ATLAS in silico
Mona’s lauded for its interactivity within artistic realms, and this perfectly embodies why. ATLAS in silico presents an immersive virtual reality experience where attendees can reflect upon the philosophical curiosities surrounding the nature of life and existence through the manipulation of an amazing sound and light spectacular. Utilizing a system based on oceanic data research, the project aims to connect the worlds of art and science for a moving experience. It’s humbling, revealing and looks cool as hell.
cellF
Technological augmentation with the biological is equal parts fascinating, awe-inspiring and kind of terrifying. cellF is the world’s first neural synthesizer, powered by cells harvested from the artist’s own body. An ingeniously-designed contraption consisting of analogue circuits and biological neural networks that grow in a Petri dish, cellF is hooked up to a bunch of synthesizers and plays along with human musicians as they jam – which you’ll get to see daily at MOFO with the festival artists. The future is here, and it churns out bangers.
Collective Return
How do you turn the experience of simply being at MOFO into one of the very things that you’ll get to witness at MOFO? Melbourne artist Mick Douglas has crafted an intriguing project that aims to archive and utilize the sounds of the festival itself. A web of megaphones dispersed throughout the crowd will collect the various audible elements within it, loop and overlay them, play them back and store them away as a creative reminder of the day. If you’re not going to MOFO, then you can listen in to the magic live on the day via a website. Pretty neat.
Container Island Walk
Worried you’re not getting in enough walking at a three-day festival? Don’t worry – Mick Douglas strikes again. For the duration of MOFO, a performer shall walk around in circles within an open shipping container on a floor packed thick with salt. An observation on patterns and perception within human nature, the exercise is intended to cultivate interactive encounters and build spontaneous connections, where you can jump in and have a shot at endless wandering yourself. It’s a meditative, reflective and intriguing look at something that connects us in the simplest way.
Rust And Thirst
MOFO obviously cherishes musical experimentation, but Julius Schwing & Myles Mumford have teamed up to provide a truly unique slice of Australiana with Rust And Thirst. A classic water tank is suspended, transduced and transformed into an amplified sounding object. You’ll be able to see it “played” live by Schwing and his festival friends, where you’ll hear its errie metallic chorus. If you miss a performance, however, don’t stress – it also acts as a sound installation in its own right.
sonicsfromscratch
Considering the sheer passion and creativity you’re immersing yourself within, you’re probably going to feeling pretty inspired to make something of your own. Why not do it while you’re at the festival? Phil Dadson & Don McGlashan of New Zealand-based project sonicsfromscratch are offering a free 90-minute workshop where you can invent your own unique musical instrument. You’ll get to learn about collective performance strategies and then display your new talents right then and there in front of a crowd. If that sounds up your alley, register here.
MoMa
You’ve never been to a Sunday market like this before. All of the things that you love about a market is up for grabs – food, live music, arts and crafts – but in the refreshing kind of twist that we love MONA for, you’ll be using their very own digital currency, which promises to reassign “value to where it should be, rather than where the monetary system dictates”. It’s all in line with their focus of renewability and awareness of environmental protection. MoMa continues every Sunday until Sunday April 16, so you can always go back and relive the wonder.
The Weight of Air
At Hobart’s Town Hall, composer Julian Day will literally be playing all day in a mammoth attempt to one of the longest performances in classical music. As part of his Infinity Room project, Day will be playing a 24-hour-long organ performance, which you can feel free to enter and leave as you like over the course of the day. With an intention to “sculpt” the air and the grand surrounds, Day will place heavy weights on the keys to form shimmering, overlapping harmonies.
Walking on Coals Empowerment Workshop
Have you ever wanted to walk on hot coals? What if the opportunity just came up, completely unannounced, in a large group of peers and collegues? Would you take it? That’s what will be happening as part of MoMa in an as-yet-unknown location on the MONA grounds – conductive energy transmission, completely out of the blue. You’ll feel completely revitalised with this chance to discover your own internal courage. Keep your eyes peeled.
Faux Mo
Acting as the official MOFO afterparty, Faux Mo bathes the senses in true intellectual decadance with a huge gathering of performing and visual artists. Every single night of the festival at the ex-Government offices in Hobart, there’ll be a whopping lineup including the likes of Regurgitator, L-Fresh the Lion, Spoonbill, DJ Z-Trip, Dylan Joel, Sippy and Jayceeoh to name but a few. There’ll be a few more suprise appearences, too, blended into an atmosphere like no other. Get down.
BY JACOB COLLIVER
