The artistic mashups at Brief Encounters—the cool, clubby-feeling evening that presents short works by unexpected duos—just keep getting wilder. For the 19th installment of the program that runs Thursday through Saturday (September 27 to 29) at Performance Works, the combos include dance artist James Gnam with visual artist Patrick Cruz and hip-hop artist Ostwelve (shown here) with jazz vocalist Jennifer Scott. The most bizarre hookup? Shadow puppeteer Chloe Z is collaborating with astrophysicist Jaymie Matthews. Think extraterrestrial artistry.