ABOUT THE SHOW
Poems for Broken Screens is a transmedia performance featuring adventurous uses of video projection, sound, and performance. The work centers on the idea of 21st century poetry, broadly interpreted: the poem as sound, as image, as movement, as media. The work in this project is the result of several years of media experiments in Dean Terry’s anechoic chamber and research studio at University of Texas at Dallas. We see our work as a continuation of the tradition of incorporating words, images, and sounds in conceptual art, experimental film and video, performance art, and Dada. Written and Directed by Dean Terry with Abel Flores, Hilly Holsonback, and Therefore
Hillary Holsonback Director of Performance
Abel Flores Jr. Lead Performer
Patrick Murphy Modular synthesis, bass, zings
Dean Terry Synthesizers, electronic drums, vocals, bass
Special Guest Artists
Kit Presley Vocals, forests, sleeping bag, Morse code
Paul Slavens Master of bones, legend
Media Instruments
Kyle Kondas Live cinematography, mumble cursing
Tyler Haws Live sound, audio recording, and 4 channel disorientations
Jaitong Yao Live video and fx, 3D imagery, purply pinks
Kad Penney Lighting and stage, sublime and awful spotlight, “Lewis”
Garrett Chase Documentation videography, minimalist precision
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Andrew Scott, Irl Nathan, Nils Roemer and The School of Arts, Technology, and Humanities at UT Dallas, Zack Nguyen, xtine burrough, John Pomara, Anne Balsamo, Dale MacDonald, Hector Garcia and AT&T Performing Arts Center, City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Ethan Terry, Cyrus Terry, Sandra Stevenson, Laurie Anderson, Yves Klein , and The five-legged lion ♥
PIECES
What Kind of Animal
a walk among the trees
Anti-Organic II
Bloom to the Sun
The Storms
Harmattan Haze
Tiny Talk #1: Words
High FaceCrash
After Words
A Leap With Yves
The Celestial Lounge
New TV
Tiny Talk #2: More Words
Random Walk
(Mis)Alignment
Moth
Tiny Talk #3: More Words Words
Beat Portraits
The Map of _____
Silver
The Beast Beneath
Glass Eater
Dean Terry
Dean Terry is founder and creative director of Therefore Art, Sound & Performance Group. He is a transmedia artist whose projects have been covered internationally including CNN, NPR, LA Times, BBC, MSNBC, WSJ, ABC News, Huffington Post, Vice, Mashable, etc. His projects have been presented at SXSW, ISEA, USA Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Athens Digital Arts Festival, PBS stations, and others. He is Professor and a founding faculty member of Arts & Technology at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Hillary Holsonback
Hillary Holsonback is an intermedia artist from Texas. Holsonback specializes in projection-based “collaged” photographic imagery, incorporating images of herself clandestinely posed in almost unrecognizable contexts with (and as) women throughout American popular culture. She is also a performance artist focusing in experimental theater and video work. Holsonback has worked with Therefore since 2016.
Abel Flores Jr. aka AFJ
Abel Flores Jr. is a performance artist based in Grand Prairie, TX. Originally a theatre actor, he pursued the ritualistic elements of his craft via experimental works and multidisciplinary collaborations with local artists, creators, and students at the University of Texas at Dallas. While studying under Thomas Riccio, he cofounded Riccio’s group Dead White Zombies with fellow alumni as a performing artist. In 2016, he cofounded the arts nonprofit Artstillery, an experimental performance company that empowers marginalized communities. Flores has performed in his own solo shows and with other artistic companies, bands, and festivals including Therefore, SUPERMOOK, Shakespeare in the Bar, The Tribe, Tropic Pictures, WaterTower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival, Dallas Video Fest, and the Elevator Project at AT&T Performing Arts Center. Flores has worked with Therefore since 2016.
