Andrew Benson is a visual artist, performer and live-video designer living in San Francisco. His vivid and energetic works are created through performing in interaction with experimental software processes, electronics, and physical materials. The complex and textured results highlight the relationship between the body, technical systems of representation, and complex feedback systems. While primarily working with Live Video and Sound, his body of work incorporates Installation, Painting, Drawing and Net Art. As an extension to his studio practice, Andrew creates unique live video systems and custom video content for headlining musical acts.
Andrew Benson is also Visiting Faculty at San Francisco Art Institute's Design and Technology Department, and develops online content for Cycling '74 Software.

Connecting to the Visual－Aesthetic and Technical Approaches to Visual Accompaniment
With increasing frequency, musical performances are accompanied by moving images that relate to and enhance the musical experience. The improved power of computational tools to generate realtime video has facilitated a growing number of collaborations between musical performers and a visual counterpart.  In many instances, both components of a work are managed by the same individual, giving rise to a new type of performance where the music is both auditory and visual in nature.  The perceived connection between moving images and sound can create an expressive relationship, enhancing both aspects of the sensory experience.  In this talk we will explore different approaches to coupling video with audio in a performative setting, focusing around three themes - direct control via sound analysis, interpretive response and automation, and gestural remapping.  The practical approaches set forth will also be considered from the standpoint of aesthetics, and how a particular approach to visual accompaniment might enhance or deepen the reception a musical work.