Saturday, September 28, 2013

Chronicling Art and About



To celebrate the end of Liz’s mid semester exams (and the beginning of our mutual week-long holiday), we decided to explore Sydney’s Art and About Festival. Art and About showcases the talent of our local artists, from children to adults, who express their “private lives in public places” through Sydney’s main thoroughfares. 

Art and About have an extensive array of exhibitions that range from day to night, exclusive to every day and free to paid. Although, the one thing they all have in common, is their amusing and eclectic expressions on the strangest of canvases. The first art display we saw, was “Sydney Life”, a photographic display in Hyde Park where the vast landscapes and diverse community of Sydney were publicised.

The next display we saw, is probably the most iconic one of Art and About 2013, called "Snailovation". This exhibiton included 24 huge neon snails, sliding into Sydney’s most iconic and public spaces. We saw the snails at the Queen Victoria Building, Hyde Park, Pitt Street Mall and Martin Place and they promised to bring a few smiles and embarrassing photos (we decided not to upload)

The last exhibition we decided to visit, was “Little Sydney Lives” in Hyde Park, featuring 20 images taken by kids under 11 years of age. Not only did this exhibition make us feel extremely subordinate in talent to children half our age, but also brought us great insights into the perspectives of our youngest citizens. 

After all the meandering through Sydney’s streets and parks, we headed back to Pitt Street to stock up on Frozen Yoghurt at Moochi in Westfield. We then headed back through the mall and (typically) stopped to take in the local talent of Sydney’s buskers. Today, Everything After were performing their rendition of Vance Joy’s, Riptide, pulling in copious amounts of people, including ourselves. Their Indie Roots sound and resemblance to a young Mumford and Sons is aided by their quirky use of a Mandolin and good humour. They are definitely worth a listen, with our favourite summery sounding track, Heart and Mind, perfectly matching a day on the beach with Bulmers and friends.

After this long day, we headed back to Hyde Park to unwind by Sydney War Memorial’s Lake of Reflection.