For Now or Never, EMERGENCE[Y] becomes a playful celebration of making something brilliant out of what’s been left behind.
Local artist Dylan Martorell brings the gallery to life with interactive sound sculptures made from upcycled objects and robotics – built to be played, hacked, and experimented with. Throughout the night, live performances and improvised sets by Dylan with Genevieve Fry and Tarquin Manek turn junk into rhythm, noise and collective play.
Wander the exhibition as science collides with creative resilience – with roving performance of ‘skyward dreaming’ by VCA choreographer Carlie Shaw and live DJ set by DJ Luv You keeping the energy high.
Join us for a night that turns leftovers, offcuts and odd bits into something worth celebrating. Think sonic chaos, creative energy and a gallery that doesn’t behave like a gallery at all.
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.
The new exhibition EMERGENCE[Y] explores adaptation, innovation and resilience in a rapidly changing world.
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
Dylan Martorell
Transience, improvisation and collaboration form the basis of Dylan Martorell’s music-based art practice. Focusing on the use of site-specific gleaned materials and incorporating elements of upcycling, DIY culture, robotics and alternative power sources, Martorell’s projects focus on concepts of transience, sustainability and community based group dynamics. Housed within the conceptual framework of musical diaspora, his work is drawn to ways in which music travels through space and is affected by changes in geography, climate, culture and materials to become an agent for cross-cultural reciprocation.
Genevieve Fry is an interdisciplinary artist based in Narrm. Interested in exploratory music and improvisation drawing inspiration from the natural world, their soundscapes encourage an inward journey touching on deep time, memory and sense of place. Genevieve is the co-founder of Eastmint artist run studios, label and performance space which focuses on presenting and supporting music that promotes deep listening from a diverse range of artists across all genres.
Tarquin Manek is an artist based in Melbourne whose current solo projects include Tarquin Manek, Silzedrek, Static Cleaner Lost Reward, LST and M Quake. Manek’s ability to weave between the characters of his aliases through 21st century avant folk jazz improvisation, dream(pop) (post) punk, dubbed in and out clarinet, syncopated syco rhythm and beyond, displays a certain lunacy and obsession that only someone of his calibre could possess. ‘Disturbed and enchanted environments’, ‘deep spatial dynamics’, and ‘higher dub logic’ are all phrases used to describe Manek’s work.
skyward dreaming follows three university students, Carlie Shaw, Charlie MacArthur, and Jinya Toyomaru through the Science Gallery. Plagued by infrastructure and light pollution, the performers dance through a warped reality of synthetic symbiosis. Playful and intriguing, the trio swim blissfully in the dreams of what could exist in the spaces above.
This roving performance is an uncanny development of 'Look Up and Live', choreographed by Carlie Shaw, originally presented at the Parkville MPavilion in 2026.
Photo by Hannah Nikkelson and Robyn Daly
DJ Luv You (Ophelia Bakowski) is a non-binary DJ and multidisciplinary artist. Their sets range from light and joyful rare groove to playful high-energy club selections, often blending the influences of 90s House, Rave, and Progressive. As a resident host on stations Skylab Radio (Melbourne) and LYL Radio (Paris), Ophelia is a heavily engaged member of the local scene; Using their platforms and opportunities to always highlight the productions of femme, trans and queer folk.