White Night 2016: Artistic Diversity
Every year in more than 20 cities around the world, the town becomes a melting pot of artistic madness. Down the rabbit’s hole many go to discover the great diversity in art, design, food, music, light and creation that talented creatives are conceiving every day. The City of Melbourne, Australia, certainly doesn’t miss out.
Three years ago in 2013, White Night came to Melbourne, after its humble roots in Paris there known as Nuit Blanche (White Night). Attendance rocketed to 300,000 as crowds milled to see architectural gems engulfed in ludic projections, Old Melbourne Gaol transformed into a scene right out of Prince’s Purple Rain video, where simulated rain, was, yes, purple. This year’s event will lead the daring on a journey of great discovery through the heart of Melbourne, unveiling the creativity that the city has to offer.
The work of artist Craig Walsh is no exception. Walsh’s offering for White Night is called Incubator and will take over the Melbourne City Baths. Walsh is known for his site-specific works – installations that occupy a space like Incursion for Nuit Blanche in Canada, 2007, which saw a shop front fill with water – chairs and prehistoric fish floating around of course. Classification Pending is another work where surrealism is mixed with reality. The Bremer river in Queensland was the temporary home of artificial life forms.
Then we have the collective work of Alana Hoggart and Michael Duncan for NEON LANEWAY. A unique pairing – Hoggart the dancer and Duncan the stencil artist – seeks to transform a Melbourne laneway, by uniting the two disciplines and together bringing physical and visual art alive and the use of neon projecting the space into another world. Hoggart has charmed Melbourne’s theatre and dance worlds having appeared in numerous dance productions at Melbourne La Mama, Collingwood Underground Theatre and more. Duncan is famed for his vivid stencil work around Melbourne including various commissioned murals.
We delved into the worlds of all three artists, looking to their diversity and how they will help Melbourne shine.
fluoro. Have you always had a passion for the creation of site-specific projects?
Craig Walsh. Yes, it started with fusing projected light and three dimensional spaces/ objects during my degree in fine art over 20 years ago. These experiments evolved into site based installations and ephemeral works in public spaces. I was really influenced by the likes of James Turrell, Walter de Maria, Gordon Matte-Clark and the likes. I still remain excited about the potential for moving image projection to build on and further develop ideas evolving out of site specificity, installation and even Land Art. I like that the space the artwork occupies is as important as the artwork created when interpreting the artwork. I also really like providing new access points and ways of experiencing everyday objects and spaces.
f. How did your passion site-specific projects come about?
CW. As stated, it evolved out of experimentation. Early works really exploited the power of an art context to influence an audience’s perception of everyday public spaces. The ability to change perception of a place and its meaning through the intervention of art is a challenging but rewarding thing to do. Importantly I recognised that work created for a specific site only functions in that space and can’t be transferred, toured or purchased. I really liked the idea of an art form that could engage with an audience and provide a spatial experience that transcends commercial expectations of object art and ‘Collections’
f. What do you hope to achieve with the pieces you create?
CW. Disrupt expectations of our environment.
f. What has generated the thought behind your White Night project INCUBATOR?
CW. It was an exceptionally hot, humid evening when I first experienced the baths. Being immersed within this controlled environment and this body of water, along with the humidity lead to considering the space as a type of Lab or Incubator. The irony of course is; what appeared to be an ideal environment for the cultivation of life is actually highly toxic for most life forms other than humans. These ideas and this experience informed the development of the artwork.
f. What can we expect to see with INCUBATOR?
CW. Something unexpected will occupy the Melbourne Baths for the night.
f. What other projects are in store for 2016?
CW. In 2016 I will finalize two major permanent moving image commissions in Sydney and Cairns whilst I will continue my interest and commitment to developing site based projects in collaboration with communities across regional Australia.
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And here, we look to Alana Hoggart and Michael Duncan, creators of NEON LANEWAY.
f. How and why did this collaboration come to fruition?
