Under the belly of the arts festival

Everyone likes to see a final piece of art, the culmination of so much time and effort, often pondering how it all came together but never actually getting the opportunity to see that side. At the Underbelly Arts Festival visitors get to see the final product with the process included at the ‘Lab’.

“The Lab is really about inviting the public to experience the process, all art is a process and we really drive audiences to come during the festival. It’s great to be able to offer people the opportunity to see those works evolve and to experience how an artist’s idea becomes a reality and so throughout the lab period it’s about demystifying that process in a way and giving audiences the opportunity to see things come to life,” explains artistic director Eliza Sarlos.

For Sarlos the location of the festival is what really makes the whole thing so special, not only for the audience but the artists themselves.

“I think Cockatoo Island is such an incredible place on so many different levels it’s got this really rich and varied history which I think when you put artists out there and encourage them to respond to the space you get really differing and engaged responses,” says Sarlos.

Danny Wild of Zonk Vision Live who has a very ambitious space in production echoes the location admiration.

“Cockatoo Island is the primary focus for the environment, all the content has been made on, or on the way to the island. The work is a light hearted response to our immediate surroundings, responding to the island in a way that looks more at Cockatoo Island’s current artificial life as a cultural precinct rather than its historical life as a convict prison and shipyard,” says Wild.

The location of the festival is something that provides inspiration for artist Susan Bui of The Art Workers, “Cockatoo island has been quite refreshing. I think it’s such an opportunity to work in such a historical place where there’s so much space to work with, it’s not very often that you get to have an exhibition and make work in a place like this,” she explains.

Bui is also grateful for the chance Underbelly brings with it.

“I think it is a really great opportunity for young emerging artists to develop stronger practices and the lab offers an opportunity for us to work out issues that we may not have seen upon developing the project ourselves,” she explains.

The opportunity that Underbelly Arts Festival creates is not lost on Abdul-Rahman Abdullah from project HOME, who has travelled a fair distance for the privilege.
“As a Western Australian artist it gives me an opportunity to work interstate and in an environment that is surrounded by other interstate artists, it’s a really dynamic environment with lots of different art forms and people coming together,” he explains.

The amount of time that Underbelly Arts Festival allows for artists to set up and create is something that is very much appreciated by the collective.
“For the majority of our events we have had at the most a day and at the least four hours to set up. Having two weeks to spend on a show has been somewhat overwhelming,” says Danny Wild.

“Having such a large amount of time means we can create something, sit on it for a few days and modify from there. Refining a space in this way is something we have never really had the opportunity to do, so we are all very pleased to have been given this opportunity.”

As for their performance Zonk Vision Live will be expecting a couple of reactions from the crowd and it’s undoubtedly diverse.

“At any given time during the festival the space will be different, so the crowd’s reaction could depend vary largely on the time they enter. We are all performing live and our approach ranges from intense to subdued. I feel like there will be two types of reactions; either complete immersion, euphoria and delight or a run for cover, hands over head type scenario,” explains Wild.

Eliza Sarlos believes that they have got something unique going on at Underbelly Arts Festival with the lab breaking the walls down between artist and audience and she’s certainly proud of that fact.

“It’s not just about an artist coming up with an idea and developing it. It’s as much about having the audience feed into that development process and so artists have more of an idea of how people might respond to the work but also have the opportunity to engage with the audience just as much as the audience has an opportunity to engage with the artist, to develop work and develop ideas that might not have come had they been working in isolation.” (AH)

Aug 3-4, Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour, $15-40 (plus ferry), underbellyarts.com.au

BY ANDREW HODGSON