After 4 Festivals in 5 years we have grown into something that we are very proud of. And we have thought a lot about what we want to become. We want a sustainable future. We want to deliver a high standard to artists and audiences. And we want to spend more time helping artists develop and present their work.

So, Underbelly Arts Lab and Festival is going biennial, yep – it will now occur once every 2 years and will be back with a big BANG in Winter 2013.

Meanwhile Underbelly Arts is presenting some great projects throughout 2012, including an upcoming Cabinet at the Red Rattler on the 14^th April; a panel as part of Vivid Ideas in May; and we’re launching the Underbelly Arts Propeller Program which will help past Underbelly artists get their work out there to new audiences.

If you haven’t already, join our Mailing List and keep up to date with Underbelly Arts happenings in 2012. If you are an artist interested in applying for the 2013 Lab & Festival we’ll send out info via the Mailing List, Twitter and Facebook for a first round call out for apps later this year.

And please come to Cabinet on Sat 14^th April! It’s promising to be a great night, and we’d love to see you there.

Editor: Dylan Behan
Camera: Matt Woodham & Alex Parker
Timelapse footage: James Ricketson
Stills: Catherine McElhone
Music: Ollo

After many months of hard work Festival Day came and went….as did over 2500 people – an Underbelly Arts record! It was so much bigger than we expected and we completely SOLD OUT of tickets.

Everything you saw on Festival day had been developed during the Lab, a residency that brought 150 artists together for three weeks to work on new projects. As a result, the Festival showcases some of the freshest ideas out there including works in progress and art in its earliest forms, For many of the artists this is just the first step, so keep a look out for them as their projects continue and develop at other events and spaces.

We felt so lucky and proud to be able to share the works of these artists with so many people, and we know our artists felt the same. We’re also very proud of our artists who showed incredible vision and dedication – it’s no mean feat creating works in such a short period of time, under intense pressure to deliver the goods. But boy did they deliver!

We’d like to thank everyone who came on Festival day, braving the risk of rain and the crowds to come and partake in what was the biggest and one of the best Underbelly Arts Festivals yet. We’d also love to thank our sponsors, supporters, donors, volunteers, staff and crew, and of course our artists, for helping to make it all happen. Without any of these contributions, we would not exist, and for that we’re very thankful!

Here are a few photos and anecdotes from the day to help you relive the Festival or see what you missed. Stay in touch with Underbelly Arts via our e-news, Facebook and Twitter in the coming months, as we roll out plans for future projects beyond the Lab and Festival. It’s exciting times!

Once again, thank you to everyone who made this happen!

Cheers,

Emily and the Underbelly Arts Team

Here’s a little summary of the projects from Festival Day…in no particular order, with some photos too (by Prudence Upton, Daniel Heckenberg and Catherine McElhone).

Xuan (Spring) – Ngoc Nguyen
Ngoc Nguyen’s beautiful installation Xuan (Spring), about displacement and identity, was a big hit on Festival Day. Her parents flew out from Vietnam to help her in the final days of the Lab and assist with cooking and serving delicious Vietnamese soup, tea and snacks as part of her work. There were many happy faces amongst the scenes of spring flowers in the middle of Sydney winter on Cockatoo Island. Mmm yummy soup too!

Horizon – Neil Brandhorst
Horizon was a huge undertaking but somehow Neil made it work – with literally not a day to spare. Neil worked nearly every day of the Lab toiling in his darkened room to make Horizon. There were a few set-backs, including not being able to source the right motor to raise and lower the truss (ie the horizon). But with the art-gods happily looking down on him, Neil got the part delivered at 11pm the night before Festival Day and literally pulled an all-nighter to get it up and running in what was one of the most talked about projects.

V – Justin Shoulder
Many of the projects relied on nightfall to happen and walking up at twilight to watch the first show of V was one of those special moments of real anticipation. Still light enough to look out across the water to the crimson sky, hundreds of people gathered outside the convict courtyard to hear Jeff Stein introduce the project and talk about its incarnation and the amazing collaborators who helped Justin Shoulder bring V to life on Cockatoo Island. Not to mention the influence of the Island itself and the fact that V emerges from the oldest site on the Island, the convict courtyard, rich with its own history and indomitable spirits. V is a fantastical creature that transformed the courtyard into a spectacle of performance, light and haunting sound.

