Venue (1999-2006) was a multimedia electronic act that treated live performance as installation. Music and visuals were composed together, with tightly edited projections functioning as part of the score. Each performance became an immersive environment where sound and image carried equal weight, merging into a singular audiovisual work.
SYNESTHESIA (1999-2005) was a Chicago-based artist collective and promoter group co-founded by Chris May and Toula Vivilakis. Active in the early 2000s, the collective merged electronic music and visual art in live settings, creating events where one sense fueled another.
With residencies at Chicago’s Big Wig, Crobar, Darkroom, and Vision, Synesthesia presented a mix of music, fashion, live painting, experimental visuals, and installation work. The collective expanded to include DJs Tobias and Brock, and hosted performances by artists such as Green Velvet, Tommie Sunshine, and Chris Holmes. Beyond the club circuit, Synesthesia produced branded events for Diesel Clothing Company and Pilsner Urquell, bringing its experimental ethos to wider audiences.
TOP FLOOR (2007–2010, with a brief 2020 quarantine comeback) was a weekly live, interactive audiovisual performance staged in Downtown Los Angeles. Starting on Stickam and later moving to Twitch, the project transformed early streaming technology into a stage where audience and performer shared the same frame. Viewers at home could stream themselves into the broadcast and be composited into the live video mix, creating a feedback loop between audience and event.
As co-creator and creative director, Chris shaped the show’s visual and sonic identity, working as DJ, VJ, content producer, and live video-mixer. In experimenting with new forms of participation, Top Floor reflected the early evolution of online performance and community-driven media.