The Must-see Dark Mofo Events

Yes, it’s an epic program that Mona’s DarkLab team has assembled: a manic midwinter program of music, art, performance, and film for the city of Hobart and other Tassie locales this June. There’s so much to choose from with around 750 artists in the lineup, it’s easy to miss some must-see offerings. But don’t fear. We’re here for you, take notes.

CHALKROOM: LAURIE ANDERSON & HSIN-CHIEN HUANG (Australian exclusive)

Fly through a shadowy city and navigate your way through a dark world of fractured stories and drawings, exploded clouds of language, and words that crumble into dust. A collaboration in virtual reality between pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson and new media artist Hsin-Chien Huang, awarded “Best VR Experience” at the 74th Venice Film Festival (2017).

8 - 10 June, 13 - 24 June, Domain House, Hobart

ZERO AT MUSEUM OF OLD AND NEW ART

‘ZERO is the beginning.’ Major artworks from the ZERO movement, shown together in Australia for the first time. In 1958 some students in Düsseldorf started to make art that ran against the style and feeling of the moment. This was Germany, in the aftermath of World War II. The mood wasn’t light. But for these young people, it was time to break free from the anxious individualism that seemed to oppress the artists of the time. This major exhibition at Mona presents a series of chambers, each an immersive exploration of an important aspect of the ZERO phenomenon: vibration. Includes works by Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Günther Uecker, Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, Heinz Mack, Hans Arp, Yayoi Kusama, Josef Albers, and many more. Exhibition concept by Tijs Visser.

Grand opening 9 June, Museum of Old and New Art, free with registration

JARBOE & FATHER MURPHY

The American shape-shifter of experimental music, Jarboe (formerly of Swans, Neurosis), takes to the stage with Italy’s duo of occult psychedelia and Catholic guilt, Father Murphy. *Australian exclusive.

23 June, Avalon Theatre

NUDE SOLSTICE SWIM

Welcome back the sun, after the longest night of the year. Dark Mofo's communal contemporary ritual, the Nude Solstice Swim, attracts more than one thousand brave souls to shed their inhibitions along with their clothes, and dive into the winter ocean.

22 June, 7.42am, Long Beach, Sandy Bay, free with registration

LATERNE BY BERLIN ATONAL

A temple of experimental and electronic music, performance, and audio-visual art, curated by the German capital’s venerable advanced music festival, Berlin Atonal.

21 — 22 June, MAC2

THURSDAY ARTISTS:

FIA FIELL  

Ethereal and unsettling synthesiser music from Carolyn Schofield (Rolling Mass, Jaala), melding lush melodic cycles, ecstatic drones and free improvisation.

OMELAS

Four electro-acoustic compositions collide with a live performance of an original opera inspired by Ursula K Le Guin.

GROUP A (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

Heavy synth, minimal wave, noise, striking visuals and performance art from the Japanese duo.

PEDER MANNERFELT (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

Raw and brutish sounds from the Swedish synth savant.

ALTAR (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

An explosive performance of ritual system music, courtesy of Roly Porter and Paul Jebanasam.

DEMDIKE STARE WITH MICHAEL ENGLAND (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

This Manchester duo extract the best from ’90s jungle, drum’n’bass, industrial and ambient techno sound. They’ll appear alongside award-winning filmmaker Michael England.        

FRIDAY ARTISTS:

RINGS AROUND SATURN

Hardware-based, immersive ambient electronics from the Melbourne based producer.

IONA FORTUNE (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

This Scottish producer brings enchanting sounds of the ‘fourth world’ into the disenchanted twenty-first century.

FIS AND PYUR PRESENT 7 BLUE STONES (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

Gastric and sinuous sounds from two forward-thinking young producers. A premiere performance.

DREW MCDOWALL PRESENTS TIME MACHINES

A live performance of Coil’s drone masterpiece for hallucinogenic chemicals.

AUTECHRE

The indisputable UK masters of dark and dimension-warping electronic music.

BORDERLANDS BY ROOM 40 AND SUPPLE FOX

Be consumed by transcendent music and experimental sound, featuring the first-ever and exclusive Australian performance of England’s The Haxan Cloak, and a rare and exclusive performance by Japan’s noise pioneer Merzbow. Curated by Room 40 and Supple Fox in collaboration with Dark Mofo.

23 June, MAC 2

WILLIAM BASINSKI

A solo electronic performance by the lionised master of minimal, experimental music.

THE HAXAN CLOAK (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

Electronica for the afterlife. The Haxan Cloak’s first ever Australian performance.

PAN DAIJING

Explosive sound, industrial noise and experimental theatrics.

MERZBOW (AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE)

Venture into the wilds of industrial sound with this prolific pioneer of Japanese noise.

Head over to the Dark Mofo website for more details.