Vivid Sydney's historic lighting

VIVID SYDNEY: St Mary's Cathedral lights up during the festival in 'Macquarie Visions  

The light component of Vivid Sydney, a festival of light, music and ideas, was switched on last week with the much talked about illumination of the Sydney Opera House in a digitally animated hi-res wash of art and images designed by Sydney LIVE co-curator Laurie Anderson.

Utzon’s sails may be the most photographed component of the work, but the Opera House is not the only building that will be in the spotlight during the festiva. Look out for the Downer Macquarie Arch, The Rocks Fire Water show, a Bollywood-inspired showcase of fire and coloured smoke on tall ships on the water; and just up the road along Macquarie Street a lightshow to learn by, Macquarie Visions.

A venture of the Macquarie Bicentennial Committee, Macquarie Visions entwines the life and achievements of colonial Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth during their tenure in Sydney from 1810 – 1821 with the achievements of the nation that have been built since.

Standing among the crowds watching and listening to their reactions as they admire the display is a chuffed Anthony Bastic, the Creative Director of the project. Inspired his visit to Lyon’s de’ Lumiere last year, Bastic designed Macquarie Vision as a way to entice people to learn about the Macquarie’s and share his own fascination brought about through his research into their lives.

‘I was standing at St Mary's Cathedral [the other night] and this little boy asked his father, ‘So dad was everybody bad in those days?’ And his father was saying, no there was this man called Lachlan Macquarie,’ Bastic laughs. ‘And he started to tell the story…'

The Macquarie’s were even from our view now, a very modern couple, what Elizabeth in her journals called a ‘true partnership’ says Bastic. A product of the Scottish Enlightenment period, Lachlan Macquarie encouraged free thinking, valued difference and acceptance within society of people of different classes and was enlightened for the time in his attitudes to the indigenous people of Sydney and women’s rights.

The road became a natural focus, as Lachlan Macquarie had first pardoned then commissioned ex-convict Francis Greenway, as the architect for many of the road major buildings. Created as an hour-long walk down Macquarie Street from St Mary’s Cathedral to the Botanic Gardens the story is broken into six stops each looping around 10-15 minutes of content.

Starting at St Mary's Cathedral Designing the Nation with images that depict Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie, their lives and their time in the colony and the more than 260 nation-founding projects they established. From there Fair Go at the Hyde Park Barracks looks at Macquarie’s social views, his emancipist policies, treatment of indigenous ‘native’ people and encouragement of women to hold significant positions in colonial society.

Common Wealth, at the Mint shows the introduction of currency and the economic and market stability Macquarie founded but also looks at the economic and natural resource wealth of Australia including the gold rush, the wool trade and farming through to our modern day mining booms.

On the Parliament building is Advance Australia looks at visionary projects, not just from the early 1800s but also projects such as the Harbour Bridge, and the Opera House.

The display then moves on to the Library, with Words on the Street displaying exerts from letters from the colonists back to family and friends in England.

Giving Gardens and Pastimes complete the story at the Botanic Garden’s Palace Garden Gates and the Conservatorium of Music, originally built as the Macquarie’s grand stables. Elizabeth Macquarie who was a prime mover behind the creation of the gardens is referenced here, along with the first market garden created for the colony.

The social and cultural achievements are shown on the Conservatorium, displays of horses celebrate Macquarie’s introduction of horse racing as a means to create social integration and entertainment, but also depicted are the Macquarie’s introduction of arts and literature, the first appointment of a Poet laureate and their introduction of schools and education to the colony.

A sound scape created by Jonathan Palmer also features Elizabeth Macquarie’s own cello, brought out with her from England and music composed by Peter Sculthorpe commissioned for Macquarie Visions.

Sydney’s lights were installed by projection specialists, The Electric Canvas, using along Macquaire Street alone 35 PIGI (“pee-gee”) large format film projectors as well as high power data projectors. in combination these technologies provide the capacity to project digital animations and images with extremely good clarity over considerable distances. According to The Electric Canvas “PIGI is a French acronym that translates as "Giant Image Projector with Computer Control".”

Bastic was concerned to make the displays as authentic as possible and along with his researcher, Francesca Hynes spent considerable time digging into the records of Sydney’s libraries. All the patterns, colours and images [credited on the website] have been sourced from relics of the period, from crockery, stencils and borders to a unique discovery, Macquarie’s ceramic punchbowl, which depicts Circular Quay around 1815.

‘It was just brilliant to find,’ says Bastic. The images on the bowl have been incorporated and animated in the display on St Mary’s Cathedral. ‘You'll see movement, boats are gently rocking, the wind is blowing through the trees and there're people moving in those scenes. You’re really transported back into that period.’

Bastic’s previous work has included last year’s Smart Light Sydney with Brian Eno’s installation on the Opera House as part of the [Luminous] festival, producing the opening Gala for the Degas Exhibition, and Masterpieces from Paris Exhibition in Canberra, directing Festivities for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, heading up events at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Games and being Head of Programming for the Sydney Olympics and Para Olympics Live sites.

‘As somebody who works in the field of major events this job has been fantastic,’ he says. ’I've been able to tell the story of two people that I think are really interesting and using interesting technology put it in a public context.’

Macquare Visions
Macquarie Street, Sydney
6pm – Midnight
27 May to 20 June 2010
Cost: Free
Website: www.macquarievisions.com.au

Pick up your free torch, thanks to EnergyAustralia from one of the Info Booths at Circular Quay (Customs House) or St Mary’s Cathedral during business hours.

About Anthony Bastic
Anthony Bastic is Principal and Creative Director of AGB Events
Website: www.agbevents.com.au

About Vivid Sydney:
Vivid Sydney is a calendar ‘anchor’ event created by the NSW Government through Events NSW, that also include Vivacity (the program of events that covers New Years Eve and January events) and Crave which will hit in Spring with the Food and Wine Festival and Art & About.

Vivid is really four festivals in one:
Macquarie Visions, which also include the EnergyAustralia Macquarie Lighthouses, Hyde Park Macquarie lights and The Downer Macquarie Arch. The light theme is continued with The Rocks Fire Water and the Sydney LIVE Sydney Opera House installation.

Vivid LIVE the program of Sydney Opera House events, exhibitions and concerts curatored by Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. Song Summit, a three day conference of music industry workshops and speakers

Song Summit a three day conference and music market for the music industry.

X[Media]Lab:Global Media Ideas, which includes the 10x10 project and the series of presentations, panel discussions and networking events bannered as Creative Sydney and Creative Futures.

For the full Vivid Sydney program visit: www.vividsydney.com