Eric Theise

Another way Cecyl Ruehlen modified the sounds coming from their Cloud-Stone Piano was to insert threaded rods, wrenches, and other objects between the strings, strike them, and let the wobble do the work.

The Oracle Egg space is both an earful & an eyeful; took longer than it should have for the mirrors to register in my field of vision. I misjudged which side of the Cloud-Stone Piano Cecyl Ruehlen would play on but it turned out that I had a unique seat, er, cushion.

Realized this morning that the view from my room-with-a includes a sliver of City Hall & Geffen Contemporary. Yesterday kept appointments at Langer’s, Marciano Foundation, & Tacos la 26! I deny that the third photo is me after consuming the second though I appreciate Kate’s suggestion that it is so.

Cecyl Ruehlen modified Cloud-Stone Piano tonality was to place stones (brought from Tucson) on the strings. There's a story of John Cage traveling to Crown Point, where he traced stones while printmaking; baggage person asked what the &#%@ do you have in here, rocks? crownpoint.com/artist/john-...

Cecyl Ruehlen performing at Oracle Egg tipped the scales: time to weekend in Los Angeles. When I tour it’s rare I grasp the breadth of my collaborators’ practice; more true for my presenters. Cecyl runs Wave Archive (Tucson) & here’s one of several videos of their work with their Cloud-Stone Piano.

Always ask for a room with a view and if you forget to specify that the view should be Windexed before you check in ask for wall art that's odd enough to make you consider swiping it. So far, rather fond of this SRO-ish Airbnb.

A film & some straight talk w/A.S. Hamrah & Jonathan Kiefer last night at Shapeshifters Cinema. Hamrah's on a West Coast book tour for Last Week in End Times Cinema–Et al. tonight, LA in days to follow–screening films as he goes; tonight's was Zach Clark's The Becomers. shapeshifterscinema.com

A few photos from the Q & A following Wednesday's program in BAMPFA’s Georgian Cinema Now part 1: three films by Anna Dziapshipa: Self-Portrait Along the Borderline, Contemplation, & Dear Dirty Tbilisi. @bampfa.bsky.social #GeorgianCinemaNow

Sunday’s matinée paired Orjonikidze & Arsenishvili’s English Teacher w/Gujabidze’s Bakhmaro 2050. Former illuminates why visiting Georgians are so fluent; latter's about a spa town threatened w/development. Gujabidze’s compositing reminded me of Pat O’Neill’s. @bampfa.bsky.social #GeorgianCinemaNow

Orjonikidze & Arsenishvili's A Tunnel: years of footage from a Georgian village on the route of a new high speed train. Central theme: villagers’ disenfranchisement from their lives as they await bulldozing decisions. Beautiful valleys. @bampfa.bsky.social #GeorgianCinemaNow bampfa.org/event/tunnel

If I could recommend only one film from @bampfa.bsky.social's #GeorgianCinemaNow it’d be Elene Naveriani's Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry. Phenomenal performance by Eka Chavleishvili, surprising bursts of unreality, sensitive use of color & framing. Photos from the Q&A. bampfa.org/event/blackb...

Susan Oxtoby’s Georgian Cinema Now launched Weds @bampfa.bsky.social, continues through next autumn. Been to four screenings; phenomenal films, North American premieres, + a delegation of ten filmmakers & advocates from Tbilisi, Berlin, Geneva, & Prague are in town. Photos from the first Q & A.

Moonrise.

"The central lesson of this cycle is not that Charlie Brown should stop trusting Lucy. It is that Charlie Brown must do a better job explaining why trusting Lucy remains the responsible choice." buff.ly/X2RjqP5

New favorite refinery for tonight's #ASynesthetesAtlas @ Et al., San Francisco. $15/NOTAFLOF, 7:30p, w/Nancy Beckman (shakuhachi), Tom Bickley (recorders), Ron Heglin (voice, invented languages), & Petra Zélie (noise). etaletc.com/events #performance #cartography #expandedCinema #OpenStreetMap

Reminder about next Weds' performance @ Et al.: A Synesthete's Atlas w/Nancy Beckman, Tom Bickley, Ron Heglin, & Petra Zélie, part of "Open Net". Come early to check out their bookstore & chat. etaletc.com/events #ASynesthetesAtlas #performance #cartography #expandedCinema #OpenStreetMap

Et al. (San Francisco Mission District) opened up their Sep/Oct programming as "Open Net". I'll perform A Synesthete's Atlas on Wed, Sep 16, w/Nancy Beckman, Tom Bickley, Ron Heglin, & Petra Zélie, but do check out the whole, eclectic series (starts tomorrow) etaletc.com/events #ASynesthetesAtlas

MATMOS in San Francisco this SATURDAY! Come see us at Gray Area! We will play some unusual stuff, which I guess in itself is not unusual?

