Episode 178 Victoria Shen

Victoria Shen is a sound artist, experimental music performer, and instrument-maker based in San Francisco. Victoria is concerned with the spatiality/physicality of sound and its relationship to the human body. Her music features analog modular synthesizers, vinyl/resin records, and self-built electronics. Victoria uses what she calls "chaotic sound" to oppose signal and information, eluding traditionally embedded meaning. Her DIY approach to deconstructing the concepts of “materiality, value and mass production” both integrate and re-contextualize the formats of the readymade and assemblage techniques. The album art for her debut LP, Hair Birth, utilizes copper to transform the cover into a loudspeaker through which the record can be played. In 2021, Victoria produced a series of cut-up records in cast resin embedded with found materials. In other performances, she pioneered the use of Needle Nails, which are acrylic nails with embedded turntable styluses, that allow her to play up to 5 record tracks at once.  Victoria has performed solo across North America, Japan, Mexico, and Europe as Evicshen and as half of the duo TRIM in North America and the UK. She currently teaches at Stanford University and the School of Visual Arts NY.