Adventures in Parramatta - International Symposium on Electronic Art

What, I hear you say, is ISEA? Well I will admit that I had no idea myself when I saw it advertised.   All I could gather was that we were getting some amazing light installations in Parramatta, kind of like a mini Vivid Sydney Festival for Western Sydney. And yes, other ISEA exhibitions were held alongside Vivid Sydney. On further investigation, I discovered it was about an exchange of ideas on electronic and digital art, as well as showcasing performances in electronic and digital art.

Meanwhile, back to Parramatta, and Electronic Nights.
It was a cold winter night, and I had gathered on the banks of the Parramatta River, for the last night of Electronic Nights, to see what it was all about.

Electric Nights transforms Parramatta’s River Foreshore with interactive artworks, performances and food. Experience the River at night as the foreshore lights up, bringing together some of the world’s most engaging and thought-provoking artists.Over two evenings, audiences will be captured by striking physical and visual performance and an electronic spectacle.A cross-cultural dining experience through food, film and dance brings the bustling streets of Java to Parramatta. Audiences can interact with a mass of led lit balloons, participate in a kinetic sculpture on bikes to generate energy and watch stilt performers with roaming projection.

The foreshore was awash with colour,  light and food. The food was care of one of the installations, Grobak Padi, as it was a combination of Indonesian food (Bakso and Chicken Satay, served for free, from a local Indonesian restaurant, Pondok) and real time communication with people in Yogyakarta. I even ran into Miss Piggy Eats and The Boy, as they returned to ISEA for a second night to sample the satay they missed out on the night before.

After eating our yummy, warm food, I bid farewell to Miss Piggy and The Boy and headed under the Barry Wilde bridge to see what the balloons were all about.

Celebra: Possibly ISEA2013’s most beguiling experience! Surrender to beauty and wonder when entering this responsive ‘cloud’. Its creators recommend that participants “walk through the cloud, touch the balloons, avoid cables, contemplate the electronics components at close hand, make noise, and move freely” – but also suggest spending some time standing back and enjoying the cloud as a whole, whilst other visitors trigger interlinked audio and visual responses with their sound and movement, and ‘virtual’ visitors also tinker with the cloud’s coloration. http://www.isea2013.org/events/electric-nights/

The balloons were a huge hit with kids of all ages. And whilst they were fun to move around, and see the colours change; their impact was greater from a distance. 

The David Frater car park has never looked this good, colours chasing after colours.

Lennox Bridge - looks pretty amazing by day due to its sandstone construction. But these lights cast it in a totally new light.

Colour changing boxes/stools provided a place to sit and watch the lights.

 Effective, but slightly creepy.
Stalker Theatre: Visually stunning, Phosphori’s shimmering images emerge from the darkness with the grace and fluidity of human movement. Images dissolve and reform as the performers sweep across the space, towering above the crowds. Phosphori embraces the world of technology to stunning effect, bringing to the streets a hi-tech performance collaboration between human and machine. These cyborg figures transport us to a future of beauty and grace fed by colour and light. http://www.isea2013.org/events/electric-nights/

It was a fantastic event to come to Parramata, showing some of our amazing landmarks awashed in colour.

A little more advertising wouldn't have gone astray - numbers were not huge. And maybe more exhibits, as there wasn't a huge amount to see.

Despite this, it was amazing to get an exhibition of this calibre here in Parramatta. And here's hoping there is more to come.