Friday, 3 May 2013
Port Adelaide is a dream to many artists, who imaginine how they could use the large, empty warehouse spaces for unique, fantastic creative and cultural ventures that can only be done with large flexible space.
And fortunately, through a partnership with Western Youth Space, Illuminart will be creating new projection sculptures and lighting innovations in Port Adelaide over the coming months of May til October 2013.
Large open space, access to power, tools and after hours access will facilitate the long term goals of the Illuminart team, to make new light and projection based artworks from a base in Port Adelaide. The warehouse workshop is located central to Illuminart’s plans for South Australian Living Artists Festival (August 2013), Night Mural Picnic (17 August 2013) and Port Festival 18-20 October 2013, with plans to also use the warehouse as a temporary Moving Image venue during SALA.
Western Youth Space occupies and manages the large warehouse (formerly used for Wool Bale storage and shipping) on Baker Street in the Port, offering Flexible out of school activities for young people (referred by their schools) who are interested in creative and resourceful skill building through hands on workshops. Many of the programs involve interesting projects such as bicycle building, welding or fabricating tools or artefacts from bike parts, and other creative / industrial projects.
Illuminart will occupy a space alongside WYS, where our own sculpture and illumination projects will be fabricated, tested and presented. This adjoining arts residency will offer the young people access to see the artists at work, and have pathways into other projects which may offer them new ideas, and fun professional and public outcomes.
Illuminart’s Installation Architect and Sculptor, Craig Laurendet, says “there’s a lot of crossover in intention. We’re interested in experimentation and exploring new projection and sculpture artforms. That involves failure, trial and error, and sometimes lucky success, but overall its a fun way to learn. We’re also very keen on using and building bicycles for some of our mobile projection art works like ShipShape, so there’ll be plenty of found and donated bike bits that together we can turn into treasure”.
Illuminart’s new projects created at the residency will be displayed in vacant spaces, street performances, interactive events and Port Festival projections, which are all part of illuminart’s New Light Industrial project in the Port (illuminart’s community arts project for 2013). More news on that soon.
The Western Youth Space has been engaging creatively in Port Adelaide on other projects including Community Arts SA’s “Say Something Two” project, an interesting dialogue and workshop moving beyond graffiti as a problem, to an opportunity for art making and expression.
For further information updates about the project, you can join the New Light Industrial facebook page at www.facebook.com/NewLightIndustrial or visit illuminart’s NLI blog, at NLI.illuminart.com.au and you can find out more about Western Youth Space at their web site www.westernyouthspace.org.au