Culture

Vivid Sydney: Lighting Up The Harbour

by Jordan Yerman | June 1, 2009 at 09:50 am

1293 views | 14 Recommendations | 1 comment

The waterfront around Sydney's Circular Quay was transformed last week to present Vivid Sydney, an art and music festival that's touted as the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

Luminous was the not-quite-aptly-named musical element of the festival, bringing bands from all over the world, including Ladytron and the Battles.

To the outside observer, the centerpiece of Vivid Sydney was Brian Eno's projected digitial installation 77 Million Paintings, which lit up the sails of the Sydney Opera House; this was also the flagship item of Smart Light Sydney, the series of light and art installations around the CBD.

The element that caught my eye was Fire Water, which recreates an exploding convict ship: The Three Bees exploded in Sydney Harbour in 1814, recreated for the first time this year, highlighting an core element in Sydney's-- and Australia's-- history.

Creative Sydney consisted of a symposium of creative and industry types weighing in on issues such as international communication, intellectual property, and getting business done in the new economy.

Harnessing ‘self-generating software’, three hundred of Eno’s hand-drawn images are cut-up and rearranged to form an infinite number of variations. Completely random, entirely original, constantly evolving, the results come to life on luminous screens in a brilliant display of colour, shape and form. To complete the experience, layers of ambient sound interweave to create a complete piece of music.