NCM is situated on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. We pay respects to them, especially their Elders and storytellers, as well as all First Peoples, nationwide. NCM acknowledges that communication technologies have a long history here, far longer than European occupation.

Opening Event | Stigmergy

 

(Past)

Programs & Events

04 Jun 2026 - 04 Jun 2026, 6pm–8pm

A new network opens.

The technological infrastructure that we depend on each day is designed to be invisible. These extractive networks and platforms harness a similar logic: maximise attention, maximise interaction, maximise time-on-screen = engagement.

Stigmergy offers an alternative: A hand-built, unscalable network of artists, media and the traces left between them. An antidote to the slop shock, rage bait and doom scroll flattening of everything we see online.

On Thursday 4 June Stigmergy opens for RISING with a night of morphing live performances from Andrea Illés, Dave Court, Mat Morison & friends and Nū & Spisbah, while Antariksa Studio livestreams from Deli. PSEUDO curators welcome and unpack the infrastructure. Software, wetware, wrymware and hardware circulate around this new network, expanding across the gallery in new artistic forms.

Doors open at 5.45pm. Drinks will be available to purchase during the event.

This program is presented with Rising

Performers

Andrea Illés

Performer

Andrea Illés is a performance artist working with movement, installation, images, and sound with a focus on structural power and the interplay between surveillance and performativity.

Dislocating common* knowledge and representations, and favouring atmospheres of awe and overwhelm, her hyper-personal and collaborative works explore sisterhood, love, fetishisation, and cruelty. Her hyper-personal and collaborative works have been presented in varying contexts such as West Space, Dark Mofo, Soft Centre, Miscellania, The Lab, Mona, and Carriageworks.

@_purple_stars_expleting_

Dave Court

Performer

Dave Court is a visual artist living on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, Australia. Working across painting, sculpture and installation his practice ranges from large-scale public art to cross-media projects. Central to his practice is an exploration of how social structures and systems are shaped by evolving technologies, and a commitment to the radical possibilities of shared experience.

He is founder and director of Washdog Studios, a shared artist studio warehouse in Kent Town, providing studio space and professional opportunities for twelve independent artists and their extended networks.

@dave.court

Mat Morison

Performer

Mat Morison is an interdisciplinary musician, composer, and performer. Their work spans film and theatre, experimental music, and creative electronics, with a strong focus on access and inclusion for Deaf and disabled artists. They collaborate across a range of projects, including Slowmango, My Cheríe, and Kinetic Collective.

@killmeiloveyou

Performer

Nū is an Ethiopian-Australian sound artist, vocalist and live coder whose work blends non-Western musical traditions, improvisation and Afrofuturism. Using Sonic Pi, Strudel and her vocals, she creates immersive sonic worlds that weave elements of ambient, jazz, R&B and electronic music.

@nuuuuuuuuuuu__

Spisbah

Performer

Spisbah is a musician, media artist and amateur researcher working across sound and technological systems. Rooted in Australia’s experimental music communities, his practice spans performance, exhibitions and collaborative projects throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific — treating sound, code and infrastructure as expressive materials.

@spisbah

Antariksha Studio

Performer (livestream)

Antariksha Studio is an Indian transmedia collective weaving multicultural heritage through video games, performance, and new media. Led by dancer Jayalakshmi Eshwar, visual artist Avinash Kumar, and composer Sri Rama Murthy, their Indofuturist practice navigates decolonial worldbuilding, digital repatriation, and cultural memory — bridging classical traditions with speculative, community-centred futures.

elsewhere-india.com/about

@antariksha.studio

PSEUDO

Artists & Curators

PSEUDO is a new media aggregate working across live performance, expanded cinema, sound, and digital infrastructure. Harrison Hall, Mat Spisbah, Sam McGilp and Henry Lai-Pyne build hybrid works where digital media and physical bodies occupy the same space. Based on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Brunswick, Melbourne, the group operates across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, developing performances, collaborative projects, workshops, and residencies.

pseudo-digital.com

Presented with

Company Logo

About PSEUDO X NCM: Stigmergy

Venue Accessibility

  • This program is recommended for audiences 18+ though young people are welcome to attend with a guardian
  • Content may include adult themes such as partial nudity
  • NCM is fully wheelchair accessible
  • All gender and accessible toilets are available
  • NCM is a high sensory space with a variety of noise, screens and lighting.
  • If you have any other access needs please get in touch, we'd love to help hello@ncm.org.au