OJO – Strings Attached and Younes Bachir
Probably the hottest ticket at the Festival – with one show only (and those who saw can understand why – it had a huge physical toll on the performers). To those who got to the Festival early enough to nab a registration sticker congrats, to those who missed out, our apologies – but never fear this won’t be the last you will see of this hugely talented group of physical theatre performers! Strings Attached spent the Lab in a workshop with Younes Bachir from Spain, devising a show for Festival Day which could on the one hand entertain and enthral but also showcase some of the skills learnt over the three week residency. With his trademark style from his La Fura dels Baus origins, Younes and the performers gave us a raw, energetic and intensive performance which required participation and movement from the audience.

OjO – 3 min Trailer from Alejandro Rolandi on Vimeo.

Shima – Murasaki Penguin
Two artists. One from Japan and one from Australia. A mesmerising dance performance with sound, projection and light, turning a cold industrial and machinery inhabited shed into a warm, inviting and emotive space where Anna Kuroda literally shimmered across the floor surrounded by tiny LED flowers. A final performance at 9.30pm was a stunning way to end the Festival day.

Shima from David Kirkpatrick on Vimeo.

Pattern Machine
Colour, light, sculpture, sound and projection. Mesmerising, seagulls, machinery, beats, blips and echoes – in surround sound and synched with images, was breathtakingly performed and hugely atmospheric in the sandstone room as artists literally brought the machinery to life.

Pattern Machine at Cockatoo Island from jeanpoole on Vimeo.

All You Can Stand Buffet – Butterfries
We were a little bit worried about how many people would want to eat food in challenging environments – cup of soup out of a toilet anyone? But considering the response, everyone was very interested in delving into issues around the gluttonous buffet culture and our food-obsessed society. How much could you stand? Did you managed to get a free feed, or were you too disturbed?

Awful Literature is Still Literature I Guess – Applespiel
Applespiel are turning into everyone’s favourite theatre collective and it’s no wonder why. A rotating team of performers devise and deliver great projects often based around strange, funny or ironic ideas. How do we deal with bad books? Do we stop reading them halfway? Do we drown them? Do we read the worst excerpts we can find to friends? Do we use them as props in our home? Do we perform funny dances with them on our heads? Applespiel did all of this and more with their now trademark style of humour and interactive performance, and they added a video installation as well! They took over our Bar on Festival day, they played music, they performed their shows – they were the perfect hosts!

Inflection: The Broken Record – Fetish Frequency
This roving game-style project had people running all over the island trying to find clues to the story. With multiple sessions, some people walked in for just one segment, others followed the story all day and stayed for the final performance. Artists dressed in black roving the island, a lone woman…did you manage to piece it all together?

Rhapsody – Whale Chorus
A journey to the top of the Island in the afternoon didn’t disappoint. Whale Chorus spent the three-week Lab developing the very first stages of their show Rhapsody. Their absurd comedy and style is a favourite with audiences, even the kids find them hysterical. And we’ve all got ‘Tax Man’ still ringing in our ears!

100 Years of Lizards – Sexy Tales Comedy Collective
A roving musical comedy featuring scientists, a ranger and an ancient race of lizards living on an Island…. they whisked audiences away to a land of song, dance and one-liners…

Spatio-temporal Anomalies, Spatial Distortion and the Persistence of Vision – Nick Wishart and FMGrande
Who would have imagined a kettle could do so much more than boil water? Nick and Miguel helped show your average whitegoods in a whole new light thanks to some crazy circuit bending.

