White Night Melbourne 2014

After the soccer match last night we walked into the city for White Night Melbourne.  In its second year, White Night celebrates culture and art and runs for 12 hours from 7pm to 7am.  We started in Birrarung Marr along the Yarra River and came across the pulsating bass and lights of Eness' Midden.  We then walked across the Princes Bridge and past the White Night sign to get to the Alexandra Gardens side of the River.  There we could see the Crepuscular Beam by Paul Collison and the amazing Monuments by Craig Walsh, which beamed five different moving faces onto trees.  It was a very unique and interesting piece.

 

Next up was The Electric Canvas' Wonderland along Flinders Street, which lit up Flinders Street Train Station, the Forum Theatre and other buildings with carnival themed light projections.  This was one of the highlights of White Night for me with its amazing use of color and intricate designs in the different projections.

Although this year's White Night was spread further throughout the city it was still packed even past midnight, which wasn't that surprising considering over 500,000 people attended the event.  There was a sea of bodies all the way up Swanston Street as we headed to the Northern Lights precinct.  Along the way there wasn't that much to see or do, which was disappointing.  When we arrived at the State Library of Victoria to watch the Kaleidoscope projections by Nicholas Azidis we took a bit of a break from all the walking. 

I had really wanted to check out Molecular Kaleidoscope - 'Virus one billion times' by Drew Berry and Franc Tetaz inside the La Trobe Reading Room of the State Library but the line was way too long to get in.  It was a similar story at many of the indoor sites, and we also bypassed the Moonlight Synchro at the City Baths for the same reason.  Overall though I really enjoyed my first White Night and had I done a bit more planning around knowing where things were at I wouldn't have missed out on seeing Tattooed City at the NGV or Purple Rain in the RMIT Alumni Courtyard.  I also think that if I go next year I will come into the city early in the AM when hopefully the crowds are a bit smaller.