Today, Kevin and I attended another event associated with the 2008 Sydney Biennale. Every morning, I walk out on to my balcony and gaze out over Sydney Harbour to admire the view of Cockatoo Island.
I have long heard that it is one of the more fascinating locations around Sydney, but for some reason I have never bothered to figure out how to get there. As part of the Biennale, Sydney is offering free ferry rides to the island. So rare is it to get something for nothing here, that I was obligated to take advantage of the opportunity.
Now part of the Harbour Trust, Cockatoo Island has historically been home to a prison and a girl's reformatory (not simultaneously), but has mostly served as a ship-building yard, an activity which ceased in 1983. The latter function has left the island covered with a fabulous collection of enormous cranes and fascinating industrial buildings. As part of the festival, artists were permitted to create installments within the various unused structures on the island.
A woman on the ferry told me that the artists faced an enormous challenge in trying to compete with the natural intrigue of the venue itself. She was so right.
If I were a better photographer, I would never run out of amazing material on Cockatoo Island. As it was, I still managed to get a few lucky shots. Look carefully, and you can spot me and Kevin in the picture below.
Fans of my previous (and now temporarily defunct) website may recall that, in addition to roadkill, I love to take pictures of bizarre restrooms. There was no shortage of wonderfully icky toilet situations on the island. Granted, these have been out of service for over 20 years, but it is difficult to imagine that they were ever pleasant places to take repose.
Aside from being filled with all sorts of large and fascinating pieces of ship-building machinery, the old warehouses and workshops were decorated with a collection of curious signs and warnings.
You may have noticed that I have not included one photograph of any of the art installments. This is because they were all either terribly disturbing or just plain stupid (except for a room-sized camera obscura and a nifty spinning disc upon which cartoons were projected in skewed dimensions, only to be perfectly reflected by a silver cylinder in the middle of the wheel - but neither of these artworks were suitable photographic subjects.) Either my mind is just too scientific to appreciate fine art, or a video of a man stitching fish line into another man's face as he bleeds and whimpers is NOT art. Regardless, I have decided that I do not like video art in a gallery setting. If I want to see a movie, I will go to the theater.
Indeed, my favorite piece of art wasn't art at all...I have no idea of the original purpose of these large chunks of metal, but aren't they just gorgeous?
1 comment:
Excellent photos! You ARE a better photographer.
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