RISING Festival and Jason Maling are unlocking the hidden gallery space beneath Fed Square to present a genre-bending artwork that blends sound, vision and interactive elements.
Diagrammatica offers Melbourne audiences two distinct ways to experience this unique fusion of art forms during RISING. The performance installation can be viewed for free in The Atrium, or audiences can opt for the more intimate underground experience in the secret Slot 9 gallery – a hidden industrial space between train lines beneath Fed Square.
Drawing inspiration from physics diagrams, astral photography and graphic musical scores, Maling has created what RISING describes as “an ever-evolving improvisation” and “an extended meeting between logic and abstraction.”
Diagrammatica
- Venues: The Atrium and Slot 9, Fed Square
- Dates: Tuesday 3 – Sunday 15 June, 2025
- (Atrium: 1:30pm-9:00pm daily, Slot 9 Experience: 1 hour sessions)
- Tickets here
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The ambitious project features a heavyweight collaborative team including renowned sound artists Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey alongside filmmaker Rhian Hinkley. Together they’ve created what’s being billed as “an interactive living diagram, accessible from the underground” where “sparks of ideas float freely and coalesce.”
A particular highlight is the custom hyper-directional audio system through which musicians perform out of view, creating immersive soundscapes designed to “submerge” participants. The musical component features an impressive roster of guest musicians including percussionist Kaylie Melville, Chinese-Australian guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang, recorder player Genevieve Lacey, and harpist Marshall McGuire among others.
Visitors to the free Atrium installation will witness the performance unfold in a more traditional viewing format, while those who purchase tickets to the Slot 9 experience are promised a more intimate, subterranean journey “deeper into the rift.”
The installation’s spatial design comes courtesy of Chantal Marks, with lighting by Katie Sfetkidis and workwear designs by Andrew Treloar, contributing to a comprehensive multi-sensory experience. Technical aspects include speaker design consultation from Robert Larson and online session archive assembly by Mick Byrne.
Diagrammatica represents another boundary-pushing offering from RISING, which continues to establish itself as Melbourne’s premier winter arts festival with programming that challenges conventional categorization. The installation exemplifies the festival’s commitment to works that merge multiple art forms and encourage audience participation.
At just $15 for the full Slot 9 experience (with free viewing available in the Atrium), Diagrammatica presents an accessible entry point to experimental performance art. RISING subscribers can access tickets during a presale starting this Friday at 10am, with general sales opening Monday, March 17.
The work is presented in partnership with Fed Square, with production support from Sage Arts and Strange Engine.
For more information, head here.
