A mini adventure to Cockatoo Island
I'm slowly recovering from the shock received by leaving the warm and sunny embrace of Queensland to return to beautiful Sydney, only to find that it's cold and rainy. Last weekend we decided it was time to stop being soft, swap the snuggly ugglies (ugg boots) for walking shoes and brave the unruly elements. So we set off on a little adventure to Cockatoo Island to get reacquainted with the harbour and check out some of the Biennale of Sydney. Steeped in history, it's such a fantastic place for industrial and peeling paint inspiration - and that's not even the art installations!
Zilla LeuteneggerZilla Leutenegger
The real stand out exhibit for me was Zilla Leutenegger (pictured above). Using a combination of drawings, projections and sound, she brings life to the rooms of an abandoned and seriously run down house. In this one I snapped (not a very good photo sorry!), the girl and the light beam are a projected animation. She just sits there casually, repeatedly pushing the light so it swings back and forth and the light beam is perfectly aligned to move along the line of the static, hand drawn picture. It's kind of eery but so peaceful and hypnotic at the same time. It creates mixed emotions as it feels more like you're sticky beaking through someone's home, but you know it's ok because it's not a real person, but then her presence is very strong. I wish now I actually filmed a bit of it but I guess, if you're in Sydney or can get to Sydney, you'll just have to visit the island and see for yourself :-) It's a lovely ferry ride and a nice day out (even in the rain).
I seemed to take a lot of photos of the buildings and not the artworks! Here are a handful of my favourites.
I've always been a fan of aging things, peeling paint, things with scars and dints, that carry history and have character from being loved and used. This is great though - it's fabric! painted to look like old bricks. Cool huh? I'm not sure if that was part of an installation or just to make the wall partition look in keeping with the rest of the place.
The rest of the pics below are just random shots of yummy textures, interesting patterns and colours.
