As installations and arts events reshape a city’s cultural topography through Art & About Sydney, people are invited to adventure through a new and unfamiliar urban landscape.
Streets, laneways, parks, intersections, buildings, and even playgrounds will mix with more traditional venues to host a variety of creative happenings as part of the City of Sydney’s upcoming public art festival, Art & About Sydney. These cultural opportunities will run from mid-September to mid-October, filling Sydney with new stories and artistic experiences that are sure to create a lasting impression.
From curated tours to solo undertakings, there are a number of ways for art-goers to find the cultural goods in a gallery that spans a city.
The opening night event, Friday Night Live, offers punters a vintage bus tour of installations and exhibition sites of the festival. This is an easy way to get an overview of some of the major things on offer.
One installation that will be visited is FIELD, created by Alexandra Heaney and Angus Muir from Auckland company Out of the Dark. FIELD will be a mammoth work comprised of 324 mirrors to be installed in Hyde Park.
‘FIELD is a concept that brings the surreal into a public space, in an approachable, accessible and distinctly unique way,’ said Out of the Dark Co-Creative Director Angus Muir.
The installation is certain to mesmerise viewers no matter what the hour may be. According to Muir, ‘By day the intense grid of mirrors celebrates its environment, creating an analogue interaction with the public. By night a series of the posts will illuminate extending the installation’s activation of Hyde Park into the evening in a unique manner.’
The significance of its presence in a park with over 225 years of history is not lost on Muir. ‘We hope people take time to reflect on the space around them, people around them, things that have happened in the past and things around the corner.’
As the festival kicks on, there are many other tour events for curious punters to choose from.
Art and A-Bike on Saturday 28 September is a guided bike ride that also explores some of the installations and artworks of the festival. The tour starts at Bonza Bikes in The Rocks, and provides bikes and helmets for all participants.
Highlights visited will include the Cracking Art Group’s Snailovation, an installation of 24 giant snails made from recyclable plastic, I Think I Can, a large scale interactive model railway installation at Central Station, the Sydney Life and Little Sydney Lives large-scale photographic exhibitions at Hyde Park, as well as the installation FIELD, mentioned above.
More bike action is also on offer via The Common Wheel, run by Gilbert Grace and ARTcycle Inc. A series of curated bike rides have been scheduled to take place, including an artist rolling sketch tour and a ride integrated with a Randomner device that lets you create, test and document your route.
The rides are linked to the Culture at Work artist residencies through The Accelerator Gallery, which aims to connect art and science in innovative ways. An exhibition and online site will document all events.
Keeping with the outdoors theme, In the Fullness of Time is a curated audio-tour set in the Royal Botanic Gardens. ‘In the Fullness of Time is a piece that is about the experimentation of splitting, bending, stopping, and shifting time through simple actions. The Garden’s history, its natural and man-made architecture, its proximity to other landmarks such as the harbour and CBD, and the wildlife itself all provide a context for a work that explores time,’ said creator Sandra Carluccio.
Carluccio’s practice involves making location-based works with the site in a way that meaningfully informs content and influences how an audience moves through a space. ‘By doing the walk I hope that their (the audience’s) internal world is emphasised or even altered by what I am drawing them to do or seek in the external world of the Gardens,’ said Carluccio.
While you’re in the Royal Botanic Garden, you can also visit the Artisans Sculpture Walk. 12 sculptures from contemporary artists crafted from steel, bamboo, timber, string and plastic have been placed through the Garden and are free to view and even available to buy.
‘Guided by a map the viewer can follow the path to discover the works or stumble across them at will. Hopefully they will make other discoveries along the way and be able to relax and enjoy the Garden for what it is, a place of contemplation and delight,’ said curator Julieanne Mills.
The event is linked to the Artisans in the Gardens exhibition, which will showcase jewellery, glass, ceramic and textile works from established and emerging artists. ‘With over 50 artists exhibiting this year, there will be a huge diversity of work from some of our very talented artists,’ said Mills.
For more sculpture walks, The Australian Architecture Association will also be hosting a series of two hour walks through the centre of the city, highlighting sculptures from the colonial period to works of the 20th and 21st century.
Adventurous punters who are willing to branch out on their own will find a range of cultural opportunities through the Escape Early on Wednesdays website. Devised by East Sydney Creative, the program offers exhibitions, installations, yarn bombing, cinema, talks and workshops every Wednesday from 5pm during Art and About. These events will be hosted by 20 creative organisations within the areas of Darlinghurst, Paddington, East Sydney and Surry Hills.
‘The program will offer the chance to engage with artists through artist talks, discover new artists and designers through exhibitions and open studios, and the opportunity to create your own works with expert practitioners in areas ranging from typeface design to yarn bombing,’ said Belinda Brooke from East Sydney Creative.
Highlights of Escape Early on Wednesdays include Hide and Seek; an activation of the Hill Street area, Pop Up Cinema; a secret cinema installation in the Metro Screen Studios and Tacky-Tastic Tiaras; offering creative folk a chance to make a Spring headband from their own mementos with Brand X in the basement of Zoo Vintage Emporium, Surry Hills. A visit to the East Sydney Creative website shows you what’s happening and when.
Stepping back from tours and embracing events, Art & About Sydney has a full program lined up from 20 September to 20 October, with exhibitions, talks, workshops, and family events regularly taking place within the art-activated city.
Creative Director for Art & About Sydney’s Gill Minervini is confident people will see a new side of Sydney through the festival.
‘I think it’s an event that really looks at Sydney from every angle and I think that’s what’s so fantastic about it.’
With a theme of ‘private lives … public places’ influencing the creative work on show, it would seem that even the savviest Sydneysider can expect the unexpected from Art & About Sydney this year.
Art & About Sydney will run through Sydney from 20 September to 20 October. For information about installations and events visit the Art & About Sydney website.
(Pictured: Artist impression of Out of the Dark’s ‘Field’)
