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LIGHTING WESTERN PARK
“OUT OF NOTHING”

Celery Productions present
ART IN THE DARK 2014
13 – 16 November.

Celebrating its fifth year and now widely regarded as an arts-institution within Auckland, ART IN THE DARK 2014 returns to illuminate every nook and cranny of Ponsonby’s Western Park from the 13th – 16 of November.

This free event has transformed the park into a brightly lit hub of installations and sculptures, both interactive and traditional. The 2014 event boasts a prolific number of works from participants across New Zealand, utilising sustainable materials and energy to bring both their works and their abilities to light.

Art in the Dark 2014 is being supported by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) on behalf of Auckland Council, as part of its Major Events Portfolio.

Brett O’Riley, ATEED Chief Executive, says: “Art in the Dark is an important cultural event for Auckland. It is a great opportunity for Aucklanders and visitors to our region to engage with art in an environment that is accessible and compelling. We look forward to partnering with this event.”

Registrants for the 2014 event were briefed that their works should adhere to the non-linear theme “Out Of Nothing”, giving them carte blanche to create interesting and out-of-the-box ideas which once again demonstrates the sheer innovation Art in the Dark thrives upon.  “We are absolutely thrilled with the artists that are taking over the park in 2014.” says Art in the Dark director Celia Harrison. “’Out of Nothing’ gives artists the opportunity to be truly free with their ideas because from nothing, great things can happen.”

“Something small or insignificant can become monumental – like a tree growing from seed. What we see is not always what we get,” she continues, “and this theme celebrates that. There’s a little bit of playfulness in ideas around appearing and disappearing. With ‘Out of Nothing‘, artworks will emerge from the darkness of the trees and reveal themselves to the audience, who will see Western Park, and art, in a new light.”

Craig Neilson and Reza Fuard present Square, a cubic window to a world of seemingly infinite proportions weightless over a tall thing tower where it rotates.  Visualising an infinitely recursive void existing inside one cubic meter of artwork suspended in thin air, when Square is viewed from any angle at all, it will display an illusion of immense and impossible scale – the space appears to have been conjured “out of nothing.”

Tane Lives, by artist and designer Johnson Witeria, is steeped in traditional Maori form and pattern, with ideas from graphic design and Western arts practice. With an animation projected onto one of the largest trees in Western Park depicting Tanemahuta, god of forests who pushed his parents apart, the installation flows across the tree and becomes a fountain of light, with pulsating rivers of kowhaiwhai and figurative hei tiki shown through the trunk of the tree.

It’s not just artists that will dazzle audiences this year – the science community are also proud to light up the night sky. Microbiologist and bioluminescence enthusiast Dr Siouxsie Wiles collaborates with Rebecca Klee to create The Living Light – an interactive installation that lets audiences influence when and how intensely bacteria glow, and despite its playful appearance references how these beautiful bugs help scientists battle infectious diseases.

Tags: Arts, Auckland, Tamaki Makau Rau