Spotlight Bunny – Julie Vulcan and Ashley Scott with Friends with Deficits
Taking only 4 people at a time, this intimate performance was set in and around a car. The audience had to sit in the car and watch the story unfold around them, with the help of good car stereo…

Joan of Arc is alive and well and living on Cockatoo Island - Triage live art collective
Who would have thought Joan of Arc would have a mobile phone, or such a busy schedule! The only way to witness this One-to-One performance with Joan was to send her a text message and see if she could fit you in. If you were lucky enough to meet her in one of her secret locations, the experience was quite intimate…and revealing!

C-ART
Ever wanted to draw on a wall, have your photos or even your face projected for the passing crowds to watch? C-Art was built during the Lab and made its debut at the Festival, a hit with kids and adults alike, it roams and projects the content created by you!

Skyline – Biljana Yancic
Biljana’s Skyline was an elegant and simple exploration of light and darkness. As smoke from the smoke machines moved through the beams of light, there was an incredible stillness to the space – offering a beautiful contemplative escape to the rest of the bustling Festival.

data_shadow – Brad Miller
Walking in to his installation was like walking into Brad’s very own digital memory. Hundreds of photos from his life were sent moving across the wall, and as the audience entered the space their movement would sent bulges sliding across the screen, slowing and speeding the movement of images. It’s incredible how you really can get a sense of someone’s life from looking at hundreds and hundreds of their photos!

The Stream/The Boat/The Shore/The Bridge
The first stage of The Stream / The Boat / The Shore / The Bridge was developed during the Underbelly Arts Lab…and we got to experience the first ever demonstration! This work will continue to be developed for other Festivals, including Next Wave in Melbourne. We know lots of people enjoyed the first run, and we’re excited to see how it develops. Think large-scale treasure hunt with a twist…

The Dignity of Labour – EG1/EXT
A site-specific gig complete with the band playing on top of old machinery, projections of the workers of days gone by and music infused with the industrial influence of the late 70s and early 80s. It was great to see some live music in such a beautiful space, from incredible musicians!

Kyla Ring – Cohering not Cohearing: Going Through The Motions
Kyla Ring’s illustration based installation looked at the effects of water damage – and how it can be seen from a different perspective.

Case Study
This project was hugely popular with kids and adults a like. These 6 artists arrived on the Island three weeks ago with one mission, to build a new society. With materials they had brought wit them in suitcases, along with the help from the visiting public during the Lab supplying ideas and care packages (with extra supplies and Tim Tams!), they built a colony based on their own experiences and ideas about migration, colonisation and society building. Child-size houses, gardens and waterfalls, a town hall, even a guest book! It was a great place to spend the afternoon absorbing the beautiful works they created in response to their quest.

Inflate My Heart with 1000 Gushes of Wind – Swanbrero
A video installation and live performances featuring 5 sky dancers and their human doppelgangers mimicking their movements. Who would have guessed these inflatable creatures could be such beautiful and forlorn dancers.

Untitled from spat+loogie_video on Vimeo.

Untitled from spat+loogie_video on Vimeo.

Splinter Orchestra
Three different performances in three locations – the tunnel, the air raid shelter and an old creaky wooden room. It was such a pleasure to see this huge ensemble of musicians taking over these unique spaces, exploring the acoustics and experimenting with sounds.

Complicit
The robots behind the wall were programmed to avoid being bored, so they drilled holes in the wall to change their surroundings and make them ‘interesting’. As the robots chiselled from behind the walls, the artists would patch the holes up with various materials. A beautiful collaboration between human and robot.

And a big thanks to our beer sponsor Little Creatures!

We need a day or two to properly digest what an incredible day we had (and then write about it for you)…so until then, here are a few photos from one of our guest photographers, Catherine McElhone, to tide you over. Her photos give a great overview of the day…but don’t worry, there are plenty more to come – find us on Facebook or Twitter to get the updates!

Thanks to all of the artists who toiled day and night out on the island to make these works! We’re so proud and impressed, well done!

More soon

xx
Underbelly Arts Team

‘Or take a stroll through that tunnel over there and see who you find on the other side…’

If a mysterious woman offers you two options; either go back the way you came or take the road less travelled, you have to choose the tunnel, right?

