Beyond the Bones
Beyond the Bones
Discover how movement becomes music in a new type of performance bringing together accessible technology, sound, visuals and creative expression.
Developed through Monash SensiLab’s research into accessible music-making, AirSticks are gestural instruments that turn movement into sound, enabling music to be created through different ways of moving.
In Beyond the Bones, emerging artist Nicole Tsourlenes and mentor Dr Melinda Smith are joined by SensiLab artist-technologist Steph O’Hara, percussionist Dr Alon Ilsar and violist Biddy Connor. Together, they combine AirSticks, improvised music, sound design and responsive visuals drawn from Nicole’s photographic practice.
Presented as part of Alter State 2026, a disability-led arts initiative celebrating Deaf and Disabled artists, creativity and culture, the work explores new possibilities for communication and accessible music-making.
The work also builds on earlier SensiLab collaborations in accessible music-making, including Dr Smith and Dr Ilsar’s Green Room Award-winning Conduit Bodies, which brought AirSticks, percussion, movement and visuals together in live performance.
Artists and researchers
Nicole Tsourlenes
AirSticks, co-composition
Nicole is a Melbourne-based photographic and digital artist and founding member of Nimbus Studio at Arts Access Victoria. Her practice explores perception, identity and connection across photography, digital art and live performance. In Beyond the Bones, she performs with AirSticks and contributes to co-composition, bringing her photographic practice into the work’s responsive visuals.
Dr Melinda Smith
AirSticks, co-composition
Dr Smith is a poet, dancer, musician and visual artist living with cerebral palsy, and a mentor to young people with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs. Since 2020, she has collaborated with SensiLab on accessible music-making using AirSticks, including the Green Room Award-winning Conduit Bodies. In Beyond the Bones, she performs with AirSticks and contributes to co-composition.
Steph O’Hara
Sound design, instrument design, co-composition
Steph O’Hara is an artist-technologist and researcher with more than 25 years’ experience developing interactive gestural music technologies for performance, education and accessibility. His PhD at Monash SensiLab explores AirKit, a modular system for gestural interaction and collaborative music-making focused on embodiment, inclusion and play. In Beyond the Bones, Steph contributes sound and instrument design and co-composition.
Dr Alon Ilsar
Percussion, co-composition
Dr Ilsar is an ARC Industry Fellow at Monash SensiLab, drummer and instrument designer whose practice-based research explores AirSticks and accessible music-making. His work investigates how gestural technologies can support new forms of musical creativity and participation. In Beyond the Bones, he performs percussion and contributes to co-composition.
Biddy Connor
Viola, co-composition
Biddy Connor is a composer, musician and Artistic Director of The Letter String Quartet, known for expanding the sonic possibilities of string performance. A 2025 APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund recipient, she has performed at major stages and festivals including Sydney Opera House, Dark Mofo and WOMADelaide, and collaborated with artists including Richard Frankland, Mick Harvey, Jen Cloher and John Cale. In Beyond the Bones, Biddy performs viola and contributes to co-composition.