Vivid Sydney 2017

Vivid Sydney is a two week video extraveganza held yearly around the beginning of June (winter). This year's felt more like a visual poem. Quite beautiful, but a bit hard for me to get into. Like poetry, you needed to invest in the images put forth on the canvas of the Sydney Opera House. Everything felt slow and had an organic feel. It seemed like you were seeing things growing, as under a microscope or the bed of the sea. That made it less accessible, I felt, than in other years. Don't get me wrong, it was a very nice night, but I enjoyed last year's better. Here are some of my pictures along with a YouTube video from someone else.

The day was lovely with "heaps" (as they say here) of sunshine and a soft breeze. This is the first one I've attended (my fourth!) where the weather was pleasant. Last year, the night was drizzly!

I arrived a bit early to meet my friends Paul and Beryl, for whom I officiated their wedding a bit over a year ago. They now have a little baby girl, "Joni." And this was her first outing! (Mom usually stays home with the baby and they haven't gone out much since she was born.)

Here are some "opening shots" of a lit up Sydney Town Hall as the sun was setting (1); the Opera House before the show (2); some multicolored stools placed at a nearby office building (3); a colorful Sydney Harbor Bridge (4); and the city skyline (5). As you can see, and will see, it is not just the Opera House that is "vivid."

Here are the shots of the Sydney Opera House (6-21). If you pass through them quickly you can see how they morphed, one into the other. (Of course you can see this on the YouTube video, too. In reality, the transitions were a lot slower. My favorite is the jellyfish inspired part (10-12).

Here are some other pieces of lit up art: this sculpture looked electric (22); this was a series of standing glass panels lit in different colors (23) so it looked different depending on from where one viewed it (24); here I am in front of an interactive piece that moved as you waved your arms and lit up various parts of the background (25) and Paul, Beryl and Joni in front of the same work (26); this was a lovely and simple display as light cords hung from a clothesline into the water, though they looked like multicolored fountains rising from the bay (27-28); a selfie with my friends(29); the Contemporary Art Museum decked out for the show (30); this is the same building with a more Georgia O'Keefe, painterly look (31); you could walk around these lit up boxes (32-33); these were swings that played music and changed colors as you swung on them (34); and this electric "geyser" looked very cool in person (35-36).

This next series of images were projected on a buildingmaking it look like it was covered in portholes (37-43). These would open and shut and various things would appear, such as eyeballs, fish or clock gears. Very fun. This is another interactive building (44-47). People in front of it would stomp on various buttons on the ground causing things in the projection to move or change.

Some more micellaneous images of the skyline (48); a lit up monolith (49); this dog had a lit collar and a glow-in-the-dark vest that reminded me of Blanco, my brother's dog (50).

Later on we explored some of the stuff in the rest of the city, walking to Darling Harbor. Along the way we discoverd this alley, cleverly transformed into an undersea jellyfish hangout (51). Through the alley, we were greeted by deep sea divers in ancient diving suits; lit up cotton balls became bubbles from their tanks (52). And this was a silent "rave" where you were given lit up headphones that played music; then you danced under this giant inverted pyramidal shape with moving images projected upon it (53-54). Here is a very cool walk atmospherically lit up (55-58). I think I liked this best, apart from the Opera House. The walk stretched long and dark and the lights on the ground moved and left a wonderful, playful feeling. I enjoyed it very much.

This was aonther interactive piece. You can see it better in the video (59-60). This path snakes along the Darling Harbor side, just on the other side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge (61). On this side, you can't see the Opera House. The walkway was lit with a hypnotic watery effect, like light on the bottom of a pool. Glowing blue manta rays floated above you. Here is a series of images taken around Darling Harbor (62-66). We ended the night with a short fountain show lit by lights, fire, and lasers (67-68). Again you can see it better in the YouTube video.

Finally, with her parent's permission, I share a heavenly smile from little Joni (69). She was very interested in my beard as she'd never seen one before. Isn't she sweet?

Attached is also a YouTube Video from their site.(I think it should play.) I did not see everything the video shares from Vivid Sydney 2017, as you will see; it was shot all over the city in various locales. Note that some of the video is sped up. In reality, everything had an abstract, almost surreal feel, slow and purposeful. The video doesn't capture that.

Well, that's it! I'm off for a month, now. I will catch you when I return in July. Pray for my safe travels…Be good!