Ex Machina
Visual Art by Xuan
EX MACHINA is a multimedia, interdisciplinary project exploring the evolving relationship between humanity and technology through new and existing works for piano and immersive visual art. Eight commissioned works, including genre-bending works by rock guitarist Yvette Young and hip hop artist Suzi Analogue, reimagine the piano as both artistic medium and philosophical idea. The project invites audiences to rethink the boundaries between human and machine, using music to explore what it means to create, feel, and exist alongside technology.
Ex Machina was presented by Baryshnikov Arts as part of Carnegie Hall's United in Sound: America at 250 festival in May 2026. The accompanying album xmachina was released by Bright Shiny Things.
Photo by Austin Ruffer
Baryshnikov Arts, New York
"What makes Ex Machina so exciting is that it allows us to witness art in the act of becoming. Together they [Yang and Xuan] create an entirely new artistic language... We had experienced the creative process itself—alive, unfolding, and constantly transforming before our eyes."
-- Art Spiel
New York, 2026
Collaborators
Program
Clara Yang, piano
Immersive visual art by Xuan
Prologue
Crystal Prelude No. 1 with
Cryoacoustic Orb
(piano and fixed media)
Reena Esmail, composer
Lee Weisert and Jonathon Kirk, sound installation designers
Clinamina
(piano and electronics)
Lee Weisert, composer
Act I
Etude No. 11
Philip Glass, composer
Nebula
Clara Yang, composer
Hammers over the moon
(piano and fixed media)
Liliya Ugay, composer
Conception
(piano and fixed media)
Rock Guitarist Yvette Young, composer
Clara Yang, composer
Act II
RoboDream
Phil Young, composer
Think that's you
Allen Anderson, composer
Deep ConditioNN Redux
(piano and fixed media)
Hip Hop Artist Suzi Analogue, composer
Clara Yang, composer
Drones
Stephen Anderson, composer
Click Here for Digital Program
Total running time: approx. 65 min
Program could be modified for shorter durations, and it could be performed with 1) piano only, 2) piano with one projector, 3) piano with immersive projection
Epilogue
Hoyt-Schermerhorn
(piano and electronics)
Christopher Cerrone, composer
