Echo
This year's Archibald winner Julia Gutman, the youngest winner in 85 years, lights the Opera House sails at Vivid. The idea is that Echo, the nymph who fell in love with Narcissus has fallen into the water and the action takes place inside the pool, animated by Pleasant Company in a way that captures the motions of a dancer. Gutman uses donated textiles which are animated, so Echo stars in a striped T-shirt, with hair made from her mother’s scarf and a face sewn from an old hessian sack.
It's impressive but somehow one of two of my least favourite Sails projections over the past decade. The images and colour palette are repetitive and it has the tone of a memorial. The installation feels like it has a faster cycle time than previous years' Vivid, meaning there is less of it, same for other Vivid projections around Circular Quay. Usually there are clusters of installations but this year they are spread out along the walking line.
Paid events have not gone away. The Dark Spectrum walk through Wynyard's tunnel returns, cost $35+. Last year it was Vivid's most shared social media event which kind of suits each 'room' having a separate photo opportunity. The Domain's Lightscape cost drops from $45 to $28/$38, still expensive but the works are more expansive than Dark Spectrum and there is the outdoor 'atmosphere'. These two events are covered by a multi-year contract between Sony Music and the NSW Government. If Lightscape works financially it may not end, but they'll need to bring the pricing down. Another paid event, Tekno Train, has been added leaving from Railway Square, although getting a techno bashing amidst kaleidoscopic colour projections seems to be one for the kids ($14/$20/$60 family ticket).
The Archibald is an annual best portrait prize, as judged by trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW, probably Australia's most prestigious.
Echo
This year's Archibald winner Julia Gutman, the youngest winner in 85 years, lights the Opera House sails at Vivid. The idea is that Echo, the nymph who fell in love with Narcissus has fallen into the water and the action takes place inside the pool, animated by Pleasant Company in a way that captures the motions of a dancer. Gutman uses donated textiles which are animated, so Echo stars in a striped T-shirt, with hair made from her mother’s scarf and a face sewn from an old hessian sack.
It's impressive but somehow one of two of my least favourite Sails projections over the past decade. The images and colour palette are repetitive and it has the tone of a memorial. The installation feels like it has a faster cycle time than previous years' Vivid, meaning there is less of it, same for other Vivid projections around Circular Quay. Usually there are clusters of installations but this year they are spread out along the walking line.
Paid events have not gone away. The Dark Spectrum walk through Wynyard's tunnel returns, cost $35+. Last year it was Vivid's most shared social media event which kind of suits each 'room' having a separate photo opportunity. The Domain's Lightscape cost drops from $45 to $28/$38, still expensive but the works are more expansive than Dark Spectrum and there is the outdoor 'atmosphere'. These two events are covered by a multi-year contract between Sony Music and the NSW Government. If Lightscape works financially it may not end, but they'll need to bring the pricing down. Another paid event, Tekno Train, has been added leaving from Railway Square, although getting a techno bashing amidst kaleidoscopic colour projections seems to be one for the kids ($14/$20/$60 family ticket).
The Archibald is an annual best portrait prize, as judged by trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW, probably Australia's most prestigious.