collaborate from around the world to bring audiences into a tangible chat room of sorts, whereas in place of 13-year-old trolls drunk on breastmilk, event goers can expect a hip crowd wanting to party, create and discuss the art (and artists) being created around them. Live musical tastes lean to the minimalist, atmospheric, Trill-Wave, Know-Wave varieties, which are matched with equally provocative visuals. Other visual artists and performance artists are also in attendance, creating on site, interacting with observers. In lieu of a multimedia piece, artists might be performing a speech or live dramatic reading of his or her own creation. According to the installation's creator, there is even a push to get presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders to perform a speech, or a meet-and-greet, to interact with the younger, more creative types. With no limits to the types

The concept of #LIVINGROOMTODAY was generated out of necessity by LA-based multimedia artist, Michael Walker (@rebranding_in_progress, fuckwalker, Officer Murphy). As a multimedia artist with a vast catalogue of projects (check fuckwalker.net), Walker found it difficult to locate a proper venue to showcase his audio-visual work: a place that could allow an audience the ability to see, experience, and reflect upon the work being presented, as well as the ability to be a major part in the work themselves. With his own substantive catalogue of works ready for display, Walker decided to realize the vision of the multimedia showroom into a space where he and other artists could collaborate and perform. Therefore, at the core of #LIVINGROOMTODAY lay the works and philosophy of the art installation's creator. The additional sights and sounds are curated each month by Walker and the rest of the #LIVINGROOMTODAY team: David Donald Sutherland (LA-based abstract expressionist), and Kyle Keese (the man with his feet and eyes on the scene).

As creators in the New Media art world themselves, the #LIVINGROOMTODAY team provides an ideal backdrop for fellow artists to collaborate, to see and be seen, to discuss and be discussed. #LIVINGROOMTODAY brings itself to NYC later this July for a live broadcast with @SwimTeam69. The event will also be simulcast from LA with 2005forever, from Ireland with Harmful Logic, from Louisiana with Overdose_Cutie, from London with GaijinGurl, and via URL with Walker’s very own #FUCKWALKER. Jamie Snowden