From Andrew Frost…
Since its inception the City of Sydney’s annual Laneway Art projects has been a mixed bag of events, installations and pop up galleries. While some might not have always hit the mark these temporary art exhibitions have added some contemporary art culture to the commercial heart of the city.
Following on from previous years Laneway Art 2012 has a number of installations and events including Paired Gold by Kim Connerton and Stephen Collier Architects – an installation that transforms Wilmot Street into a golden avenue thanks to gold Mylar sheeting – and Augmenting Spatiality – a sound and light installation on Abercormbie Lane by Turkish creative team RAP PAR that links the architectural uniqueness of the laneway to the streets of Istanbul.
In Barrack Street is Caroline Rothwell’s bronze sculptures Youngsters, a pair of bronze statues of hoodie-wearing figures. The sculptures are, according to curators Vi Girgis and Adam Porter, “…a continuum of the themes that Rothwell has been exploring in her recent practice. The surreal and fictitious encroaches on the realistic and scientific.” The strange and playful presence of the statues – one in contemplative repose, the other doing a handstand next to the entrance to an adjacent Burberry store – invite the viewer to consider the phantom figures perhaps as apparitions and decode their meaning.
In the City Wilderness Trail is artists Diego Bonetto, Tega Brain and Mark Gerada offer wildlife tours around the laneways and nearby streets proving that the apparently lifeless tarmac of the central business district is teeming with life. Using the model of the national park tour, these guided walks take in the environments of the streets with helpful signage and descriptive texts derived from local experts, and illustrated and displayed to educate tour groups and casual passersby.
The tours depart from Town Hall meeting on the side steps of Town Hall in Sydney Square.
Fri 28 Sept: 12:30pm – 2pm.
Sat 29 Sept: 11am – 1pm.
Sat 6 Oct: 11am – 1pm.
Fri 12 Oct: 12:30pm – 2pm.
Sat 20 Oct: 11am – 1pm.
Sun 27 Jan: 11am – 1pm.
Until January 31, 2013.
Laneway Art 2012, Sydney CBD.
Pic: Vi Girgis.
