MCA Sydney

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My Week in Sydney

18th biennale of sydney …. location location location !!! 2335

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The city’s largest contemporary art event, the Biennale of Sydney, is currently happening at some very exciting locations around the harbour and inner city.

Major venues include the newly redeveloped Museum Of Contemporary Art Australia, World Heritage listed former shipyard and prison, Cockatoo Island and Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay. For those who haven’t visited the MCA yet, this is the
time to do it …. and for me, I am fascinated at the thought of the ferry trip to Cockatoo Island.

According to co-artistic director Gerald McMaster ‘We’ve selected artists who often cross disciplinary boundaries, artists who enjoy collaborating and some who work with unusual media  …. those who look to their cultural heritage,
those who connect with the spiritual and aesthetic and those with a love of the natural world’.

This event from 27 June until 16 September, 2012 presents more than 220 works by over 100 artists from around the world …. the latest in contemporary art right here on our doorstep … our very beautiful doorstep.

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Also follow Moira Roth’s digital blog project.
My Week in Sydney

Sydney skyline at night from the mca 2658

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The last time I was at Sydney’s MCA it was a sparkling Autumn day and the view from the rooftop cafe took my breathe away ….. I couldn’t draw my eyes away from the expanse of blue sky, blue water and the Opera House sails …. so pristine and so white !!

Attending a function one evening this week …. in the same space …… I was surprised by what little impact the Opera House and possibly even the Sydney Harbour Bridge had on the skyline. It was the sparkling view back to the CBD and Circular Quay itself that this time …… literally took my breath away.  Even the Cahill Expressway was barely evident.

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The lights around the foreshore and wharves as pretty and lustrous as strings of pearls.

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I do have to mention the impact of the beautifully lit Hany Armanious sculpture …. Fountain, by night. He was our only exhibitor in the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.
My Week in Sydney

Clock and coffee at the museum of contemporary art, sydney 2837

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What a magnificent day to visit our beautiful MCA.  Our decision to start with a coffee was a good one …. we stepped out of the lift on Level 4 …. to this !!!!

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This space (called the Sculpture Terrace) flowing off the cafe and with views to die for …. just needs a few more sculptures …. which are coming.

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images: mydesignfile

The cafe, apart from the view, is simple, smart … terrific design .  The food, coffee and wine menu … just about perfect.

 And now for the reason we came: The Clock

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Christian Marclay is nothing short of genius with his 24 hour video work which won him the Golden Lion at last years 54th Venice Biennale.

Friends had talked about it, however nothing had prepared me for the joy and delight of this installation.

Entering the cinema-like space with its extremely comfortable sofas (some 40 or so I guessed) one is transported !!! I didn’t want to leave. Short extracts from thousands of films spanning cinema history each suggest or reference a particular time of day. Synchronised with real time, which is captivating, the extracts move cleverly from one to the next with changing locations, eras etc.

You do find yourself desperately trying to recall certain films or to know which films various scenes are taken from … I guess one will never know.

If only they allowed refreshments … one could settle in for a whole morning/afternoon.  Maybe people do. I simply cannot wait to attend one of the all night sessions … or at least part thereof.

PS. A glass of wine/cheese etc would be a fabulous accompaniment to the early evening sessions.

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