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Posted On: October 13th 2026, 12:00 am
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Karina Utomo in ‘Ineffable’. @karinautomo
In Kuala Jagad (Confluence of Realms) (2025), Utomo brings together the sonic frequencies of a worker bee’s wingbeat, the human voice and the gong. Drawing on Javanese cosmology, the work considers the intersection of sound and matter, exploring the resonant properties of bronze, an ‘elastic’ alloy of copper and tin, elements of stellar origin, within an amalgam of material and immaterial realms.
Suspended from hand-formed serpentine chains, the gong is activated by voice. An audio exciter transmits a vocal composition directly through the bronze, transforming the gong into a resonant body. The interlinking forms reference festooning, a collective behaviour in which worker bees suspend themselves in living chains, a phenomenon whose precise purpose remains elusive despite extensive scientific inquiry.
PERFORMANCE: ‘HEOLSTOR’ — KARINA UTOMO + LEWIS GITTUS
Saturday 17 October, 3pm
Presented as part of ‘Ineffable’, ‘Heolstor’ brings Utomo’s extra-normal vocal practice into dialogue with Gittus’ explorations of synthesis, resonance and corporeal sound.
‘Ineffable’ continues until 24 October.
—
Images: Karina Utomo, ‘Kuala Jagad (Confluence of Realms)’, 2025. Single-channel audio, cast bronze chain, high-tin bronze gong, gongsmiths: Redy, Sarwanto, Gunadi, Tukiman, Sehat, Purnomo, Sukirdi, Srimanto. 120 x 60 x 20 cm. Commissioned by Monash University Museum of Art, Naarm/Melbourne. Audio component from ‘Swara Sewu’, Karina Utomo and Cūrā8 (Kim Donaldson & Sean Lowry).
Installation view, ‘Ineffable’, Project8, 2026. Photography: Lucy Foster @lu_spent
In Kuala Jagad (Confluence of Realms) (2025), Utomo brings together the sonic frequencies of a worker bee’s wingbeat, the human voice and the gong. Drawing on Javanese cosmology, the work considers the intersection of sound and matter, exploring the resonant properties of bronze, an ‘elastic’ alloy of copper and tin, elements of stellar origin, within an amalgam of material and immaterial realms.
Suspended from hand-formed serpentine chains, the gong is activated by voice. An audio exciter transmits a vocal composition directly through the bronze, transforming the gong into a resonant body. The interlinking forms reference festooning, a collective behaviour in which worker bees suspend themselves in living chains, a phenomenon whose precise purpose remains elusive despite extensive scientific inquiry.
PERFORMANCE: ‘HEOLSTOR’ — KARINA UTOMO + LEWIS GITTUS
Saturday 17 October, 3pm
Presented as part of ‘Ineffable’, ‘Heolstor’ brings Utomo’s extra-normal vocal practice into dialogue with Gittus’ explorations of synthesis, resonance and corporeal sound.
‘Ineffable’ continues until 24 October.
—
Images: Karina Utomo, ‘Kuala Jagad (Confluence of Realms)’, 2025. Single-channel audio, cast bronze chain, high-tin bronze gong, gongsmiths: Redy, Sarwanto, Gunadi, Tukiman, Sehat, Purnomo, Sukirdi, Srimanto. 120 x 60 x 20 cm. Commissioned by Monash University Museum of Art, Naarm/Melbourne. Audio component from ‘Swara Sewu’, Karina Utomo and Cūrā8 (Kim Donaldson & Sean Lowry).
Installation view, ‘Ineffable’, Project8, 2026. Photography: Lucy Foster @lu_spent
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