Having worked closely with the performers of Djuki Mala, artist and lighting designer Christian Lovelady gained an understanding of Yolngu culture. He recognised ‘their use of English is not a formulaic language with one path per phrase but more as a tree of infinite possibilities for more effective articulation’.
This trio of light sculptures acts as a platform for the stories of dancers Baykali Ganambarr, Wakara Gondarra and Watjarr (Marko) Garmu. LED screen technology gives the trio a new way to express themselves that truly brings their language to fresh eyes and ears. Viewable from all sides, the giant shards act as mirrors by day and then illuminate by night to display animations inside each mirrored form. As you move around the objects, you’ll experience infinite reflections and intricate animated performance sequences that reveal stories and songs from Arnhem Land.
Watch as the fire dances, the yidaki (traditional didgeridoo) sings and poetry is spoken. Older than all religions of the world, the lessons we can now glimpse are only a shard of the broken window of the culture of this country. Shard invites you to hear the truth of this land’s past and learn for our shared future.
Originally this set of works was created by Christian with basic scribbles and drawings in 2016 and further developed in spare time in 2017. However, with many projects going on at that time it was left by the wayside as he’d only had the platform designed and the structure having drawn the first shape and put the idea together. Only in 2018 and 2019 did he then experience, while touring with Djuki Mala, the lives of Baykali, Watjarr and Wakara and become immensely interested in their use of English with articulation and power in description far more effective than most English only speakers.
In the show, Djuki Mala, a description used in projected content during the show is “it hit me to my life that I love my son very much” which Christian thinks perfectly describes one facet SHARD is expressing as the use of English is far more powerful when spoken by someone who naturally pieced the phrase together as it’s not their first language.
The high-resolution outdoor LED wall, provided by Granston Productions, allowed an ability to distract from the specific use of technology to focus purely on content and the platform itself.
“SHARD required the highest density LED wall we could get for the duration of the festival,” explained Christian. “One massive bonus of utilising this screen from the get-go was the support and incredibly clever ideas from the team at Granston Productions which helped make the project possible from the beginning.”
The content often breaches a standard 1920 image on the structures and so a simple solution of 3x 4K Brightsign Players gave all the headroom needed for sturdy playback on all structures.
As the light bounces between sheets of glass, the same glass used on some skyscrapers today, only 30% of the light from the outdoor LED wall kicks out each bounce into infinity leading to impressive illusions of a 5.5m long tunnel effect out of only a 0.5m deep object. This choice of glass and all construction was done by Rob Butler at Onstage Arts with assistance in translation from Christians many scribbles to real construction drawings by Matt Power.
“To build and create something never before built in the world is quite an impressive feat especially when dealing with a picky artist,” added Christian. “Onstage Arts completely aced the brief and on top of all other constraints along the way, they managed to make the structures entirely waterproof to be able to continue to run even in the middle of Sydney’s worst weather.”
Audio emanates from below each structure, with a small form factor sub or two per unit it certainly makes for a more immersive effect and this paired with a cleaner look with no visible speakers, helped the unidentifiable obelisk-like aesthetic.
“The hidden audio component, and much of the audio treatment physically, was gained from much-needed advice from Jesse and Kiera from CCA Productions, without that support the next best solution was certainly going to look horrendous and take away from the artworks,” said Christian
Lumos Creatives began this project to share a cultural perspective and open a portal into an often misunderstood world, we look forward to touring the artworks in the future to reach as great an audience as possible.
Credits:
Creative Director: Christian Lovelady
Storytellers: Wakara Gondarra, Watjarr Garmu & Baykali Ganambarr
Animation: Tristan Combs
Construction: Onstage Arts
Construction Manager: Rob Butler
Construction Consultant: Matt Power
Screen & Technology Support: Granston Productions
