Curious Creatures is an interactive digital artwork that creates life-size shadows of strange and beautiful creatures, projected on a 3m-tall by 15m-long screen. The creatures’ sounds are broadcast throughout their environment, responding to the presence and behavior of the audience.
As audience members approach the screen their shadows also appear and the creatures interact with them, transforming the audience from viewer into performer.
Curious Creatures will be on display day and night at this year’s Vryfees Arts and Music Festival which runs in Mangaung until 14 July. The artwork was created by Jimmy Mcgilchrist, a young Australian digital artist who has attracted broad international attention for his innovative use of animation, gaming and sound design. Mcgilchrist will also present workshops on 11, 12 and 13 July for festival-goers interested in learning more about his approach to art, animation and marketing.
Vryfees Festival Director Adri Herbert opened this year’s festival programme by saying: “The most important question we asked ourselves in the planning of Vryfees 2012 was what we could show South Africans that they had never seen before. This is how the Curious Creatures installation became a reality for us, with the help of the Australia Council for the Arts. It is a first in South Africa.’
Australian High Commissioner to South Africa, HE Ann Harrap, said that it was a great privilege for an Australian artist to be showcased before such a large festival audience.
“The Australia-South Africa relationship is underpinned by strong commercial engagement and significant people-to-people links. We are also seeing an increasing number of cultural exchanges between Australian and South African artists, musicians and writers. These types of cultural exchanges are not only significant for the individuals involved, but are extremely important for strengthening institutional linkages between our two countries,’ Harrap said.
Kathy Keele, CEO of the Australia Council, said: “This is an extraordinary moment for Jimmy and his team, and a rewarding one for the Australia Council. We’ve watched and supported this incredible work as it’s progressed from an artistic idea, to research and development, through to full scale production, and we now watch as it takes to the world stage. It is a testament to the perseverance and hard work of Jimmy and his collaborators and it’s wonderful to see it enthusiastically.
Curious Creatures has been supported by The Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body. The funding has been provided through the Splendid Arts Lab, an Australia Council initiative for young and emerging artists where they work together in a cross-disciplinary creative development lab making artworks for massive festival audiences.
A preview of the artwork can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/29233934
