12 Minutes Max is a curated monthly experimental performance series, presented by the Salt Lake City Public Library, featuring new works and works-in-progress by local artists in many disciplines: dance, music, film, theater, writing, performance art and the like. Each event includes three varied performances, with a short Q&A after each piece. It is modeled after the program originated by On the Boards in Seattle.

The City Library will present a live stream 12 Minutes Max on Sunday, December 20, at 2pm. Please join us using this link.

Choreographer and director Sophia Diehl will present her screendance Erosion, shot and edited by Nathaniel Woolley and performed by Eliza Kitchens and Elissa Collins. Inspired by Terry Tempest Williams's book, Erosion: Essays of Undoing, the work explores the physical process of decay as a metaphor for the inward process of loss and transformation. Through site-specific research in Snow Canyon State Park and collaboration with the dancers, Erosion became, in its making, a conversation with the environment and a visual representation of the ruptures that we experience in personal and collective life. Sophia began her dance career in the Twin Cities, and holds a B.A. in Dance and Religion from St. Olaf College. Nathaniel is a multidisciplinary artist who has created multiple works for film and stage.

Visual artist Andrew Taylor Johnson and sound artist Karl Jørgensen will present Form Shift, in which Drew began each sequence by generating 3+ minutes of video content with the use of a GAN, a form of machine learning. He then ran the video through a series of different image manipulation algorithms, mostly focused on pixel sorting. Karl’s aim was to reorganize and reshape an existing sound (via lo-fi sampling & manual chopping) into something new that complimented the visuals. Drew has a professional background in game development, and a long history with new media and algorithmic design. Karl is a music producer based in Orem working mainly in the experimental and electronic genres. Since 2012 he has operated the Hel Audio label, which is a local hub for like-minded artists.

Karl's work: okikumi.com/work

Drew: andrewtaylorjohnson.com

Levi Jackson will screen his short video Coming ‘Round the Mountain, of which he says: “At some level the video is imitating folk art, imitating nostalgia. Or at least the nostalgic mirage and myth of the sublime. The video has a false linear timeline where we and the driver are together, time is passing, we are moving, and nothing is happening. I really liked the idea that the second coming is actually a slow burn. Jesus has to drive a truck, his chariot, because the west is so vast, rugged and unforgiving. He just floats on forever. The itchy reality of perpetually moving ‘westward’ in an attempt to find something, anything. Westward ho! All in the name of whatever power we adorn in order to realize our visions.” Levi went to school at Brigham Young University, received his MFA from Pratt Institute (2013) and now lives and teaches photography in Utah. His work revolves around the Western landscape, and challenges historical perceptions by pairing it with contemporary understanding.