Ahh, Vivid Sydney. It’s one of those things that you either couldn’t care less about, or wouldn’t miss for the world. I only realised this recently when a guy friend asked me ‘Isn’t Vivid a girl thing?’, while I sat there astounded by the idea that someone wouldn’t want to see epilepsy-inducing lights around the city. Anyway, I could hardly call myself a seasoned Vivid-goer but I think I’ve got my essentials down! If you’re anything like me you’ll need a DSLR, prime lens (and possible backup), tripod and calves of steel. I’m not even joking when I say that I think my exercise for the month is done, since I walked so much… Anyway this post is gonna be a long one, so apologies in advance if it sucks up your bandwidth!
My friend and I decided to go by numbers on the Vivid Map and started at the Opera House, although that plan obviously disintegrated towards the end of our journey. Anyway, we got there at around six and beat the crowd, so there was actually room for me to breathe and set up my tripod!
An actual picture of me smiling? This must be some kind of record! It’s too bad I couldn’t switch to a wider lens to capture the full glory of that kaleidoscope, but at this point I had to fend off zealous parents who wanted to get close to the thing…
Lights on the water and some amusing installation featuring bike helmets. I have a bad habit of never reading the descriptions that come with artworks, so I guess I’ll never know the inspiration behind this one…
Deciduous trees and some illuminated cymbal things. I don’t even think this was a big installation, but I thought it was quite fun! Basically, circus music was playing and when you danced around underneath it the lights would flash accordingly.
If you couldn’t already tell there were so many kids at Vivid this year, even though I was there on a weeknight! It kind of made the installations feel like a giant playground, like this Hi-Ray contraption that would light up when you pulled a rope. Although, in all honesty the kids really seemed to enjoy hugging the thing more…
A field of LED butterflies and an illuminated dance floor to promote Strictly Ballroom the Musical. I kind of wish that I got to stand on this one, but obviously the queue went all around the fence so impatience got the better of me!
Pro tip: if you’re a photographer or just want to take a breather, I really recommend going up an elevator to the public observation deck in The Rocks. It’s in the Overseas Passenger Terminal and has a great view of the Opera House, plus you get to feel a nice breeze away from the crowds below!
Giant bunnies! Aren’t they the most majestic things you’ve ever seen? Unsurprisingly, these seemed to be everyone’s favourite thing about Vivid this year. Even I kind of want a downsized version to live in my room…
Some creepy-looking mouths accompanied by laughter sound bites in Walsh Bay. Me and my partner in crime wanted to walk all the way to Darling Harbour but it proved too ambitious, so we ended up trekking it to Wynyard station and picking up some late night slushies for the ride home! Anyway, I definitely didn’t get to see all the things I would have liked to, but hopefully I can catch the installations in Darling Harbour and Martin Place if I don’t get lazy. This week’s set to be a crazy one for me in terms of deadlines, so fingers crossed it works out!
