MYRIAM BLEAU & NIEN TZU WENG + MP3

During L.E.V. Matadero, Nave 10 at Matadero Madrid will host four double sessions of live sets and audiovisual performances. The opening night, Thursday, September 18, features Myriam Bleau & Nien Tzu Weng and the collective MP3.

Second Self is a hypnotic audiovisual performance created by Canadian artist Myriam Bleau and Taiwanese-Canadian artist Nien Tzu Weng. The project explores how the growing digitization of the world reshapes our perception of the human, ushering in a new hybrid existence. Through gesture, sound, movement, and projection, the artists use portable LED screens as body-worn prosthetics that function as mirrors, masks, and tactile interfaces. On stage, the performers shift from the physical to the virtual, from the human to the non-human, enacting a ritual that reflects on identity and technology through a distinctly cyborg aesthetic.

Inspired by Sherry Turkle’s theory of the screen as a “second self,” this performance situates the audience in an intermediate mixed reality where self-connection is mediated by digital images, sonic echoes, and mirrored reflections. Second Self evokes the myth of Narcissus and Echo, playing with ideas of identity duality, avatars, and cyborg bodies. With a highly symbolic and electronically sensitive stage design, the piece invites reflection on who—or what—we are becoming as a species in a world where the boundaries between body and machine, image and matter, are increasingly blurred.

The collective MP3 presents MP3 Live, a performative concert in which body movement and dance are transformed into sound and time. This experimental journey fuses rhythm, movement, and electronic music into an immersive narrative that turns the stage into a space where sound is captured, manipulated, and generated from the performers’ physical presence.

MP3—short for Movement Played by 3—is a trio formed by Arnau Pérez, Pau Vegas, and Fernando Careaga, artists with backgrounds in both music and dance who explore new forms of sound creation through movement. Their work pushes disciplinary boundaries, creating a hybrid language between electronic music and physical expression. Using custom-built sensors and devices, they transform gesture, energy, and the body itself into core components of live composition.

The group’s name references the MP3 digital format—a metaphor that runs throughout their work and invites reflection on how digital technology compresses time and reshapes how we live and create.

This project was developed with the support of Matadero’s Center for Artistic Residencies, after being selected in the 2024 open call for experimental electronic music projects in Madrid.

Recommended minimum age: 16 years.