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MacroVerse at Melbourne Fringe
2025-10-07
MacroVerse was a live sonic and visual work at Melbourne Fringe, part of Abbotsford Convent's experimental art program — contemplative, evocative, transcendent, as the festival put it.
The show
Reductionist (Nick Wilson) performed with battery-powered micro-instruments and micro-virtuosic technique, carrying a macro-narrative of the universe from energy stasis through heat-death dissipation. I (Adrian Richardson / Aday) provided live video projection improv that distorted time and manipulated perceived energy flow — extension for bodies trying to grasp the infinite.
Both of us are longtime members of Australia's Clan Analogue collective. The exhibition ran **free daily 12pm–4pm**; ticketed performance sessions ran **from 7pm each night for about an hour**, alongside related contemporary works (including bodies no bodies and The Shore Remembers on the same program). Bar from 6pm.
**Audio:** Nick Wilson — live set on YouTube. **Video:** edited Melbourne Fringe VR captures coming to the Macroverse showcase when they're ready.
The tool behind the visuals
MacroVerse on stage was not only performance — it was a working pipeline:
- **GLSL** shaders authored and iterated in a browser lab
- Conversion to **ISF** for interchange
- Export into **Resolume Wire** for the venue stack
- **FFT** and live parameters steering crossfades, colour, and motion in sync with Reductionist's set
That pipeline — shader index, fix chain, expose params, VJ deck, audience QR, LAN bridge — is what macroverse.aday.net.au grew into. Version **42.1** is the stable hosted release name; the Fringe show is the origin myth.
See also: Official hosted release — ArtBastard 5.1.2.0 and Macroverse 42.1 for the relic-era git squash and dev/live lanes.