Karen O and Danger Mouse Debut ‘Lux Prima’ Art Installation at Marciano Art

By DONNA BALANCIA

Karen O and Danger Mouse will debut their multi-sensory art installation “An Encounter with Lux Prima,” this spring at Los Angeles’ Marciano Art Foundation.

With the installation, the duo, whose new album Lux Prima is due March 15, have collaborated with the top artists, and lighting and sound designers in the business.

“An Encounter with Lux Prima” is “an immersive, communal listening experience” and is set against the soundtrack of the pair’s upcoming album.

“Danger Mouse and I wrote this music purely out of artistic exploration and the spirit of collaboration,” said Karen O. “It’s the first music I’ve written since the rite of passage of bringing a life into the world.

Karen O and Danger Mouse – Woman

“Having a kid was like communing with the grander scheme of nature, the cycles of life, the transformative power of the mother,” Karen O said. “These themes felt timeless, yet more topical than ever in the modern world, so cut off and abstracted from its origins. The music was calling out for an extraordinary presentation, one that brings people together in a heightened state of listening. It’s gonna be a trip!”

The installation uses groundbreaking audiovisual technology.

“An Encounter” sees the duo collaborate with fellow artists including creative director Barnaby Clay (David Bowie—“Life On Mars” Revisited, SHOT!), Oscar-nominated sound designer Ren Klyce (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Fight Club), lighting designer Tobias Rylander (Robyn, The xx, FKA twigs), visual artist Davy Evans and creative consultant Warren Fu (Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Depeche Mode) to bring Lux Prima to life. 

Further collaborating with projection mapping innovator Travis Threlkel, co-founder and chief creative officer of MSG’s Obscura Digital, George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound and Meyer Sound, the installation plays across every sense and is intended as the living, touring nucleus of the duo’s forthcoming collaborative album, Lux Prima.

“An Encounter with Lux Prima” runs April 18-21 and is open to the public in limited numbers. Tickets are available March 1 via marcianoartfoundation.org.

“An Encounter with Lux Prima” is executive produced by the Madison Square  Garden Company and Like Mgmt.

Said Danger Mouse: “Karen and I had been plotting on working together for a long time. With no discussions on what the music would eventually sound like, we jumped in. We were each other’s audience alone really, but soon we started to see this world instead of just hearing it. So let’s see if others can hear and see it together too.”