In 2021, Glow Winter Arts Festival popped up at various locations across Stonnington for its seventh year.
Launching in Rockley Gardens in South Yarra, the festival went on to light up outdoor spaces in Prahran and Malvern East over five weekends in April and May. The decision to present Glow as a pop-up series came in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to socialise outdoors in smaller numbers. The series featured the following large-scale contemporary artworks:
Airship Orchestra by eness was a mystical tribe of otherworldly characters beamed from the night stars. Visitors were beckoned inside the formation to bathe in volumetric sound and rhythmic light pulsation. The sound experience was its own spatial environment, immersing visitors in an arresting score written character-by-character for a multi-person choir. The generative soundscape synced with light, creating an adventure that was aesthetically dynamic both day and night.
The Guardians by Skunk Control were ancient observers of light’s passage through the world. Over time they evolved to soak up light, hold onto it and gently release it when night’s darkness lingered and the equilibrium between light and dark frayed. As they collected light throughout the day, their foliage underwent a constant colour metamorphosis; painting the nearby areas in constantly changing colours.
Hive Mind by Dead Puppet Society was a kinetic sculpture that brought micro insects to life at macro scale, using movement, sound and light. The installation was designed to inspire a sense of wonder in the natural world by bringing the usually micro life of bees into a macro scale. Music emanating from the installation was based on recordings taken from inside actual bee hives. The unique sounds created by bees were given musical structure, adding a mystical ambience to the sculpture.
Planted in Chaos by Planck (an artistic collective within Grumpy Sailor) spoke to people and place, addressing the environment, the future of life on our planet and our place as a species within it.
Specularity by Studio John Fish offered a unique visual experience that played with one’s sense of space and time, while allowing the audience to become part of the artwork. Specularity encouraged both young and old to consider complex interlinking life cycles found in our natural world and to reflect on how we exist within these systems.
