When Art Is a Playground

Art is more fun when you can play with it. (Remember finger painting?) My friends and I got a good reminder of how much fun art can be the other day at the Experimenta Playground exhibit at the Carriage Works cultural center. It’s an incredibly hard exhibit to describe unless you’ve experienced the technology before. My pictures probably won’t be much help either because they don’t show the motion well (and because I had to take them very sneakily).


The exhibit features a collection of interactive and digital art from several artists. The first piece we approached was an overhead projector shining pink against the wall. A few wooden shapes and numbers lay unassumingly next to the projector, but when you drop a piece on the glass, noise comes from somewhere beyond and the projected image comes alive. Dashes outline your hand on the wall, and what looks like confetti falls out of the wooden pieces’ shadows.


Similar to the overhead work was the shadow puppet piece. When you held your hands in front of a large light box, it would reflect your hands with added features, like eyes, teeth or spikes. When I moved my whole body in front, my shadow appeared with funky hair, a bow, a horn and other additions. Even a simple shadow puppet of a dog came out looking like a monster. In this photo you can see how my friend could ‘burp’ when he opened and closed his hand.


Our other favorite creation was the underwater scene projected on the floor. Cartoon-like blowfish swam around freely, but would suddenly puff up and float if you stomped on them. If you stepped on the seahorses, they’d play different musical notes.

There were a few other pieces and short films that were a bit over our heads as far as purpose and meaning are concerned. But we got a kick out of the interactive works, which did feel like being at some sort of playground.

Like I said, it's hard to explain so you should really just see it for yourself.

Harbour Bridge Walk

With this past Saturday being the last in April, I took a quick train north for the monthly Kirribilli Markets. A friend of mine from class, who lives just a few minutes from Kirribilli in North Sydney, met me for a browse through a few hundreds stalls of clothes, crafts and food.


Though she had to leave for soccer practice (she’s on the Sydney Uni team), I hung around and explored Kirribilli, from the main restaurant row to Luna Park and through the residential parts along the water.


It was cool seeing the opposite side of the Opera House.


Then an American friend, Jeff, met me at Milson’s Point so we could walk across the Harbour Bridge back to Circular Quay. The Harbour Bridge Climb, which takes you to the very top, costs up to $300, but a simple walk on the pedestrian path doesn’t cost a thing.


The views are still pretty good.

Can’t Get Enough Festivals

If it’s the weekend, there’s a festival in Darling Harbour. My first day in Sydney I watched the Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Races there. I stopped by the Indian Holi Festival not long ago and watched acrobatics at the Hoopla Festival over the long Easter weekend.


Most recently I went to the Greek Festival, which featured lots of dancing and lamb-eating. The Greeks seem to be people with a lot of pride. A majority wore blue and white T-shirts, jerseys or hats, if not the Greek flag itself.

I missed the Indonesian Festival in Darling Harbour this weekend, but coming Sunday is the Thailand Grand Festival. It’s fun always going to the same spot but seeing an entirely different collection of people each time. Being from Los Angeles and traveling often, I’m used to cosmopolitan cities. After spending a few years at school in Columbia, Missouri, it’s refreshing to be back in a place with large populations from so many different cultures.

Whole Lotta Hoopla

Last Monday, two friends and I went to Darling Harbour for the last day of the annual Hoopla Festival, which included street performers and acrobatics.


These guys who played movie themes and classic rock as they flew, spun and flipped were maybe my favorite.




But the breakdancers on stilts were awesome too. (The photos didn’t just come out as good.) That's two people doing some sort of crab-walk together.







These two women were incredibly strong and graceful. They would climb the rope without any safety net or harness, then entwine themselves in the rope and twist around.









My friend and I were inspired on the playground. But without the same finesse, we didn’t draw much of a crowd.

Happy Holi-Days

On Sunday I stopped by the Indian Festival of Colors, Holi-Mahatsov, in Darling Harbour. Holi celebrates the start of spring in India. Though it is soon to be autumn in Sydney, this week it has been in the high 80s, maybe even 90s. I still haven’t figured out that whole Celsius thing. Multiply by five-ninths? Yeah, just after I finish listing pi to 38 decimal places...

Anyway, as part of the festival, people throw colored powder, which is actually made of medicinal herbs, at each other. The significance of this goes back to Indian mythology when Krishna put colors on his love, Radha. But on Sunday, the color throwing had more the feel of a snowball fight than expression of love.


Apparently on the first night of Holi, people light bonfires to symbolize burning the demoness Holika and the victory of good over evil. The festival is supposed to promote friendship and good health.


It was fun watching these boys, who set out to wash the pink powder off themselves, move into a full scale water fight.


It was bound to happen.

Land of the Free

I love free stuff the way a fat kid I love cake.

I like to sift through newspapers and magazines in search of festivals, shows and other events gratis. On my second day in Sydney, I hit up the Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Races, exhibits at the Maritime Museum, Gay Mardi Gras and a short film festival at The Domain — all for free.

The best part of free festivals is that they usually involve more free stuff. I’ve accumulated seven free beach bags, five tins of orange Eclipse mints, four Schick Quattro razors, Vitamin Water, green iced tea, a ball, a Frisbee and a medley of pens. But best yet, surfing lessons.


This week (in my free copy of Time Out Sydney) I heard about a free surf class in honor of International Women’s Day. This Southern California girl has never tried to surf before, believe it or not, so I called up and reserved the last free spot.

We got an hour of instruction and surf time, with boards and wetsuits provided, at Dee Why Beach. Saturday was my first time on the other side of the Harbour Bridge. I liked the atmosphere better at Dee Why than Bondi or Coogee, but they each offer something different.

After our surf lesson and a good hour of recovery, we explored the tide pools, where we spotted two octopi.


We also found a dead blowfish, which was interesting, but hardly aesthetically pleasing. I’ll spare you and offer this starfish photo instead.



Then we took a short walk through the Dee Why Wildlife Reserve along the lagoon. And who doesn’t love lagoons?