Light installation to be unveiled at Sydney Architecture Festival as part of guided laneways tour

A three dimensional light installation, HEXTIC, will fascinate visitors to the Sydney Architecture Festival at Grasshopper Bar, Temperance Lane in Sydney's CBD from 1 to 10 November 2014. 

Free to the public, HEXTIC will come alive in Festival evenings, pulsating with light and responding to sound levels through embedded audio sensors that trigger dynamic images created by LED lighting. 

The installation was designed by UNSW students of the Australian School of Architecture and Design led by Dr Hank Haeusler, Rebekah Araullo and Eliot Rosenberg.

In keeping the spotlight on lane ways, a guided walking tour of Sydney's lane ways, 'Covert Connections', will be presented on Monday 3 November from 5:30pm to 8pm. Tickets are free, but bookings are required and can be made here.

MPavillion, designed by internationally acclaimed architect Sean Godsell, launches in Melbourne

On Monday 6 October, the inaugural MPavilion was unveiled in Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens. It is the first in a major new series of annual architecture commissions led by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation. Free to the public, it will be presented from 7 October 2014 to 1 February 2015.

This MPavilion was designed by architect Sean Godsell who recently won the International Architecture Award of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum and the National Award for Public Architecture at the AIA Awards 2014.

The public program includes talks, workshops, music events, film screenings, walking and bike tours, art interventions and dance performances, staged as part of the Melbourne Festival.

Upon the conclusion of its public display, the MPavilion will be presented to the City of Melbourne, creating a legacy of contemporary architecture.

A full program and more information on the project can be viewed here.

Signs of Life exhibition explores art and science at UNSW Galleries

The UNSW Galleries opened last night with Signs of Life, a tripartite exhibition exploring the nexus between art and science. It is showing from 6 September to 8 November, 10am to 5pm at UNSW Galleries, corner of Oxford and Greens Road, Paddington.

The first program, Body Image, is curated by Felicity Fenner and Dr John McGhee. Visualisations of scientific data have didactic use but are also deliberately open-ended, leaving space for artistic interpretation.

In the second, Amnesia Lab, Professor Jill Bennett, Felicity Fenner and Shona Illingworth curate art to explore the human brain and memory. Rife with sensory impression, the viewer feels how images can trigger memory.

Quo Vadis: The Last Drawing Class reclaims the act of drawing in an image-saturated culture. Collections curated by Dr David McNeill on plant extinction, neo-liberal capitalism and the refugee experience evidence how drawing stays alive via its criticality.

Woollahra Sculpture Prize shortlists 45 artists

The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, presented by Woollahra Council, has shortlisted 45 emerging and established artists as finalists for the 14^th annual Prize and exhibition. The finalist group was selected from a record number of entries this year including artists from Australia, Hong Kong, USA, the United Kingdom, and Italy, highlighting the Prize’s growing international reputation.

 The innovative submissions – each for a freestanding sculpture of up to 80cm in any dimension – were selected from 597 entries by a judging panel comprised of Carriageworks Director Lisa Havilah, former Director of Sotheby’s Australia, Justin Miller and philanthropist Gretel Packer. The exhibition will be on view, free to the public, from 18 October until 2 November 2014 at the Woollahra Council Chambers in Sydney.

Sydney Fringe Festival 2014

The Sydney Fringe Festival, presented from 1 until 30 September at 60 partner venues across inner Sydney, presents a vibrant program of more than 300 ticketed productions, spanning theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, cabaret, musical theatre, dance, circus, literature and poetry.

Highlighting the city’s vibrant culture, several ‘creative villages’ hosted by the Festival will activate the suburbs of Darlinghurst, Chippendale, Surry Hills, Redfern, Marrickville, Sydenham and St Peters. This year’s program also includes public forums, a picnic day, artist talks and a short film competition. 2014 Festival Director Kerri Glasscock has curated the Festival with different focus each week, spotlighting the Inner City in opening week, followed by ‘Community, Ideas & Laughs’ in week two. The third week of the Festival is focused on family events and closing week is dubbed as ‘The Final Frontier’.

Bundanon presents spring festival celebration Siteworks

Bundanon Trust’s annual spring festival Siteworks will transform the property into a large-scale campground for a weekend of free performances, visual art, discussions and ecological initiatives, being held on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September amongst pristine New South Wales’ bush land.

Bundanon has invited visitors to camp onsite at the historic property for the first time for Siteworks, in a celebration of art, science and community.  Festival highlights include a 24-hour BioBlitz event focused on bio-diversity and environmental preservation and the unveiling of a major new site-specific commission by artist Janet Laurence.

A major new site-specific commission and installation by acclaimed visual artist Janet Laurence will be unveiled at Siteworks, inspired by Bundanon’s Living Landscape Project. Other site specific art works and performances will be presented across the weekend by artists Keith Armstrong & Lawrence English; Nigel Helyer; Janet Laurence; Stalker Theatre; Josie Starrs & Leon Cmielewski; Rosemary Laing; De Quincey Co.

Pearl Lam Galleries secures major presence at 2014 Melbourne Art Fair

Pearl Lam Galleries, one of the most influential drivers of Asia's contemporary art scene, has secured a major presence at the 2014 Melbourne Art Fair, one of Australia's most respected and longest-running art events running from 14 until 17 August.

Pearl Lam, the Galleries' founder and director, has also been announced as Keynote Speaker for the Melbourne Art Fair Lecture, to be presented on Monday 11 August.

Pearl Lam Galleries will present works from notable Chinese artists including: Zhu Jinshi, Qin Yufen, Su Xiaobai, and Michael Chow (aka Zhou Yinghua ~O-O~), alongside new works by acclaimed Australian painter Ben Quilty; English painter Loreta Sáez Franco; Japanese artist Sayaka Ishizuka; Tibeten born artist Gonkar Gyatso; American artist Carlos Rolon; and Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos.