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Established in 2006, Machines with Magnets hosts experimental music performances, sound and art exhibitions and installations, performance art, film and video screenings, cultural and community events, private events, and fundraisers. Past performances include The Body, Dan Deacon, Mirah, Etran de l'Aïr, Braveyoung, Lydia Lunch, Lightning Bolt, Brown Bird, Container, and Mdou Moctar.
Upcoming Events + Tickets
All ages unless otherwise noted, 21+ with valid ID to drink
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board Opening Reception
Thursday, April 30, 2026
6:00 pm
to
9:00 pm
“Light as a Feather ,Stiff as a Board” asks whether you are the invisible onlooker or an active participant. Eli Kaufman and Michael Gunn harness painting’s voyeuristic nature to complicate interpersonal relationships. The paintings exist at a threshold where our internal world is acted upon, through collaboration and intimacy. Tangled foliage, Twisting cables, A cast shadow—Reach, hold, repair, tend. How do we balance relying on one another while channeling the power of that which goes unseen? This exhibition shares its title with a game played by children at slumber parties. A levitation trick that evokes the unknown, a tension with the truth of its physics.The events that unfold are recalled, heightened and eventually brought back down to earth. The disillusion of our accounts is a natural conclusion. Through melodramatic lighting and intangible ghostly presence, tension between physicality and spirituality charges moments with desire—an attempt towards harmony.
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board Opening Reception
Special Event
Thursday, April 30, 2026
6:00 pm
9:00 pm
“Light as a Feather ,Stiff as a Board” asks whether you are the invisible onlooker or an active participant. Eli Kaufman and Michael Gunn harness painting’s voyeuristic nature to complicate interpersonal relationships. The paintings exist at a threshold where our internal world is acted upon, through collaboration and intimacy. Tangled foliage, Twisting cables, A cast shadow—Reach, hold, repair, tend. How do we balance relying on one another while channeling the power of that which goes unseen? This exhibition shares its title with a game played by children at slumber parties. A levitation trick that evokes the unknown, a tension with the truth of its physics.The events that unfold are recalled, heightened and eventually brought back down to earth. The disillusion of our accounts is a natural conclusion. Through melodramatic lighting and intangible ghostly presence, tension between physicality and spirituality charges moments with desire—an attempt towards harmony.
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board Closing Reception
Thursday, June 25, 2026
6:00 pm
to
9:00 pm
“Light as a Feather ,Stiff as a Board” asks whether you are the invisible onlooker or an active participant. Eli Kaufman and Michael Gunn harness painting’s voyeuristic nature to complicate interpersonal relationships. The paintings exist at a threshold where our internal world is acted upon, through collaboration and intimacy. Tangled foliage, Twisting cables, A cast shadow—Reach, hold, repair, tend. How do we balance relying on one another while channeling the power of that which goes unseen? This exhibition shares its title with a game played by children at slumber parties. A levitation trick that evokes the unknown, a tension with the truth of its physics.The events that unfold are recalled, heightened and eventually brought back down to earth. The disillusion of our accounts is a natural conclusion. Through melodramatic lighting and intangible ghostly presence, tension between physicality and spirituality charges moments with desire—an attempt towards harmony.
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board Closing Reception
Special Event
Thursday, June 25, 2026
6:00 pm
9:00 pm
“Light as a Feather ,Stiff as a Board” asks whether you are the invisible onlooker or an active participant. Eli Kaufman and Michael Gunn harness painting’s voyeuristic nature to complicate interpersonal relationships. The paintings exist at a threshold where our internal world is acted upon, through collaboration and intimacy. Tangled foliage, Twisting cables, A cast shadow—Reach, hold, repair, tend. How do we balance relying on one another while channeling the power of that which goes unseen? This exhibition shares its title with a game played by children at slumber parties. A levitation trick that evokes the unknown, a tension with the truth of its physics.The events that unfold are recalled, heightened and eventually brought back down to earth. The disillusion of our accounts is a natural conclusion. Through melodramatic lighting and intangible ghostly presence, tension between physicality and spirituality charges moments with desire—an attempt towards harmony.
'AN OTHER WORLD' will be manipulated during a live performance that combines shadows, song, movement and sound. 'An Other World' is an immersive, interactive installation by Providence-based artist Erik Ruin. Inspired by medieval visions of the afterlife, science-fiction landscapes and more modern/personal struggles with scarcity and depression, this show combines intricate paper-cut scrolls, hanging banners and overhead projections. These visions will be "activated" by the viewer's own shadow and live performances at the opening and closing events. Erik Ruin is a Providence-based printmaker, shadow-puppeteer, founding member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and co-creator of the recent book Paths Toward Utopia: Graphic Explorations of Everyday Anarchism (w/ Cindy Milstein, PM Press, 2012).
The HUMMINBIRD (CHI) - Moon Bros/Humminbird duo! + MOTHERTONGUE (PVD) + MOUNI (PVD)
+ JENN KELLY (Berlin & CA) psych-folk-singer-songwriter. "On the day you left, you left me hanging, hanging upside-down.......... Jesus complex, let's get pizza... I will share my cheese, just please don't please be so mean..." - Lyrical genius? We think so. CHICAGO - The Humminbird - Muyassar Kurdi will be touring with Matthew Schneider (of Moon Bros) on pedal-steel. Armed with an effected auto-harp, Muyassar and her cohorts create lush and droning soundscapes that feature her sometimes atonal, but always soulful, yelping, singing, and howling. Her songs are fluid, ruminous compositions that dwell on the nature of family, lovers, the natural, and the spiritual world. Classic psychedelic instrument arrangements are infused with Muyassar’s contemporary Freak City-Folk experience to keep psychedelia relevant for a new generation.
