Bespoke City

Transforming a new community space on Oxford Street Paddington and taking over the UNSW Art & Design Campus, Bespoke City is a night time art festival featuring an enchanting series of bespoke installations, projections and interactive artworks. Collectively they turn the spotlight on the bicycle as a humble but brilliant piece of technology, and share a vision of the city as open to being hacked, remapped and remade. This is one for the makers, the pedalers and the whole family! Bespoke City features more than 20 artworks, workshops and installations, including:

  • ●Pedal powered light mural – Climb on and peel back the layers of the city. See Sydney in flux as your pedalling efforts produce variations in light, colour and space. Artists: Jonathon Bolitho, Jeong Greaves, Jobe Williams.
  • ●  Autonomous painting machine – A robot-painter that tracks human movements to create curious images, prompting viewers to think about how machine intelligence is influencing our lives. Artist: Jeffrey Wood
  • ●  Bicycles that make music – Create a slow groove or some fast electronic beats as you collaborate with other riders to fill the campus with a unique and evolving sound piece. Artists: Milkcrate Events.
  • ●  Microbiology in the urban wild – Examine the city at the molecular level using a bike- powered laboratory created by the first Citizen Scientist molecular biology lab. Artists: BioFoundry
  • ●  A virtual ride from Paddington to Rozelle – ‘Veloscape’ is an immersive video work in which your pedalling takes you on a traverse of the city. Artists: Volker Kuchelmeister and Laura Fisher
  • ●  Giant data visualisation – Watch the ebb and flow of rider movements around Sydney, with a specially commissioned work inspired by the City’s cycling data. Artist: Hanley Weng.
BespokeCity
Image: James Gulliver Hancock, Town Hall mural, 2014, installation detail. Courtesy the artist and City of Sydney.

You’ll also encounter works by well known Sydney-based artists Richard Goodwin, Josh Harle, Maria White, Jamil Yamani and James Gulliver Hancock. There will be plenty of opportunities to play (so bring the kids!), get a free bicycle tune-up, join the guerrilla knitters, make some custom reflective gear (yes, replace that ugly hi-vis vest) and grab food and drink provided by Cargo Bike businesses and pop up stalls.

Location: UNSW Art & Design / Napier St outdoor space, Cnr Oxford St and Greens Rd, Paddington

Date: Friday 2 October Time: 4 pm – 9pm More details here.