Having emerged from the underground passageway into the blinding light of the afternoon, I felt disorientated and confused. Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more. I remember the ferry ride over, the wind, the water, the lunatic, the bustle of the people, wait, what was I doing? Right, the Underbelly Arts Festival, it’s the last day to take a tour around the Lab, shit, I’m running late.

I noticed the congregation of eager visitors beginning to move and I quickly realised the error of my ways in wearing red high heels as I ungracefully jogged over. Imogen, the artistic director was talking and I began to relax but still felt that my encounter with J Dark had tipped the balance in an unprecedented way; Un-reality – 1 Reality – 0. Looking around at the industrial wonder-scape I considered how many lions, tigers, or bears were lurking about the place (after all I hear that there’s a pretty fearsome cat living here) and more importantly, how many more great characters, flights of fancy and art making was still to come.

The tour started with a visit to the Book Bar which will function as the main watering hole on festival day. Here Applespiel were working on their multidisciplinary piece ‘Awful Literature is Still Literature I Guess’. Although the collective where pretty mysterious about some of the smaller details of the work (and we were left wondering what will happen to the drowned books and unskillful dance moves) seeing dozens of, sadly familiar, books practically levitating in the air was a visual feast and an exciting taste of what we could look forward to.

Our next stop was to see Brad Miller’s video installation piece ‘Data_Shadow‘. Here Brad spoke about some of the technology behind the work’s interactive components as we were given an opportunity to walk around and play with his memories.

From here we took a look at ‘Complicit‘; the result of the collaboration between the seemingly strange bedfellows; Petra Gemeinboeck, Liz Williamson and Rob Saunders. This interactive installation intelligently plays with possibly allegorical or literal, but undoubtedly old tensions. Between technology and nature, man and woman, man and machine, the young and the old, the possible future and the past. Or on second thoughts it could just be about a bored robot.

Next down the yellow brick road was a visit to Mandy Francis, Milos and Momcilo Obradovic’s ‘C-Art’. Here the artists spoke about the form and functions of the paradoxically futuristic looking (despite its revivalist VHS aesthetic) portable art centre.

We then dropped in on the Sexy Tales Comedy Collective who were busily making costumes, writing musical numbers and wondering how to move their beast of keyboard around the island for the premier of their roaming performance ‘100 Years of Lizards‘. Good luck guys!

Soon after, we came across Murasaki Penguin. The softly spoken duo told us about their interdisciplinary site-specific work; ‘Shima’. Anna also passed around an example of the hand made flowers that will inexplicably grow from the crumbling site of this performance.

We stopped briefly to observe Spanish artist Younes Bachir and the emerging theatre company Strings Attached who were hard at work at their large-scale physical theatre piece ‘Ojo’. This promises to be a completely immersive, interactive and truly spectacular experience!

The final stop in our journey was to see ‘Case Study’. Rome wasn’t built in a day but if it had been it would look something like this; busy, chaotic and exciting.

Although this and many of the works that we had the exceptional privilege to see were by no means near completion, visiting the Lab was an invaluable opportunity. Without sounding too much like an David Attenborough doco, to observe each artist and collective in their element, working under such welcoming, malleable and open-minded conditions is a real credit to what this festival hopes to achieve.

After a full-on day in the city I retrieved back to my house in the suburbs thinking ‘there’s no place like home’ but hell I am excited about Saturday!

- Sabrina Sokalik

More photos Max Milne

And some more photos from Imogen Semmler:

With the Festival only a handful of days away, the excitement is building on the island and we’ve got all limbs crossed for great weather. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, get them soon as they’re selling quickly and we’ve got a limited capacity on the island due to some of the spaces being quite small.

Here are some photos from one of our great guest photographers Daniel Heckenberg, who got some fantastic shots of many of the artists…

Pattern Machine testing their projectors!

Dan from Pattern Machine hard at work – coding coding coding!

Milo and Mandy from C-Art take it for a spin

Perran from Case Study in contemplation mode – it’s hard work thinking up a whole new society!

Sexy Tales Comedy Collective doing a run-through of their script

Many of the artists have been camping out on the island – how deluxe!