Alana Hoggart. Michael and I have talked about the possibility of collaboration for a few years, however we could never think of a way for both disciplines to come together. Michael starting using my dance as an inspiration for his stencil art, the images he created are really beautiful. We talked of the possibility of working the opposite way, he would paint something I would create a dance from that. We wanted to find a platform where our two subcultures could come together and were very interested in what that conversation could create.
f. How do urban art and contemporary dance relate?
AH. Both forms can be about changing the space. The performance work I do is usually a site-specific investigation: we go to a site and explore what attracts us to certain parts. We ask how we can change or highlight the space so the audience can gather a new understanding of that site.
Michael Duncan. Urban art is similar, it about taking a dull grey wall and creating a something new and unexpected. As a stencil artist I have to consider the space in order to create my work. I spend time figuring out the wall area, the surface texture and the way the art conceptually and physically ‘fits into’ a space. I consider what colours will allow the artwork to interact, or contrast with, the space.
AH. Michael’s process is both visual and somatic, as dancers we follow similar methods. Both are about creating new atmospheres in a space. Both forms are also ephemeral in nature, urban art usually only lives for a few days, maybe weeks and the dance only lives during the performance.
MD. Both contemporary dance and urban art have their roots in a breaking of convention. Constantly questioning conventions is important to both of us because it fosters artistic growth.
f. What inspired NEON LANEWAY?
AH. We were very interested in coming into a space together and seeing how we could change it. We were also interested in creating art that was inspired by Melbourne. White Night seemed to be the perfect platform for us to explore this. White Night is about seeing the city with fresh eyes, going places at taboo hours, and changing the atmosphere of the city. As a movement artist I was interested in how I could somatically and viscerally interact with a two dimensional surface, that’s when I thought of the idea of being physically painted into the art.
We knew we wanted to do something spectacular and collaborative. In order to accomplish this we bought on incredible dancers and movement artists, who were trained in physical art forms. As well as talented Street Artists, who represent an eclectic mix of some of Melbourne’s top talent. We paired up a performance artist and street artist to create something together. This has been a rewarding collaborative process. Michael and I have really just been facilitating the artist’s own methods and ideas. The beauty of NEON LANEWAY is attributed to all the artists involved. We also decided that we needed a sound artist to bring the project together – Sam McAuliffe has created a beautiful eerie track inspired by the site and the idea of non-conventional movement in a glowing laneway.
f. Why Neon?
AH. NEON LANEWAY is designed to be experienced in the moment, and only in the dark of White Night, by the time the sun rises, the glow will be gone and so will NEON LANEWAY.
MD. We want to create work that is spectacular, and to take the audience on a journey, through a space that is ‘otherworldly’. We were inspired to use Neon because we wanted to illuminate the space; we wanted the art to literally come off the walls. There is also a connection to the subculture scene that interested us. Graffiti and street art typically wouldn’t be seen in Neon manner in everyday life. The Neon effect is quite(E2 fs#in how it transforms the artworks. Photography and film never quite reproduce neon light with the same intensity, it looks amazing when seen in the flesh.
f. Why Laneway?
MD. Rutledge Laneway, where the event is being held, is an iconic site for Graffiti art. Melbourne is internationally renowned for its laneway culture and street art. We wanted to explore how we could subvert the negative connotation of the spray can, and enhance the relationship the community shares with the sub-culture. Laneways and the streets are the ‘natural habitat’ for our kind of work. Every mural on the street is a gift to the public. If we staged this kind of event in a gallery/theatre context it would remove the rawness and realness of what this subculture is all about.
f. What other projects are in store for 2016?
AH. We both have solo shows coming up, which will keep us busy for a little while. I am performing the EPA (Environmental Performance Authority) who is facilitating Melbourne 47. Which is a project involving 47 different performances over the month of November this year. Check out our websites for updates.
White Night is an event like no other. Where else can we find music, art, design, food, and absolutely anything else creative occupying the city? When you have a chance to go down the rabbit’s hole for ourselves and witness our city transformed with neon, dance, stencil work, and repurposed baths, why wouldn’t you?
White Night runs from 7pm (AEST) Saturday 20 February to 7am (AEST) to Sunday 21 February.
www.whitenightmelbourne.com.au
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