By George! Part 1

Finally, I’m back visiting the city. Oh I missed it so much.

This time I visited parts of the By George! Hidden Networks laneways art displays throughout the mid-northern region of the Sydney CBD. Finally, the City of Sydney Council has finally let loose and has allowed Hidden Networks to put up artistic displays in the city’s laneways, which are normally not used very often but are still a useful detour route for the odd vehicle or pedestrian. In any case, here are some of the pictures I took.

First off, this display is located in Angel Place, near the City Recital Hall, just off Martin Place. This particular work called Forgotten Songs is composed of a series of birdcages suspended about 6 metres in the air. Attached to some of those cages are some speakers, which play field recordings of bird songs, which used to be heard in the heart of Sydney before Sydney became the urban monster it is now. It's an interesting idea, because it shows just how much urbanization Sydney has experienced to the point that native birds cannot be heard with ease in the congested high-rise CBD, where the trees are now made of concrete and reinforced steel. Here they go:

Up George St there is another lane that features an exhibition, albeit a bit strange as well. This is in Little Hunter Street, under the title of The Meeting Place. It featuers two yellow textiles that are strecthed and bent on an angle and curved, so as to make the lane much more narrower than it is while giving it an interesting tone. It is supposed to enhance pedestrian interaction, I guess because you will have to brush against someone else if there are many people trying their way through the exhibition. Here it goes:

I'm very sure it looks more interesting at night. The following display is located in Bridge Lane, one of the oldest laneways in the city. It features human-skin-like objects stuck on the wall, with the intention of portraying the idea of how a city grows on us and how we grow on the city. Funny, even gross. But here it goes.

The last one I visited is in Abercrombie Lane, near Wynyard Station. This one has a light feature, composed of many fluorescent light bulbs and motion sensors. When you walk through, the lights right above you will dim down, so it will seem that you are forming this pattern on the lights as you move through. Pretty interesting, but a bit bland. Here it goes.

You can kind of see the dimmed parts formed because of me

It was my first time in a while to the City, I feel much better now, back to civilization. Next time I go there I'll visit the other ones. It's great that Sydney is finally letting use of its laneways for artistic purposes, it is just a bit too boring to go through the city without any artistic experience because this town is just a bit too commercial and overcrowded. I say thanks to Hidden Networks for their work, it certainly gives the city another feeling. I just hope these become events that happen all the time.

As for now, I've gotta go. Time to rest