Sydney May-June 2014 (11 photos, 1 video). This is part 8 of my VIVID Sydney series.
Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
And I don’t know if I’m being foolish
Don’t know if I’m being wise
But it’s something that I must believe in
And it’s there when I look in your eyes
“Love Is in the Air” is a 1977 song sung by John Paul Young. It was the theme song to Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 debut feature film Strictly Ballroom. And so this year at the Vivid Festival of Sydney they had an outdoor dance floor with the words “Strictly Sydney” and they played that song over and over and over again. Not the best shots but these couples were really dynamic and swinging it, as opposed to most others I saw just jiggling up and down and taking selfies.
Between the major displays, there was a small fairground-like area. This year’s festival had a more interactive and party atmosphere than previous years.
The Pool. More than 100 interactive circular platforms sit side by side. Each pad is independent and simultaneously interacts with and ‘listens’ to its environment, adjusting its output according to your movements. It senses where you place your feet, how heavily you land, and how quickly you leap and bound.
Play Me! returned this year. A 3D-mapped projection transforms the façade of Customs House into a series of massive ‘musical sculptures’. You select one of the ‘musical sculptures’ from a touch screen, get onto a platform in front of Customs House and ‘play’ the sculpture to music, bringing it to life in glorious torrents of ever-changing colour, light, form and sound.
Here’s a short 27 second video for anyone interested: Play Me!
Ray is an interactive, talking light sculpture and the first ever solar-powered installation at Vivid Sydney. Festival-goers interact with Ray by pulling on ropes located in charging pods. From their hands, light streams upwards to the summit of the sculpture, then spirals downward in a display of colour, pattern, sound and raw solar power. In turn, Ray translates live data feeds into colourful conversations through his website and social media channels.
Cellular Tesselation is an architectural installation that responds to movements, creating an ever-shifting space of patterned and immersive light. The artwork ‘reads’ the proximity and number of inhabitants inside the pavilion, and feeds this information back to you by adjusting its light output. The pavilion comes alive as more people flock inside.
Colour the Bridge by selecting a section of the bridge to light up, choose your own colour and watch as your illuminated creation brings to life the grey arch and spans of this iconic piece of Australian architecture.
And now for some Gwatuitous …
… wascally …
… wabbit photos.
Thanks for seeing the sights of Vivid Sydney with me. The finale next week.
…
My previous VIVID Festival of Sydney photography:
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (7)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (6)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (5)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (4)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (3)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (2)
VIVID 2014: Random VIVIDness 2014 (1)
VIVID 2013: Lights. Camera. Action!
VIVID 2013: Random Scenes of VIVIDness
VIVID 2012: Light the Night
Can’t wait for the finale. Thank you so much Draco for this beautiful introduction into Sydney’s Vivid Show.
Thank you Erwin. Glad you’ve enjoyed the show so far. 🙂
Oooh, you’re killing me with those wabbits!
Those scwewy wabbits were iwwesistible. 🙂
I haven’t got tired of this series so far. For this set, love the Customs House projections. Looks similar to projections on Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station during White Night. Did you take part in any of these interactive activities?
Looking forward to the finale. You’re gonna close it all with a big bang of pictures, I know it. Don’t disappoint, Dragon 😉
Some I did, and some I didn’t. 🙂 You’ve got the weekend to imagine what the finale will be, but as P.T. Barnum said, “Give the people what they want”. 🙂
Ah, suspense. Waiting. I don’t like waiting. But I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait to see the finale through your eyes. Can’t wait 🙂
No choice but to wait. 🙂
The VIVID Festival appears to be an amazing explosion of artistic creativity and electronic stimulation. You must have been exhausted when it rolled to a close!
It was good to get back to normal mode, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted. 🙂
:O Wow again… I really like the pool and the Cellular Tesselation! 😀 If i could be there, i’d stay there for days…hehehe. Thank you for sharing this 😀
Thanks. It was great seeing all the colours changing in hue and intensity in response to human interaction. I don’t remember exactly, but I went at least 6 times. 🙂
Lignum, thanks once again for taking me through such a wonderful vivid tour! Those wabbits always make me smile, but the “Play me” show was fantastic! Great images!
Thank you. The participants had a lot of bravado to get up in front of the crowds and dance on “Play Me”, but people queued for it and everyone got a round of applause. All part of the festival atmosphere.
ahh, good… I haven’t missed the finale 😀 what can I say, amazing series… !!
Thank you Alex. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this series.
I LOVE all these interacting displays – such fun! Does it cost to do any of this? I’d love to join in. Your photos are amazing!
Thanks. There were a lot of other installations that I haven’t shown that interacted in many ways. One I didn’t photograph, was where you stood in a certain spot, made a pose, and your figure would be turned into a galaxy of stars and projected onto a wall. It was all a lot of fun, and FREE. 🙂
Sounds fantastic. I may consider visiting Sydney in winter – is it on every June? I was in Sydney in June 2003, but didn’t know anything about this event.
This was the 6th year of the event. It runs for 18 nights and always ends on the Queen’s Birthday public holiday Monday which next year will be June 8. Check the vivid sydney website closer to the date for details of what to see and where to find them.
Will do. I must ask my son if he has ever been to it. He won’t have this year as too busy with a new premature baby, but I can’t believe he hasn’t seen it in other years.
I think I’m leaving this comment on the post. It’s hard to tell! I love the pics here. Very nice!
Thank you Laura.
