A week prior to White Night, Imogen said that she struggled to stay up beyond 2am. A week later, we stayed up beyond 7am.
Melbourne’s dusk to dawn party from 7pm Saturday to 7am Sunday typically has thousands of people being stuck in a gridlock of people in the city - not fun. But we only arrived at 12.30am, so crowds weren’t too much of an issue and we were free to roam around the various spaces of the festival spanning from Queen Victoria Gardens all the way up to Carlton Gardens.
Let me start off by telling you about the items which unfortunately disappointed. “Ghostly Machines” at Hamer Hall (IT’S A TRAP) gave life to the stage machinery which typically assist concerts. However, the couple in front of us filmed the entire average experience with THREE DEVICES (an iPhone, a DSLR and a GoPro) - such cringe. Besides, we didn’t get to go on stage (pretty sure that’s what we signed up for). The Entropy Continuum which was supposed to be a sensory feedback loop for us to lie down on the ground and look up towards to “contemplate the enormity of the universe”. Unfortunately for us meant staring into people’s faces which appeared on the loop. It might have been bad timing for us, but we just didn’t get it. Anywho onto the highlights.
“Circles of Light” was an interactive plant installation created by the Design Circle. Though there were more plants overall, there were 10 plants to touch and experiment with; each plant if you touched in various areas would awaken and react by altering a light and making a vibrant chord or sound of expression; if you held someone else’s hand and touched a plant, then the lights and sounds would become stronger! The soundscapes with various nuances in melody, timing and tone as well as the subtle changes in lighting created were surreal; we were most fortunate to have the designers speak to us extensively (and exclusively?) about the whole installation - they were the coolest humans.
My favourite highlight was “I Could Have Danced All Night” son the corner of Elizabeth & Lonsdale St by BetterHealth Victoria. Essentially, it was a place where everyone could learn various genres of dance the whole entire night. We arrived at 3.45am to see the climax of the Melbourne Shuffle class; I never knew that stamping your feet really forcefully around was such a big thing. But at 4am, we took the Afro-Fusion dance class. The genre itself is self-explanatory - combining various elements of African dance together and the class was 10/10 funky groovy. We learnt a whole routine, including the incredible moves: “Pick A Boulder Up & Put It Down”, “The Shovel” and my personal favourite, “The Elbow & Hip Wiggle”. By 5am we were re-energised and ready for the 7am finish.
Except we weren’t. Sitting by Birrarung Marr at 6.30am on Sunday, we sat and watched by the fire-breathing dragon, “The Crucible”, attempt to breathe life into the many tired eyes spectating including our own. At 7am, we watched the sun rise over the Yarra and paint the sky a phantasmagorical synthesis of pink, gold, scarlet and blue.
Overall, White Night 2015 was a wonderful and refreshing time, especially for the mind to get away from all the thoughts associated with finishing uni; sharing it with one of the loveliest, most genuine people I know made it all the more merrier.
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