One night only: DISTRACTION stays open late for Now or Never with live art, a serene sonic environment and a free party designed for a short attention span.
Bounce around a whirring, flashing pinball machine of existence as Science Gallery Melbourne transforms into an after-hours playground.
Lose yourself in an interactive universe where arcade games, puppet shows, smartphone pianos and cat memes collide. This immersive exhibition invites you to explore the spectrum of human-centred technology and embrace the beauty of distraction.
Amidst this swirling cosmos, find stillness in Tranquil Pool - an ambient sonic realm woven with live performances from STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM, Nū and noom, alongside projection art by Melody Woodnutt and Mel Huang. Watch out for roving performances by ButohOUT! throughout the night, with hypnotic rhythms played by DJ Rino.
Will the lure of collective flow-state pull you in, or will your gaze be caught in the digital abyss? Your distraction of choice is up to you.
Science Gallery Melbourne’s Friday Night Socials are free parties where you can explore the latest exhibition against a backdrop of immersive performance acts and live DJ sets. Food and drinks are available for purchase.
Focusing on interactive games, play and creative technologies, the DISTRACTION exhibition explores the ways we might harness the cacophony of digital content and find meaning within it.
Now or Never is an 11-day festival of new dimensions showcasing art, ideas, sound and technology.
Presented with Now or Never.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Photo by Young Ha Kim
STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM are a composer collective with a vast and eclectic practice that spans from fully immersive large-scale site-specific installations to analog synth trio live performance. The trio use their collection of Eurorack, Buchla, polysynths and drum machines to create analog dreamworlds. They explore timbral and tonal nuances using an extended center of pitch, micro-tunings and propulsive rhythms to create otherworldly sounds that shift from the dystopic to euphoric.
Nū is an Ethiopian-Australian sound artist, vocalist and live coder. Her work explores non-western musical traditions, improvisational performance and Afrofuturism spanning across ambient, jazz, RnB and electronic using the program Sonic Pi. Live coding is the real-time programming of code to generate sound and visuals.
Like a cat in its sunny spot, noom has basked in the brainwave of organized sound since they began playing piano as a young child. Sowed in a substrate of classical, psychedelic, IDM and experimental avant-garde, noom feeds on an atmosphere of texture and immersive sound worlds. An ambient resting space; inward folding; a mirror reflecting the infinite.
Melody Woodnutt works primarily within the expanded field of 16mm analogue moving image film. Films are often made from an alchemical feminist position with a deep pull towards unknowable realms such as the sea, cosmos, or spectral worlds.
Mel Huang is an interactive designer and developer for the arts and culture sectors collaborating with institutions such as Powerhouse Museum, NGV, Art Gallery NSW, Science Gallery, Dark Mofo and The Australian Ballet. She is currently the Academic Fellow, Art and Computer Science and Lecturer at The University of Melbourne. Spanning works across data visualisation, interactive design and live performance, Mel is passionate about the creative applications of technology in the arts and an advocate for multidisciplinary projects and practices. She is the co-director of Creative Technology Melbourne and proud board member of Chamber Made.
Rino is the solo project of Indonesian born, Melbourne/Naarm-based producer Rino Darusman. Spanning realms of soaring euphoria and hypnotic rhythms, Rino’s sonic world is at once meditative and energetic. It showcases a brand of electronic music that conveys deep human emotions and provides a highly visceral experience through vast textures and tuneful melodies.
Photo by Vikk Shayen
ButohOUT! is a creative platform that breaks expectations and boundaries. It invites diverse arts and non-arts communities to engage with the profound internationally acclaimed art form of Butoh.