Laneway Art celebrates 5th year

Sydneysiders are encouraged to venture into laneways from Town Hall to Circular Quay this September, as the fifth annual Laneway Art Project takes off.

Seven different projects by Australian and international artists will transform our laneways and backstreets as part of Art and About, Sydney’s annual public art festival.

This year’s art will include inflatable furniture in Bulletin Place, international graffiti in Tank Stream Way and the Amazing Rolling Picture Show, a series of portable projections.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said this year’s art will challenge our perception of the city.

“The dramatic contrast between street level art and the surrounding high-rise buildings really fires the imagination – the Laneway Art program shows how creative ideas can turn dark and unwelcoming lanes into intriguing and inviting places to linger,” The Lord Mayor said.

“Over the last five years, bird cages, large scale video projections and 
infinity forests have transformed our laneways.”

One of the artworks, “peri(pheral) scope”, by Adriano Pupilli aims to exploit the city’s relationship with the western suburbs.

The artwork shows a vantage point to the western suburbs of Sydney, via four yellow periscopes which grasp on decaying drain pipes on the edge of Sydney’s CBD.

“It’s a good opportunity to look at the relationship of the centre of Sydney with the western suburbs, which is often overlooked,” said Pupilli.

“We wanted to challenge the perception of where the edge of the city really lies, to extend people’s ideas of the CBD of Sydney being a core part of the city.

“We wished to include the outer regions of Sydney and the life that goes on in those regions.”

Sydney based Pupilli collaborated with Heidi Axelson and Hugo Moline, as well as film-makers Fadia abboud, Vinh Nguyen, Zahra Alsamawi and Saber Baluch, to create the laneway art.

Art and About first began in 2001, and has since been bringing exhibitions, installations and performances to the people of Sydney, with both established and emerging artists working in unconventional spaces around the City.

The Laneway Art Program will run from September 23 to January 31 2012. 
For more information visit: www.artandabout.com.au

By Georgia Fullerton