“where Christain Marclay finishes Lucas Abela begins”- Gonzo Circus

Initially classed as a turntablist, Lucas Abela's work has rarely resembled anything in the field, early feats saw him stabb vinyl with Kruger style stylus gloves, bound on electro acoustic trampolines, drag race the pope across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, perform deaf defying duet duels with amplified samurai swords, hospitalised by high powered turntables constructed from sewing machine motors, record chance John Peel sessions with the Flaming Lips, become Otomo Yoshihides' favourite entry into his Ground Zero remix competition; 'Consummation' (even though instead of sampling the CD he destroyed it using amplified skewers!).

Today these turntable roots have became almost unrecognisable, evolving into his infamous glass instrument, the shards being nothing more than a giant diamond tipped stylus you vibrate with your mouth. He has been perfecting the instrument since it's invention in 2003, perfroming internationally as Justice Yeldham and with his glass/ drums/ piano trio, Rice Corpse.

He also founded of the irreverent dualpLOVER organisation, promoting, touring and releasing stark music from Australia and Abroad. After a long performance career his ideas have recently crossed over into sound installation with works like the Vinyl Rally (RC cars raced on vinyl), Mix Tape (accessible audio tape) and Pinball Pianola (Pinball/Piano hybrid) that highlight his desire to create interactive installations for musical play.

Lucas Abela performs at home, film by Vincent Moon.

Photographs (click images for slideshow)

2013
CTM, Berlin, Germany
CENTRO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO, Quito, Ecuador

2012
Objet inusité, Eastern Bloc, Montréal, Canada
Supersonic Festival, Birmingham, UK
Sound Circus OUTBACK NSW tour, Australia
LÜFTEN, Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Impetus Festival, Belfort, France
Sonic Protest @ Palais De Tokyo, Paris, France
Kontact sonoreS, Chalon sur Saône, France
MONA FOMA, Hobart, Tasmania

2011
Trama, Porto, Portugal
TodaysArt, Brussels, Belguim
TodaysArt, Den Haag, The Netherlands
Donau Festival, Krems, Austria.
           Mix Tape, Tin Sheds Gallery (innovate – curate winner), Sydney, Australia
Overground @ Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne, Australia.

2010
Neon Marshmallow Festival, Chicago, USA
Superdeluxe@Artspace, Biennale of Sydney, Australia
Vivid Festival (Curated by Lou Reed), Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
Vinyl Arcade, NIME international conference, UTS, Sydney, Australia

2009
Colour Out Of Space, Brighton, England.
Todays Art, Den Haag, The Netherlands.
Donau Festival, Krems, Austria.
Camp A Low Hum, Homedale, New Zealand.
NOW NOW, Blue Mountains, NSW.

2008
gocha festival, Kawachinagano, Japan
PAN (Performance Art Network) ASIA Festival, Seoul, South Korea
Supersonic, Birmingham, UK
Bad Bonn Kilbi, Düdingen, Switzerland
SXSW (load showcase) Austin, USA
INC, Miami, USA

2007
Unsound Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
Donau Festival, Krems, Austria.
Sonic Protest, Paris, France.
Observatori Festival, Valencia, Spain
Le Weekend, Stirling, Scotland
Venn Festival, Bristol, England
Liquid Architecture, Melbourne, Victoria

2006
Tiny Noise, Sofia, Bulgaria
Electrograph, Athens, Greece
Franko B, Colchester, England
Unsound Festival, Wagga Wagga, NSW
Straight Out of Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland

2005
No Trend; London, England
Les Voutes, Paris, France.
Ertz, San Sebastian, Spain
Lausanne Underground Film Festival, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ekko Festival, Bergen, Norway
Unsound Festival, Krakow, Poland
Jon Roses'Panikkin (The Melbourne International Arts Festival), Melbourne, Victoria
Liquid Architecture, Melbourne, Victoria
This Is Not Art, Newcastle, NSW
No Fun Festival, New York, USA
GAS (Glass Arts Society) Conference, Adelaide, South Australia

2004
Ideal Festival, Goteborg, Sweden
Transmediale, Berlin, Germany
Noise Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia
LEM Festival (Caixaforum), Barcelona, Spain
Brake My Brick (Liverpool Biennial), Liverpool, England

2003
Turnament, Los Angeles, USA
Now Now, Sydney, NSW

1998
String Em Up!, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Exiles, Berlin, Germany

1996-97-2002-05
EAR stage Big Day Out, Sydney, NSW

1995-96-97-98-2000-01
What Is Music?, Sydney / Melbourne, NSW / Victoria

2012
Jon Rose, People's Republic, Sydney, Australia

2011
Will Guthrie, Emma Albury, Overground @ Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne, Australia.
Jon Rose, Now Now, Sydney, Australia

2010
Zach Hill, Homeless#1, Home Nightclub, Sydney, Australia.

2009
Kevin Blechdom, Christopher Fleeger, Falls Festival, Marion Bay, Tasmania.
Count Paul Grabowsky, Sean Baxter, Empress Hotel, Melbourne.
>Sean Baxter, NOW NOW Festival, Blue Mountains, NSW.

2008
Li Zenghui, Yang Yang, Rice Corpse, Beijing, China

2006
Anthony Pateras, Make It Up Club (Fringe Festival), Melbourne, Victoria

2005
Maja Ratkje, Oslo, Norway
Jon Roses' Panikkin (Melbourne Festival), Melbourne, Victoria
Robin Fox, Ding Dong Dang, Melbourne, Victoria
Alex Davies, Lanfranchis, Sydney, NSW

2003
Chris Abrahams, Oren Ambarchi, Dr Martin Ng, Robin Fox, Now Now, Sydney, NSW

2000
Oren Ambarchi, Robbie Avenaim, Dr Martin Ng, Dave Grohl & Curse Ov Dialect (performing as Testicle Candy) Big Day Out, Melbourne, Victoria.

1999
Yamatsuka Eye, Noise Ramones Remixes, Sydney, NSW

1998
Otomo Yoshihide, Bob Ostertag, Jon Rose, String Em Up, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Flaming Lips, Peel Session, BBC Studios, London, England
Masami Akita (Merzbow), Tokyo, Japan
Secret Cheifs 3, San Francisco, USA

1997
Deerhoof, The Cooler, New York, USA.
Noddingturd Fan (Trey Spruance), Sydney What Is Music Festival.

1995
Severins Erotometre

Liberation (2012) French

Mess and Noise (2011)

WIRE interview (2009)

signal to noise article (2009)

WHITE FUNGUS interview (2008)

plan b magazine interview (2008)

inpress interview (2008)

CMJ (2005)

the age (2005)

Sydney Morning Herald (2003)

cyclic defrost article(2000)

australia adlib(includes video and audio downloads + interview from no frills 2000)

ujaku magazine interview (1998)

bananafish interview (1997)

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Video from Arte TV (German)