Cirque du Soleil - Totem - Sydney Review 2014

Cirque du Soleil - Totem - Evolution

Cirque du Soleil have returned to Australia with one of their more recent touring  performance creations, 'Totem' written and directed by long term collaborator, Robert Lepage. On stage are 45 performers from 16 countries demonstrating the breathtaking range of circus arts and skills, unique, themed costumes and imaginative state-of-the-art technological set designs which have become synonymous with their brand. Totem's overall theme is described as being the evolution of humanity from the primordial, amphibian period towards the aspiration of flight taking many founding myths into the narrative.

Totem utilises the Grande Chapiteau which better captures the theme and atmosphere intended for the show rather than being staged indoor in a sporting arena.  The various acts are themed under 12 titles being: Evolution, Mutation, Seduction, Legende, Nature, Culture, Attraction, Passion, Science, Elegance, Innovation, concluding with Celebration. The various performances include a large tortoise carapace which doubles as a gymnastics apparatus; seven foot high unicycles with female performers juggling and balancing metal bowls on their heads; fixed trapeze duo with a couple performing movements high on the trapeze; a juggler (dressed as a scientist) rolling multiple LED lit balls in a giant glass cone; a couple in Amerindian costume twirling at high speed on roller skates on a circular drum. Cirque du Soleil's entertaining clowns are in full swing with a 'Sad Fisherman' and an 'Italian Tourist' providing humour between the high end performances. An amusing, recurrent skit involves performers costumed in the various stages of human evolution from ape to Cro-Magnon to Neanderthal chasing a business man in a suit holding a mobile phone around the stage.

Altogether an impressive range of circus arts are on display in Totem with bars, hoops, rings, foot juggling, hand juggling, handbalancing,  high trapeze, roller skates, object manipulation, Russian bars and the unicycles.

Cirque du Soleil compose their own music for each of their shows and have the musicians cleverly concealed behind large inflatable reeds on-stage for Totem. The quality of the music and sound effects compliments the performances and matches the use of powerful, interactive projection technologies used for this show (which includes moving images of swamps, starry nights, lakes, volcanoes, beaches and the natural environment). The 'scorpion' bridge which doubles as both a stage performance point and an exit/entry point for performers operates in three dimensions, extending, retracting and curling. This technical mastery of design by Cirque du Soleil's production staff together with the on stage performers demonstrate that this is a second-to-none class show.

G20 Brisbane Australia - Environment and Climate Change

The efforts of the Australian Government not to have climate change included as part of the G20 Brisbane meeting agenda or discussed in any prominent manner were ultimately futile.

The G20 Leaders Communique included at item 19, the following statement -

"We support strong and effective action to address climate change. Consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its agreed outcomes, our actions will support  sustainable development, economic growth, and certainty for business and investment. We will work together to adopt successfully a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the UNFCCC that is applicable to all parties at the 21^st  Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in 2015. We encourage parties that are ready to communicate their intended nationally determined contributions well in advance of COP21 (by the first quarter of 2015 for those parties ready to do so). We reaffirm our support for mobilising finance for adaptation and mitigation,such as the Green Climate Fund".

Sydney Theatre Company 2014 Season - Theatre Review - Switzerland

L to R Eamon Farren and Sarah Peirse - Switzerland

In association with the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles, STC have included the premiere of a one act, two actor play 'Switzerland" in their 2014 season. Written by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith as a commissioned work for Geffen, the play explores the fictional last days of the master crime writing novelist, Patricia Highsmith, as she spends her final hours at her home in Switzerland confronted by a mysterious protagonist claiming to be an agent for her publisher. Highsmith had enjoyed considerable success with her books, short stories and cinematic adaptations including the series with the character Tom Ripley (the best known title being The Talented Mr Ripley) but she was renowned for her macabre sense of humour, a fascination for psychological disorders and being in some respects just plain mean.

Murray-Smith has provided a superb script, building an original thriller with a disarming simplicity in the first few scenes but escalating the action with calculated contests of words and wits between the two protagonists to a final conclusion - worthy of the intellect and reputation of Highsmith herself. Sarah Peirse expertly portrays Patricia Highsmith in form and character while Eamon Farren deftly moves from being the mysterious visitor to later revealing he is actually her principal fictional character. Although American, Highsmith spent most of her life in Europe and considered Switzerland as her home, dying from cancer in 1995. Her literary archives are held in Bern.
 

Measuring the Impact of Climate Change - Australia's coastal communities

Academics and researchers from the University of Tasmania have provided a valuable online tool and resource for measuring the potential impact of climate change on coastal communities in Australia. The Coastal Climate Blueprint website brings together a range of information and factors (ocean temperature, marine hotspots, infrastructure) to provide a score for coastal towns vulnerable to climate change. The website also has a function to create  a tailor-made blueprint for local coastal towns comparing data from the local region with state and national averages.

The website can be reached through the hyperlink below:
Coastal Climate Blueprint

Pop to Popism - Art Gallery of NSW - Exhibition Review

The major Summer exhibition for the Art Gallery of NSW, Pop to Popism opened on the evening of Friday 31 October with the usual fanfare of copious amounts of alcohol, sporadic tray food and extensive crowd watching opportunities. The juxtaposition of Halloween parties occuring across the city and nearby added to the overall atmosphere of being at the Mad Hatters Tea Party  (with just as interesting an odd assortment of guests). Some of the fashion on display would have as readily been in place on the walls as on the floor.

The 73 artists represented in the exhibition are from a variety of different periods of time of the Pop period some very recent and many, not so. Predominantly the exhibition consists of colourful mounted wall works rather than sculptures, objects or other film/video installations which are often part of the 'Pop' genre or the wider Post-Modern period. The focus on consumerism as the central observation and social materialism is nonetheless well encompassed in the works. Past giants of this art form such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter have measureable inclusions in the works selected with Gilbert & George, Cindy Sherman, Martha Rosler and Jeff Koons adding a more contemporary influence. The sizeable Australian contingent include the works of Brett Whiteley, Jenny Watson, Imants Tillers, Garry Shead, Martin Sharp, Gareth Sansom, Colin Lanceley and Vivienne Binns. The exhibition is an in-house one staged by the AGNSW rather than a touring collection and to that extent the historical survey of pop art is limited. It is a pleasant experience but not one which will startle the viewer.

Sculpture By the Sea 2014 - Sydney

We're Frying Out Here by Andrew Hankin

Sculpture By the Sea has returned for its' 18th year to the 2 km coastal walk from Tamarama Beach to Bondi with 109 exhibiting artists represented, 33 of whom are international. Since this free exhibition was created in 1997 by David Handley, it has gone from strength to strength drawing significant crowds during the two weeks of viewing. The international contingent this year are drawn from Japan, New Zealand, China, Sweden, South Korea, Argentina, Czech Republic,Denmark, United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United States. The exhibition has become so successful over the years that it has been expanded to other venues including Cottesloe Beach In Western Australia and Aarhus in Denmark. The selection this year was drawn from 480 submissions from artists both in Australia and around the world. The exhibition remains a unique event set on the picturesque coastline walk with vivid ocean backdrops to complement the many installations made of steel, wood, plastic, cement and other materials. The exhibition runs from 23 October-9 November 2014 and remains one of Sydney's most enjoyable outdoor arts festivals.

Save Our Souls: Cave Urban

Our Memory in Your Place: Byeong Doo Moon 

The website address can be found at this link: Sculpture by the Sea