Max Athans: Breathform | Whistles, Activation led by Rachael Archibald

Experience a sonic activation of Max Athans' exhibition Breathform as part of DEMO 2/4: Up Late at the Judith Wright Arts Centre.

Led by Rachael Archibald, participants will breathe through 3D-printed whistles to create collective trills of oscillating sound that will transform the galleries into an immersive auditory landscape.

Participant places are limited. Registration is essential.
Listeners and viewers are welcome to attend without registration.

A note to participants: Please arrive on time. If you're more than five minutes late, your spot may be given to someone else.

About Breathform

Confusing and uncanny, intriguing and repellent, Max Athans‘ 3D-printed sound sculptures hybridise human and animal, doll and machine. In Breathmachine, a bellows is connected to multiple horns. In Dogwhistle, a human torso is joined to a dog’s head, which conceals a single horn. It suggests an unethical science experiment and recalls the Egyptian god Anubis. The horns in both works are visibly activated using articulated joints and latex lungs, with the works swelling and craning before releasing their semi-musical exhalations. Like early automata, Athans’s sculptures are limited to repetitive gestures, which fill the space with audible breath, living through their ability to keep breathing. Athans is the 2025 recipient of the Jeremy Hynes Award.

About DEMO 2/4

DEMO (short for Demonstration) 2/4 is the second in a series of after-hours art experiments at the Judith Wright Arts Centre, where Brisbane’s creative pulse beats a little louder after dark. The program unfolds into the night with performances, exhibitions, and activations that invite curiosity over formality.

One night only. Two more to come. Stay late. Free, all-ages event.

Demonstrations from Australasian Dance Collective’s Pre-Professional Program, Reverse Garbage, Michelle Le Plastrier, and more.