Alex Bissen, musician, sound designer and composer who performs as IOSIS, will give an electroacoustic set, then join an improvisational performance with Dr. Will Connor, Performance Studies instructor, and students. Guests may then explore classrooms on the first and second floor of the LAAH building to view projects made in the Altered States and Performance Seminar taught by Dr. Kim Kattari, Performance Studies undergraduate program director.

Kattari said the event was created to ponder altered states of consciousness by connecting soundscapes and performances that might evoke certain states of mind. While psychoactive substances are one means for producing an altered state, Kattari said, her class explores a wide spectrum of altered state experiences.

“I have the students think about how performance invokes or has been influenced by altered state experiences,” she said. “People can enter altered states of consciousness through performative practices, like ritual, meditation, lucid dreaming, hypnosis and getting into a state of ‘flow’ while doing creative activities. That is what we are exploring in this class — how altered state experiences have influenced art or performance, and how people go into altered states of consciousness through performance, such as music, dancing, improvising, acting, art-making and other creative practices.”

IOSIS, a Minneapolis native, was invited by Kattari to perform a ritualistic experience that sonically takes people on a “hypnotic journey,” she said. His music is drone-based, meaning it has long and sustained notes and chords. It is not like high-energy electronic dance music but rather a slow, introspective sonic journey, she said.

“When I saw IOSIS perform I was really captivated,” Kattari said. “I immediately thought of my class. It is often hard to describe to students how music can induce an altered state of consciousness. I thought, rather than describe it, let’s provide an opportunity for students to experience it for themselves. I am excited for them to see how IOSIS builds a sonic experience that is able to create a certain state of mind.”