In the first days of 2025, Amsterdam’s Lofi became the home of a large-scale light installation by Lumus Instruments for a series of live audiovisual performances featuring music and sound artists. For the performances on January 10, Nxt Museum was invited to curate the two performing artists.

The first performance was by Portrait XO, an independent researcher and transdisciplinary artist. At the core of her art, Portrait explores social biases and narratives around technology and creativity. She mixed live vocals with gritty electronic soundscapes—some of which she created by turning data sets into sound. Her performance, ‘The Cost of Connection,’ took the audience on a journey to the ethereal and the futuristic.

The second performance featured Mary Lake, a familiar face in the Amsterdam club scene. Mary creates hypnotic sets that push the boundaries of conventional techno. Her ever-evolving sound was magnified by Lumus’s radiant live performance, which put the audience in a trance-like state. Deeply evocative and contagiously rhythmic, Mary Lake’s sound, paired with Lumus Instruments’ installation, transported the public through worlds existing at the intersection of light and sound.

This iteration of the ‘Contrarium’ show is part of a larger collaboration between Lumus Instruments and Nxt Museum. The creative studio is currently undertaking an Artist in Residence at the museum, and their work, ‘POLYNODE VIII’, will carry over from our previous exhibition to our next one: ‘Still Processing’, opening to the public on February 7.