power plant

We went to another Sydney Festival event. I thought it sounded interesting--an installation in the Chinese Garden of lights and sound. When we got there last night, we were told to think of each installation as a piece of art in a gallery. Hmm...

We walk in, and there are these strange sounds. And you can't figure out where they are coming from. They are simply sounds--and not from musical instruments you could recognize.

Then, you notice these lights hanging from the trees--and they flash and fade, on and off--and if you peer more closely, you see that these lights are one of the instruments. There's a little hammer that every so often strikes the lamp, and makes a "ping" sound.

Your eyes are still adjusting to the dark. But you can see the path just well enough to continue walking. And you see the outlines of the trees and the plants as other lights flash in time with the strange sounds.

Then, you get to a pavilion, where there is this strange "instrument" in the middle. And a guy with headphones and audio equipment, controlling these pipes making some of the weird sounds you've been listening to.

Moving on.

We come to this section where there are these beautiful old gramophones. One was playing astroturf (fake grass). Another was playing a disco ball. Basically, it sounded like lumpy scratches.

In the distance, we could see another light installation. And the ferris wheel that is in Darling Harbour.

We continue our walk. Random neon lines, form cursive words that flash. Sometimes we could read them. And sometimes we weren't sure what they said. "redundercarpet" ? "greenwaterfall"?

I liked these lit pinwheels. You can't tell they are spinning in the photo.

Then, there was this section of rather creepy lamps. I didn't take pictures of the creepy lit dresses, hiding under bushes. I think Fede has a video of it though.

Perhaps the highlight was the combination of flames and sounds. These funnels in the water would make a sound and shoot out a flame at the same time. The funnels had different tones--so it was sort of musical. But again, not like any sort of musical instrument you typically hear.

It didn't really matter. There is something about fire that is mesmerizing.

Sadly, the picture doesn't capture that they were really puffs of fire. You could watch each ball as it vanished into the air.

And then, we came upon this strange sight.

A woman in a hat with a feather? What the heck is she doing?

We came a little closer, and saw she had a video camera pointed at a bowl with snails. And the video camera was projecting a kaleidoscope of snails moving on the screen.

It was surprisingly interesting to watch the snails move. Then, it was cute when these little girls came up to the woman and asked "Are the snails going to die?" Sadly, I didn't catch her answer.

Then, it was over. Back to the real world.