High Zero Schedule

What could happen during the Night of Randomization? Find out yourself with our Applet of Randomization!

While the main stage is invitation-only and booked a year in advance, there are many opportunities to perform at High Zero through High Jinx, our broadly participatory, informal and unofficial site specific and street performances held throughout the city starting a week before the festival, which are some of the wildest and most inspired public art events in Baltimore. PARTICIPATE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

What kind of High Jinx have we done in the past? Check out these great photos from 2008 at the bottom of the documentation page!

Calendar

Frequencies in Transit

Here's one High Jinx you can plan to help with now! Frequencies in Transit is a short-distance, multi-channel radio broadcast on the Baltimore Metro. It's occuring on September 17th, starting at 6pm at the State Center Metro Station. Be on time to participate!

The performer is wearing a device that broadcasts 4 local radio stations. The performer and attendees bring as many battery powered radios as they can carry, each tuned to their choice of one of the 4 local radio stations. The radio stations broadcast 4 independent, yet, synchronized channels consisting of pre-composed and generative music, audio samples, forming a quadrophonic sound piece for multiple speakers with no set speaker placement.

The performance begins outside the State Center Metro Station, as the performer enters the station with attendees in tow. The performer walks through the station, through the fare gate (paying their $2 fare!), and onto a subway car, all with attendees following along, carrying their radios. The group rides the subway back and forth along its route, with posted arrival times, allowing new attendees to join the group at other stations.

The performance completes when the performer exits again at State Center Metro Station.

Add your High Jinx to our calendar!

What do High Jinx need?

Directors: People who can decide on an event, organize it (what, where, who and when) and then follow through and execute it. This can be a simple event with one director/performer standing on a street corner or a complex event with many involved.

Performers: People who either have skills which satisfy the needs of a particular perfomance or people who want to perform in something that doesn't need specific skills

Places: A great site can dictate what should be perfomed there (ex. crossing over). Or, a great site can be perfect for anything you put in it.

Documenters: Video cameras, journalists, poets, photographers, sound recordists, spys.

Creative thinkers: High Jinx is almost "anything goes". Simple ideas can make beautiful events. What can you amplify? (knitting needles) Take the mundane and over emphasize it (ultrareductionist library band). Make music out of almost nothing by meerly changing the context of existing sounds (honkers). Just act silly (the hat band). Be visual (folded paper). Be weird (crossing over). Be conventional (music games). Show off your basement projects (invented instrument)

Promoters: People who'll tell people what's happening, where and when, post to email lists, put up flyers. People who will bring more people to get involved.