Splinter Orchestra doing a sound-check in the Dog Leg Tunnel

Butterfries in test mode for the All You Can Stand Buffet

Murasaki Penguin rehearsing

Rob and Petra from Complicit ran a workshop on robotics and had a great turn-out. People were so intrigued by the robots and the programming that goes into making them happen.

(all photos taken by the very talented Catherine McElhone | www.catherinemcelhone.com

Case Study also had another open project session to help gather ideas for the creation of their new colony. They’ve spent lots of time planning out how things will work…and a bit of decoration too! Check out their water feature!

The Stream/The Boat/The Shore/The Bridge also had an open project session today, and they tested out their game with people…what better than a game of Cops and Robbers!

We also had our special Match-making for Art-makers session. People sat around on our lovely blow-up couches sipping on beers (supplied generously by Little Creatures) and did their networking. What a place to meet up!

Plus here’s a few snaps from around the island. Festival day is THIS SATURDAY…and we’re all pretty excited!

The day kicked off with a workshop run by Stuart Buchanan from wearethenest.com on social media and how it can be utilised by artists and arts organisations to promote projects. He offered many great ideas and tips for making one’s use of social media engaging and effective, such as knowing your audience, and knowing your own story. Very very interesting and the workshop participants loved it! Many thanks to Stu for coming out to the island and running the workshop – we’re very luck to have him!

We spent a bit of time hanging with one of the tours today too. There were lots of people, which was great to see.

Nick Wishart from ‘Spatio-temporal anomalies…‘ also ran a circuit bending workshop today that we stopped in at. Nick is a self-confessed toy-lover, and has spent many years converting old toys and toy musical instruments into real instruments. Amazing to see how it’s possible to manipulate technology for art…funny mini kid technology at that!

Lots of tools needed for circuit bending…and a very good note-taking practice to keep track of all those wires.

Nick and his mini guitar…

You think this is a normal kettle? It’s actually a movement sensor video projector…well, something close to that!

Applespiel are working on a project called ‘Awful Literature is Still Literature I guess‘ and they’re taking over the Festival Bar on Festival day. We stopped in and caught them in the act of working out some very special dance moves. They were unable to confirm or deny whether these dance moves would be part of their final performance, or whether they were just fooling around because that’s a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon.

They also showed us some of the great titles they’ve been coming across as part of their project….

We also caught up with Petra and Rob who are working on their project Complicit and it was absolutely fascinating. Without giving too much away, they’re building robots that try to avoid being bored…so they keep themselves busy by breaking through walls built in front of them. Rob has a background in AI and it was great to hear him explain how he doesn’t control the robots, they are programmed to make decisions themselves! If you want to learn more about Complicit, they’re having a Workshop THIS SUNDAY at 2pm on the island, and it’s for free! So come along if you’d like to learn more about the project and what they’re doing…

A quick visit to Julie Vulcan and her team working on Spotlight Bunny was fun too – they were just about to do a test run of their show, and were showing off some plastic they’re going to use for costumes!

Lisa from Spotlight Bunny, sitting in the boot!

We snapped a few photos with a few of the other artists, here’s a sneak peak at some of the amazing projects to come!

And if you’ve been hanging out for another installment of Sexy Tales Comedy Collective’s Ferry Diaries, wait no longer….here it is!

Meanwhile the Underbelly Arts team have been busy planning the Festival and scheduling performances – it’s a very delicate process as each project has so many different requirements and artists are only just working out how long they will perform for and how many times they want to do their show. It’s a bit like piecing a huge jigsaw puzzle together. We hope to have the Festival Schedule online on Tuesday so you can download it and plan your day. But don’t plan too much, a lot of the magic of coming to Underbelly Arts Festival is the chance happenings and the discoveries you make as you wander around! This is what the Festival Schedule currently looks like…

Fetish Frequencies having been doing lots of interesting things around the island as part of their performance. James Brown, one of the artists involved, has shared some of his photos!

And now it’s time for Ferry Diaries #2 from those crazy kids Sexy Tales Comedy Collective…love it!