Dark Spectrum at Vivid

Arts & Entertainment Scene

Rita Bratovich
June 14, 2023

This is a world premiere event that will tour international after the Vivid festival ends. A collaboration between Sony Music, Mandylights and Culture Creative, Dark Spectrum is a fantastical journey of light and sound through the disused railway tunnels near Wynyard Station.

The concrete catacombs beneath York St are a great place for an event like this, with their long tunnels and separate spaces. It’s a unique way for the general public to enter this otherwise restricted area.

Dark Spectrum is not a random stroll but a curated trip, a sojourn divided into eight themed sections with names like UNSEEN, PRESSURE, REFLECTION and so on. Each section has a particular ambience created by customised light, sound and props. Some are quite frenetic and trippy, some are fun and quirky, some are meditative.

The large robotic arms with “faces” in a section called UNFAMILIAR are ominous yet intriguing. The hundreds of green lazer lights in REFLECTION have a weird sensory effect – you keep wanting to touch them but, of course, they’re just light, you can’t feel anything.

UNSEEN is a tunnel filled with different sized inflated white balls on which you can barely make out graffiti. The room is then darkened and illuminated with ultra-violet light, making the script on the balls and on the walls clearly visible.

Dark Spectrum is a modern technical creativity literally set in the past. It’s a unique experience and a nice reprieve from the Vivid chaos and crowds up on the streets.