This Saturday night, SOFT CENTRE are taking over Trades Hall for an unforgettable party to end Now or Never.
The cutting-edge Eora arts collective SOFT CENTRE makes its long-awaited Narrm debut with SUPERMODEL, an expansive three-day program of ecstatic performances, deep-dive keynotes, screenings, and workshops taking place at Trades Hall from August 29-31.
The SUPERMODEL program reaches its zenith on August 31 with a late-night performance extravaganza set in the historic spaces of Trades Hall, including heritage council chambers, storied meeting rooms, and cascading stairwells.
SOFT CENTRE Presents SUPERMODEL
- Late-Night Spectacle at Trades Hall
- Saturday, August 31 | 8pm — 2am
- Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton VIC 3053
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Highlights include
- STACK: A mind-melting multimedia experiment by Harrison Hall, Eek, Sam Mcgilp, and Female Wizard, combining live cinema, physicality, and harsh noise.
- BUNYI BUNYI TUMBAL: An A/V show by Gabber Modus Operandi and Björk producer Hulubalang [IDN], collaborating with Brandon Tay [SG] to reimagine Indonesia’s colonial past through haunting visuals and sounds.
- Tower of Babel: Marcus Whale’s operatic exploration featuring Andrea Illés, Mara Galagher, Zane Edwards, and Tom Denize, delving into the search for a universal language.
- Songbook: A performance by Machine Listening with Tomomi Adachi [JPN] and Jennifer Walshe [IR].
- Sumn Conduit: An improvised electro-acoustic dialogue by Sonya Holowell and Ben Carey.
- Spanning: A new commission by Sarah Aiken for Chunky Move Activators.
- Improvised Performance: Brian Fuata presents a new work blending casual conversation, swearing, and ghosted ephemera.
- Unrecognisable: A performance by Alina Astrova as Lolina [EST], showcasing her concept album.
- Site-Specific Live Set: Speaker Music (DeForrest Brown Jr.) [ex-USA] presents a new work.
- Hyper-Bodily Live Set: Jessika Khazrik [LBN] combines machine-learned vocal techniques with Sufi hadra rituals and ornamental singing traditions.
Additionally, deep-listening DJ sets by Aarti Jadu, salllvage, Laces, and tongsuōforever will complement chimeric installations by 2 dual. Stacey Collee will perform a durational rendition of Kylie Minogue’s ‘I Believe in You,’ and Library Muzak, featuring Harold (Steeplejack), Emelyne (PBS), and Niph, will close the event with a hallucinogenic burst of vision and sound.
In response to requests from the SUPERMODEL artists, the event has been relocated to Trades Hall and will run from 8pm to 2am.
About the Machine Listening Songbook
The upcoming performance of Machine Listening Songbook is set to showcase the innovative work of a collective of artist-researchers exploring the intersection of machine listening and generative AI. Presented as part of the Now or Never festival in Melbourne, this performance is scheduled for August 31 at Trades Hall.
Machine listening refers to the ability of digital technologies—like voice assistants and smart speakers—to analyze and respond to human speech. The term originally gained traction in the field of computer music but has since evolved to encompass broader applications, including the generation of sound and music through AI.
The collective behind the performance—comprising Dr. Joel Stern (RMIT University), Dr. Sean Dockray (Monash University), and Associate Professor James Parker (The University of Melbourne)—uses their diverse expertise to address questions about living in a world filled with listening devices and AI-generated music. Their work critically examines the impact of these technologies on our understanding of music and creativity.
Dr. Joel Stern describes the Machine Listening Songbook as an exploration of AI’s role in music, particularly focusing on the absurd and uncanny outputs generated by AI. The suite of AI-generated songs aims to challenge our perceptions and highlight the often bizarre results of using such technology, rather than presenting a homogenized output.
For example, tracks created with AI tools like Suno include “wilful copyright infringement,” which blends chaotic snippets of text, and “fair use,” which contains lines reflecting the controversial legal battles over AI training data. These tracks use satire to critique the tech industry’s practices and the broader implications of AI in music.
The Machine Listening collective, established in 2020, combines research and artistic experimentation to delve into the political and aesthetic implications of sound and speech computation. Their efforts include not just performances and exhibitions but also educational resources, online libraries, and interactive tools for composing with audio and video.
Their previous work on Eavesdropping laid the groundwork for this project, continuing their investigation into the impact of surveillance and AI on our daily lives and artistic practices.
To get tickets, head here.
