Breathing Space: Transformative Projections in the Magic Hour

‘Breathing Space’ enabled an illuminated trail event for re-emergence from isolation, the time of awakening, while the early dusk fell. Creative collaboration between community members, illustrators and animators took place in digital, remote collaborations during the winter through to August and early September 2020, leading to public outcomes that celebrated our partial re-emergence from isolation.

Temporary public pop ups provided opportunities for members of the public to see the work in progress, during Winter and Spring.

Blue Mountains based projection arts company illuminart works in creative collaboration with Blue Mountains creatives, illustrators, community organisations and festivals to find, nurture and share the magical heart and soul of three Blue Mountain towns. This placemaking project continues to connect community in a creative process and ‘Breathing Space’ augmented Art Deco and iconic buildings with animated illuminations, creating places for reflection while supporting local regional artists’ practice in community arts development.

The project also provided support for community wellbeing through online workshops, creative audiovisual work leading to creation of a thoughtful collection of digital artworks, and transformed spaces within the social hubs of three towns. Three towns (Katoomba, Springwoood and Blackheath) were consecutively involved in the public displays, where the well-crafted and meaningful animated illustrations, augmented selected buildings in each town for up to two weeks. During each town’s ‘Season’, additional workshops were offered to visiting audiences to engage with professional creative practice and artwork themes on a deeper level.

The projections over the 4-6 weeks brought community to appreciate local arts, inspire hope and strength as well as bringin visitors to enjoy local ideas about the future of the region.