Talk & Performance | vegetable.machine.animal
27 November 2026

For this special event Te Whanganui-a-tara Wellington-based musician Kieran Monaghan will present a talk exploring some of the developmental ideas and sound-thinking behind vegetable.machine.animal (VMA), a biosignal-informed attempt at interspecies musical exploration. VMA aims explore the intersections between spontaneous performance, electronic music, and science-informed inter-species collaboration. This talk will then be followed by a performance by VMA.

vegetable.machine.animal (VMA) is an interspecies improvisational trio from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Led by drummer Kieran Monaghan, VMA transforms the electrical signals of living plants and fungi into sound, fusing modular synths and live percussion in performances that are spontaneous, rhythmic, and unpredictable. A Visiting Scholar at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, Monaghan brings decades of experience across punk, free jazz, and experimental scenes, with VMA performing at festivals, residencies, and venues across Aotearoa and internationally.