WIP Sharing | Agents of Malarkey

“Agents of Malarkey“ is a performative project developed by Anish Cherian and Padmanabhan, blending speculative research and sonic world-building that emerges from the absurd and the nonsensical. Where the extraordinary becomes ordinary. Within this theatrical experience, rivers may transform into humans, towering trees might become grass overnight, and beings on Mars embark on the construction of colonies.

Central to “Agents of Malarkey” is the exploration of the bizarre and inexplicable elements of our world, conveyed through poetic narratives, mesmerizing soundscapes, and experimental visuals, inviting viewers to delve into the captivating and whimsical world of malarkey.

About the Artists: 

Padmanabhan, originally an Industrial Engineer, developed a passion for sound and music technology that began with a simple curiosity. He often tinkers with algorithms to create generative music and soundscapes, while also trying to prevent his laptop from crashing. Using the stage name beatnyk, he has performed at various events and venues such as GitHub, Goa Music Lab, Unusual London, and multiple Algoraves. As a member of Whales For Climate, he is part of a project that uses TechArt and AI to raise awareness about climate change, which was launched during the BeFantastic Fellowship 2021. Currently, Padmanabhan can be found working as a sound designer on various independent projects and collaborating with other artists.

Anish Cherian is a Chennai based interdisciplinary artist and co-founder of Studio Clutter (@studioclutter), a woodwork-art studio. They use an assemblage of mediums from painting, architecture, performance, creative writing, and technology to articulate their practice. In their current work boundaries between nature, human technology are blurred in affirmative communion, to record memories excluded from the archive and by extension the “official” narrative of our reality. These minor archives inform a speculative post-human world they create through drawings, listening sessions, stories, and music. They see collaboration and kinship between species and allies as integral in forming new languages and speculative possibilities.