You”re welcome! I think my issue is sometimes I’m doing this on my phone so it’s hard to see much….at my age. 😛
I’m not a fan of the wordpress app on phones. As most people I follow are photographers, I prefer to look at the images on my iMac screen. Everything is a lot clearer and sharper. I don’t even like browsing the web on my phone. Everything’s too small. 🙂
That is so true. I try to view the photos on my computer because you are right, they are hard to see so small. But sometimes I have to maximize my time lol.
These are unimaginable photos. Leya was right, being there probably won’t be better than your photos. You really captured the joyfulness of these dancers. The Ray, Cellular Tesselation, bridge… are all magazine-cover quality photos.
Can’t imagine how many hours you’ve spent on this series. Many, many thanks to you, Dragon!
Thank you so much Amy. I spent several hours at the event, and it was all fun and hard to leave. Regarding image editing, I try to keep it real and usually spend about 5-10 minutes per image. 🙂
Admittedly, I don’t know much about photography techniques, but I know you don’t mess with editing (no need to). I meant the long process your spent to capture these perfect images. Hope I can find a big screen iMac to enjoy the last one while taking my business trip next week. 🙂
Mostly it’s just having the camera set up and ready to shoot on instinct. With the tripod shots, I set up, shoot some test shots, make adjustments and then when it’s how I want it, I just watch and enjoy the show and click when I see a nice scene. Entirely pleasurable. 🙂 Have a great friday and weekend ahead.
Wow, that interactive dance floor looks like great fun … although the blue tessellated sculpture is a bit like my recurring teenage bad dream !
I hate to imagine what that nightmare would be, so I’ll just leave it at that. 🙂 🙂 🙂
It just amazes me the color and effects. What is amazing too is that the city hosts this spectacular! It’s so beautiful!
Thank you. This was the 6th year, and the event is entirely free. It’s proving to be a major tourism event now.
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Okay…maybe these are cooler than the Opera House sets. 🙂
You’ve really captured a sense of the entire event rather than just the light shows, impressive as they are.
Thanks. There are lots of aspects to Vivid, including a music programme, but for most it’s all about the Opera House. I’ve tried to give an overview of it all.
Do you like art? This question arose somehow while I watched your photos. It is some naturalness in your posts between the text and photos and way you see and comment it. It is something in you what I can call – the nature of an artist.
Now about your post 🙂 All photos are great, but some of them (2;6;7) I watched with the wow expression on my face. Thank you for putting the links, letting to know your culture, country and Sydney.
Thank you very much. I try to learn about Art and appreciate/understand that. Not always successfully. 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend ahead.
Thank you. Have a wonderful weekend too 🙂
🙂
Play me! and Ray are tremendous!
This was the second year of Play Me! It was very very popular.
Man, you know how to have fun! Where you on the dance floor too? More than wabbits I like Ray, Cellular Tesselation which looks very Sci-Fi and the bridge of course. Wow! I appreciate your shares Draco 🙂
Thanks Paula. I stepped on it to take a photo, then I got off it. My dancing would have ruined the party atmosphere. 🙂
Absolutely impossible to pick a favourite and with so much fun to be had I can see how one night just wouldn’t be enough!
The event is getting bigger. I may have to take a week off next year to try and see more of it.
I love the beginning…”love is in the air” those couples can dance. I thought I was watching “so you think you can dance…” and thanks for the rest of the narration too. Truly interesting and innovative!!!
“So you think you can dance” would apply to many of the others I saw. 🙂 Many thanks for the visit. I hope you’re enjoying your weekend.
Oh, I love the second picture of the Cellular Tesselation, great color and visual impression:) Wish you a nice weekend!
Thanks. I didn’t really understand what it was about until i read about and saw the colour changing.
Wow, these pictures just seem to get better, you’ve captured some great fun there! I love that dance floor with the lights on the the floor. Always wanted to dance on one of those in the 70’s – true disco style!! 😀 And those light circles people walk on, they’re fascinating, certainly encourages exercise anyway!
I love the Cellular Tesselation, wonderful colour and makes me think of Doctor Who in the 70’s/80’s – the interior of a spaceship! 😉
You probably can’t see it well, but behind the dancers those neon lights are attached to a giant heart-shaped glitter ball, so that completes the disco feel. 🙂
The Cellular Tesselation was really interesting, and I stayed in there for while and walked through several times. It did have an alien spaceship atmosphere to it, or perhaps it was like being inside a giant alien stomach. 🙂
I really enjoyed the colorful night. Great shot, LD!
Thank you very much. It was a lot of fun to be there. 🙂
To this point this is my favorite post in your series, with post #3 a close second.
I *really* like photo #2 – unique, and nice moment of mother and son having some fun.
Thank you very much. There was a lot to see and photograph during the festival – a bit of sensory overload. It’s good to capture these tender candid moments. 🙂
Those two couples dancing seem so happy. 🙂 Great photos Draco and very interesting to read about different things going on at the festival.
The crowd around them were happy too and gave them loud applause. It was kind of like being at a carnival in a way. 🙂
🙂
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oh my, Australians know how to organize fantastic events!! I am jealous..great photos Draco!
Thanks, and yes, aussies can party. 🙂 There was so much to see.
The second photo reminds me of the game “Twister” (many years ago). I don’t know exactly why my mind made that connection. Random thoughts are a strange and mysterious thing! 😉
Quite a valid comparison actually. 🙂
Great pictures
Thanks.
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