Photos from Harts Mill Re-animated

The area around Hart’s Mill has seen quite a lot of change since 2009, when projection artist Cindi Drennan worked with Port Festival and the Port Adelaide community as an artist in residence. She worked almost entirely solo, initially researching local topics, and later living for two months in a rented cottage in Ethelton creating every scene with tools like Flash and Motion. The resulting projection mapped animation “Harts Mill Inhabited” was a first fully animated son et lumiere (narrative lightshow) mapped to the architecture of Harts Mill.

The storyline was created through consultation with Port Adelaide residents, and the building itself became a very significant character in the animated projection, which Cindi created in a style that would appeal particularly to children. The original show was created during a time of heated discourse between activated community who wanted to preserve heritage and create beautiful public spaces versus developers who were proposing to surround the mill with dominating six story high apartments. The community eventually were heard and a new vision was born for how to use the area for a public park and market square.

As the development of the new Harts Mill precinct neared completion in May 2014, illuminart was commissioned to restage the projection show as “Harts Mill Re-animated“. The project was presented in mid May to coincide with a foodies weekend at the mill and the opening of a new playground. The projections were visible from around the Port River and were enjoyed by a new audience of the Ports attractions.

Despite the cold and rainy weather on the first night, Harts Mill Reanimated drew lots of people, who turned up to see history being repeated. Below are photographs by Craig Laurendet.