Glasser's performance at 798 art district in Beijing was part of the Creators Project. [Provided to China Daily]

American artist Glasser's solo show highlighted avant-garde electronic expression. Christine Mallari reports.

Glasser says she had no reservations about performing in a new city over 18,000 km from home, in a language that was foreign to a majority of her audience. But she was nervous about going solo. Glasser is the stage name of American artist Cameron Mesirow. She performed mid-September in Beijing's 798 art district as part of the Creators Pro-ject, along with British group Mount Kimbie, Scottish duo Optimo and Chinese artists P.K.14, Supermarket and Carsick Cars.

The stage was bare. A microphone stood stage left, next to a covered table and an open computer.

"I was nervous because this was the first time I had performed totally by myself," Glasser says afterward.

Glasser shuffled on to the stage in what appeared to be an haute couture burlap sack, over a sheer white jumpsuit, created by friend and designer Ida Falck Oien.

With a few taps on the trackpad, the 798 art district was brought to life with electronic beats and Glasser's haunting voice.

Her sandy-colored hair fell in untamed waves to her shoulders, while she wore tiny stud earrings and just a swipe of lipstick and eyeliner. The stomping of her platform wedges echoed the emotion of each song.

Her music was composed of an eclectic mix of sounds driven by woodwind and synthesizers, tribal drum beats and plucked strings, tinkling wind chimes and bells, fused with her raw vocals.

"My thing is more about being interested in crafting a sound," Glasser says in an interview on the Creators Project website. "It's very much experimentation." 

Glasser's work is in tune with the Creators Project, which was set up in 2010 to "support visionary artists, musicians, designers, and filmmakers who are using technology to push the bounds of creative expression", according to organizers.

She recorded her first album entirely on a laptop using the Garage Band application. This was the third Creators Project event she had taken part in.

Glasser's previous work involved the creation of a two-person pipe organ called the Auerglass, along with US artist Tauba Auerback, that requires two people to play it.

The Creators Project is a joint venture between computer chip-maker Intel and media group Vice. It is in its second year and hosts international events in France, the United States, South Korea and England. This year the Beijing leg of the Creators Project ran from Sept 15-18.

Glasser hopes to remain a part of the Creators Project.

"I'm really fond of the people and the program," she says.

Those behind the Creators Project exposed Glasser to elements of Chinese culture and facilitated a trip to the Great Wall. She rode in a rickshaw for the first time, which she described as "terrifying ... it's living on the edge."

"I wish there was more order to the traffic, but that's honestly been the worst thing I can say about my experience here," she says.

The audience at 798, meanwhile, mostly local hipsters and expats, called for an encore.

"I've been told my music sounds kind of Chinese before ... but having Chinese people say it was like really cryptic," Glasser says.

"This is a really interesting place to maybe try to start having a fan base."

"I want to come back, that's the truth of it," she says.