Chopin Residue Curated by Mariusz Szypura
Sunday, November 02, 2025
169 Bowery NYC
4:00 pm
Chopin Residue, created by Mariusz Szypura is a large-scale intermedia project that reimagines the music of Fryderyk Chopin through processes of mechanical deconstruction and artistic transformation.
The project begins with reinterpretations of Chopin’s compositions, reshaped into experimental audio works and manually lathe-cut onto 81 vinyl records. This real-time cutting process, which allows no editing, produces spiral vinyl shavings—usually discarded but here preserved and transformed into monumental visual panels.
The installation brings together these sculptural panels, video documentation of the two-day cutting performance, and a layered sound environment. Turntables play the lathe-cut records alongside a multichannel composition, while light and laser projections animate the space, merging sound, image, and object into a multisensory experience.
At its core is a double album, Deconstructions and Reworks, which expands Chopin’s legacy beyond the piano. Designed to function sequentially or simultaneously, the two discs create evolving soundscapes that echo the installation’s spatial complexity. Contributors include Adrian Utley (Portishead), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), David Pajo (Slint, Papa M), Joey Waronker (Atoms For Peace, Beck), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie), John McEntire (Tortoise), John Stanier (Battles), Jim O’Rourke, Masayoshi Fujita, and Zoh Amba.
Through its precise execution and integration of sound, sculpture, performance, and recording, Chopin Residue reframes destruction not as an end but as a catalyst for transformation, memory, and new artistic meaning.
Mariusz Szypura is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, graphic designer, and visual artist active for nearly three decades. He first emerged in Poland’s alternative scene with Happy Pills and later with Blimp, before founding his main project, Silver Rocket, which has released five acclaimed albums, including the award-nominated Tesla and the immersive Dolby Atmos work Infinity Fidelity.
Beyond music, Szypura has created award-winning video games, designed artwork for more than 80 albums, and shaped the visual identity of the OFF Festival in Katowice (2010–2015). His recent installation in:human (2024, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw) explored the relationship between humans and technology through interactive, immersive media.
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