Library Street Collective is pleased to present Known Deviations, a screening and release party for the new EP from interdisciplinary artist Scott Avery, on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at the Shepherd, 1265 Parkview St., Detroit. Three new moving-image works premiere alongside the record, followed by a live performance.
Doors open at 5:00 p.m. with an opening DJ set from Blackmoonchild starting at 6:00 p.m. The premiere screening begins at 7:00 p.m., presenting the three videos: System Drift, Error State and Unknown Operator. Avery performs a live set from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the works running throughout the set and continuing afterward. Admission is free.
Known Deviations is a collection of techno built on reduction. Across the three compositions, rhythm unfolds through subtle shifts in timing and form: interlocking percussion, dub-inflected chords, evolving basslines, atmospheric textures, and fleeting vocal passages create a sonic environment in which microtiming becomes expressive. Rooted in Detroit techno’s tradition of swing and machine experimentation, the project examines the creative tension between programmed systems and human intervention.
The three works form a sequence. System Drift traces the gradual movement of a system away from its original calibration. Error State marks the moment that deviation becomes perceptible, exposing the tension between precision and instability. Unknown Operator asks whether disruption originates with the human or the machine — or whether that distinction remains meaningful.
The works construct visual environments that move between the recognizable and the unfamiliar. System Drift multiplies a single image, allowing its copies to gradually diverge over time. Error State moves into the world of industrial diagnostics, where localized zones within an otherwise intact frame lag, split, distort, and fill with noise, suggesting a system that continues to operate even as its reliability comes into question. Unknown Operator begins with human hands at control panels and ends with crowds, traffic, and urban infrastructure moving as a single organism, dissolving the distinction between operator and system.
