This artwork was hung above a walkway at Circular Quay during the Vivid Sydney festival. The spatial installation takes the theme of this yea’s festival “Let there be Light” to hark back to the beginning of time, before city light pollution dimmed our view of scattered stars. “Crystallized” was created by Andrew Daly and Katharine Fife from 4000 edge-lit acrylic, recyclable rods like a canopy of glittering stalactites in a cave. The programmed LEDs gave a fluctuating colourful abstraction of a starry night sky that you could wander beneath.
This show on the wharves around Campbells Cove at The Rocks was a spectacle of dancing fire and music, during the Vivid Sydney festival. “FireDance” was created by Australian pyrotechnics company Howard & Sons, which has produced some of the world’s most memorable fireworks shows since 1922. The show involved 40 firejets, that flare and flame in a choreographed balletic performance to the Stravinsky’s classical “Firebird Suite” and Katy Perry’s pop hit “Firework”, remixed by Peewee Ferris.
The Sydney Opera House is illuminated every year for the Vivid Sydney festival. This year’s “Lighting the Sails” was created by a team from France called Superbien. These designs were rather more difficult to photograph than in previous years because they were so animated.
This heritage building lit up for the Vivid Sydney festival was the Officers House in colonial days. The “Officers House” design was created by Vessi Ivanova and Thomas Stevens from Australia. The building was painted with dynamic light colours inside and outside, which constantly changed.
This row of heritage terrace houses in George Street at The Rocks was lit up for the Vivid Sydney festival. “The Georges” was a design by Gordon Watson, using waves of colour to highlight both the diversity of the residents who lived here over the years and the ever changing population as older residents move on and new dwellers arrive.
These artworks, located around Circular Quay and at The Rocks, were part of the Vivid Sydney festival. “Light Wave Action” (top)was designed by Haron Robson’s lightmatters team in Australia in collaboration with Bow Jaruwangsanti from Thailand, Kristy Philp from Fiji, Christa Van Zoeren from the Netherlands. Visitors could wander through this wave-like sculpture for a multi-sensory experience, inspired by nature, reflecting the subtle colour of twilight skies and paying homage to the sea – representing nature’s power in the movement and formation of waves. “School” (bottom) designed by Jon Voss of Australia was a large group of fish seemingly swimming in a continuous circle of variable light through the limbs of a tree. Each fish gives off a soft glow intensified by the rough-cut edges of its skeletal form. Individually, they emit a low light but together as a school, the light is intensified. It imitates the shimmering light and movement of schooling fish but floating here in an urban environment.
These artworks, located around Circular Quay and at The Rocks, were part of the Vivid Sydney festival. “Melody” (top) was created by Singapore’s Sun Yu-Li. This free flowing ribbon form, beams light from inside its perforated stainless steel sculptural frame. It implies the rhyme of Sydney Harbour in Circular Quay and the music emanating from the Sydney Opera House as part of the magical precinct you are located in. “aLf” or “artificial Light form” (bottom) was created by Australia’s Victoria Bolton, Kim Nguyen Ngoc, Catherine Kuok, Guy Hanson. It is described as an artificial biomorphic entity that glows when you physically interact with him. He sleeps with a subdued blue pulse when he feels alone and when awakened by your presence engages in a visual conversation with a boisterous red pulse.