Blown away by Christopher Harto's Feb recital: Adams, Ives, Gershwin, Rzewski. ⅓ of my Sunday set: a duo w/him, manipulating maps to improvisation on themes by Ravel. & my set's only ⅓ of the program. sfsound.info #WestOaklandSoundSeries #ASynesthetesAtlas #performance #cartography #openstreetmap

Suki O’Kane & Graham Viegut will perform piece Shahrzad Talebi & I composed for Line Upon Line. West Coast premiere, West Oakland Sound Series; Su, 28 Jun, 7:15p ⅓ of my set & I'm only ⅓ of the show sfsound.info #WestOaklandSoundSeries #ASynesthetesAtlas #performance #cartography #openstreetmap

Had a blast talking w/Greg Scharpen on his KALX/Berkeley Arts in Review program yesterday. Archived at kalx.berkeley.edu/archives/ until 25 Jun 2026, after which a copy'll be on my website. Curious what you think. #ASynesthetesAtlas #performance #cartography #improvisation #OpenStreetMap

Looking forward to talking about my work on Gregory Scharpen's Arts in Review program, Th, 11 Jun, noon-12:30 Pacific. Tried-and-true airwaves @ 90.7 FM or stream from kalx.berkeley.edu @kalxberkeley.bsky.social #ASynesthetesAtlas #performance #cartography #improvisation #OpenStreetMap

Fresh from the image mill: "flyer" for the Beauty Supply (downtown Oakland, CA) performance on 13 Jun w/Fred Lonberg-Holm, Tasya Abbot, Lorin Benedict, Nathan Corder, David Golightly, & Emily Pothast. Details via my email list (erictheise.com/mailing-list/) or DM. #ASynesthetesAtlas #OpenStreetMap

This guy should not come to my upcoming Bay Area performances. But you should. Jun 13: Beauty Supply Jun 21: Garden of Memory, Chapel of the Chimes (Cloister of Cherubs!) Jun 28: West Oakland Sound Series, Dresher Ensemble Studio Jul 09: Center for New Music Details to come. #ASynesthetesAtlas

#EffectiveSignage

I did laugh out loud when I passed this sign in Bishop, California. Passed, circled back, all the while thinking of friends who have a place out on the Cape.

Information grafish.

Michael Heizer's Double Negative.

Always ask for a room with a view but don't forget to wander outside as there may be a better one only steps away. Version: Bishop, CA, 18 April 2026.

Told you about my 9 Apr show @ #GuildCinema #Albuquerque w/ #KennethCornell & #CliffordGrindstaff but Ken & I will perform the following night, Fri 10 Apr, w/ #CarlosSantistevan @ #SantaFeNoiseOrdinance. #ASynesthetesAtlas #SantaFe #improvisation #expandedCinema #maps #cartography #OpenStreetMap

I promise I pulled over & set the parking brake before taking this photo.

7 days/1250 miles ago CAST premiered #ShahrzadTalebi & my piece for #LineUponLine. Video: Brussels touchdown+liftoff. 7p tonight @ #WaveArchive #Tucson improvised #cartography returns, music w/Jeffrey Gordon Evans, Hannah Joyce, & Steev Hise. #ASynesthetesAtlas #expandedCinema #maps #OpenStreetMap

1 point's not a line, 1 date's not a tour. 9 Apr, performing @ #GuildCinema #Albuquerque w/ #KennethCornell & #CliffordGrindstaff. Been in the Guild's audience, never on stage; thrilled to share w/these 2. #ASynesthetesAtlas #DukeCity #improvisation #expandedCinema #maps #cartography #OpenStreetMap

Post-Austin/CAST I'm touring #ASynesthetesAtlas through AZ, NM, & CO. First up: Sat 4 Apr 2026, #Tucson @ #WaveArchive, loaded program w/locals #JeffreyGordonEvans, #HannahJoyce , & #SteevHise in various configs. #experimental #improvisation #expandedCinema #maps #cartography #OpenStreetMap #foss4g

maps - geography = labels & icons (w/apologies to Niklaus Wirth). dadageek.org/cast #ASynesthetesAtlas

Projection surface @ #dadaLab is 4 screens wide: 2 at back, 2 on sides. For my collab w/ #ShahrzadTalebi I created maps that fill ⅛, ⅕, ¼, ⅓, ½, multiples thereof, & full screen. First viewing in situ; needs tweaks before rehearsals & Sat premiere but pleased. dadageek.org/cast #ASynesthetesAtlas

From North Oakland, California, happy #GlobalScouseDay to all who celebrate.

Stoked to learn that I'll be part of the inaugural cohort (March 2026) of CAST (Contemporary Art & Sound Technologies), a new platform dedicated to supporting experimental creators working at the intersection of sound, music, and visual media. #soundmap_ensemble #lulpercussion #dadageek #atx

Story of The Map Center/Andrew Middleton where I'll perform w/Ed Osborn: thepublicsradio.org/artscape/the... Th, 25 Sep 2025 6:30p preception/7p show $10 general/$8 students NOTAFLOF www.eventbrite.com/e/a-synesthe... #ASynesthetesAtlas @mapcenter.com #experimental #cartography #OpenStreetMap

Favorite map of the trip … thus far. Dish with a Map of Japan 1830-44 Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration @ Philadelphia Museum of Art

10 Sep 2025. 8 days, 350 mi ago. Class, informal group @ Penn State Geo by day; Manny’s Performance Space by night. Kris Pylant: what would be useful? Hands+iPad, projected map in background. Bingo. #ASynesthetesAtlas #maps #cartography #improvisation #OpenStreetMap www.geog.psu.edu/directory/kr...

Don't know the next time I (10 Sep) will appear on the same calendar as Jonathan Richman (21 Oct). 
I do know I'm performing at #RhizomeDC tomorrow night (15 Sep) on a split bill with guitarist #IvanLiptak. 
 #ASynesthetesAtlas

Next stop on my #ASynesthetesAtlas tour is #DC! Splitting Monday's #RhizomeDC bill w/guitarist #IvanLiptak; solo sets & we'll jointly improvise at evening's end. Around for the weekend, you @geomantic8.bsky.social? www.rhizomedc.org/new-events/2... #maps #cartography #improvisation #OpenStreetMap