Patrick Murphy
Growing up peddling hand-drawn comic books for a quarter, Patrick Murphy eventually abandoned his pencil for a guitar and a cute girl. The girl left, but he still has the guitar. Murphy’s longstanding fascination with fading photos, sun-bleached billboards and scratchy vinyl records led him to create a collection of manipulated Polaroid photos, culminating in the solo show Push/Pull curated by The MAC in Dallas. Frustrated as an overpaid and underworked college professor, Murphy adopted the alter ego, Daniel K. Böhm, and released recordings on independent labels based in France, Indonesia and Portugal. He has been a staple of the DAMN (Dallas Ambient Music Nights) scene and has performed at the Texas Theatre, Lizard Lounge, The Mercury, RBC, The Volstead, Gypsy Tea Room, The Green Room, and the Winspear Opera House. His collaborations with artist Dean Terry and Therefore include an Elevator Project called Nebulotinklstab and the avant-garde performances The Alexa Dialogues and The World’s Safest Art Show. Most recently, he scored the award- winning independent film Ship of Human Skin
Kit Presley
Kit Presley is a rising music artist based in Dallas, TX. As a vocalist and mix engineer, Presley specializes in music production, sound design, and captivating performances. Through improvisation, they construct intricate soundscapes and stories using only their voice. With a fearless approach, Kit Presley challenges conventions, inviting audiences to journey where reality and imagination intertwine.
Paul Slavens
J. Paul Slavens is a composer and musician based in Denton, TX. He plays piano and keyboards along with many other instruments, primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area but has toured nationally with several bands including Ten Hands, Baptist Generals, The Travoltas and others. In addition to regularly composing and playing live music, Paul produces a weekly radio show on KXT in Dallas.
Kyle Kondas
Kyle Kondas is a teacher, video artist, and podcaster based in Dallas. He teaches audio visual and video classes for both High School and College. Having worked with many film festivals in Dallas, he now serves as a board member for the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. When not teaching or working on his art, Kyle can be found working on his next film project or podcast. Kondas has worked with Therefore since 2016.
Tyler Haws
Tyler Haws is an intermedia artist. His work explores the representation of reality in art by listening and interpreting complex ideas to an audience. Through audio recordings, image manipulation, and physical structures, he sculpts space from our collective surroundings. Capturing the chaos of space relies on the idea that is being presented: sound or imagery is texture and nuance that is then set in space. Haws graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Stetson University. He is currently working on his MFA at the University of Texas at Dallas with a focus on creative practice, and regularly exhibits in galleries and live events throughout North Texas.
Jiatong Yao
With a background in fine arts and computer science, Jiatong Yao has honed her skills in programming, digital art, and multimedia installations. She has worked with a variety of digital tools, including game engines, virtual reality, and augmented reality technology, to create interactive installations that engage viewers and invite audiences to explore new forms of creative expression.
Kad Penney
Kad Penney is an up-and-coming production technician based in Dallas, TX. They have experience with live sound, music production, and sound design. Carrying a wide berth of skills and talents, they are always looking to innovate at the precipice of creativity. They recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Garrett Chace
Garrett Chace is a transdisciplinary visual artist, photographer, and designer based in Dallas, TX. His conceptual and performative works are often amalgamations of analogue processes glitched with futuristic algorithmic technologies. While primarily shooting on 35mm film, much of his work channels traditional Swiss design from the 1960/70’s, but with a contemporary twist. Garrett is the recipient of multiple visual arts awards, including Best Use of Mixed Media at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and a CASE Circle of Excellence Award in 2019. In 2016, Garrett was named One of the Top Fine Art Photographers Under 25 in the Southwest Region by D Magazine. Most recently, he received his MFA in Creative Practice from the University of Texas at Dallas while studying artificial intelligence and generative-based arts.
About Therefore
“As cutting edge as it gets” - Dallas Observer
Therefore is a transmedia art and performance group directed by Dean Terry. It started as a music recording project in the 1990’s in Denton, TX and then Los Angeles, CA and became a transmedia performance art group in 2016. Therefore creates challenging art and performance experiences incorporating live video, sound, electronic music, and performance art. The roots of the work are in performance, Dada, happenings, conceptual art, experimental music, and poetry. In 2018, Therefore sold out three nights at the AT&T Performing Art Center’s Elevator Project series for The Alexas Dialogues, and returned in June 2023 with Poems for Broken Screens
