Colours of money
Chase the Ace-inspired piece shines at Lumiére
There was something for everyone.
From glowing tents eerily floating in Sydney Harbour to a bicylcing projectionist to a noisemaker’s Shangri-La, this year’s edition of the Lumiere art-at-night festival attracted thousands of people to Sydney’s downtown and waterfront area.
The sixth annual event featured 43 projects, including many local initiatives, from every imaginable genre.
One enterprise that received a lot of attention was a Robyn Neal piece that was displayed against a backdrop of light from the interior of a Charlotte Street bank.
The Coxheath teacher said her idea was inspired by the recent Chase the Ace craze that captured the hearts and wallets of Cape Bretoners.
“It’s called the Money Tree and it’s a visual representation of all the money that was spent on all the Chase the Ace draws,” Neal explained about her artwork that features string for branches and different coloured Chase the Ace-style tickets. “While it was happening I saw the big picture and I thought it would work well visually — it’s got a lot of comments, I think because people find it relevant to our community.”
When asked how many hours she spent affixing the some 20,000 tickets to the tree, she could only roll her eyes and shake her head.
Farther down Charlotte Street, which was closed for four blocks, Sydney’s James FW Thompson held court before a curious crowd of onlookers in his role as the Expert at his Fictional Sydney Information Booth. In the other direction, children and adults alike bravely made their way into what only could be described as a percussionist’s ultimate playground. The interactive project was felt as the sounds from under the McConnell Library could be heard well down the block.
There was also some more traditional, albeit with a different twist, artwork on the Prince Street side of the old Crowell’s building, where Newfoundland artist Jordan Bennett needed a hydraulic lift to paint his 10foot mural.
Kammy and Blair Cameron were among those who stopped to check it out and to pose for pictures in front of the permanent mural.
“This is a great night out — the atmosphere is great and there’s lots of interesting things to see,” said the Glace Bay woman. Around the corner, local artist Onni Nordman captured the attention of most passersby with his display of old editions of the Cape Breton Post Post and the Post Record dating back to 1955.
Nordman referred to his piece as “material poetry,” but for Stewart Keough it was a walk down memory lane.
“I found an ad from an old store that used to be located at the corner of St. Peters Road and Prince Street — it brings back memories,” said Keough, who grew up in the Ashby neighbourhood.
The store is now gone and, sadly, so are the prices displayed in the advertisement.
Another of the more popular attractions was the collection of cat statues located at the corner of Prince Street and the Esplanade.
The 24 artistically designed giant cats are part of the local Feral and Abandoned Cat Society’s Catwalk of Art awareness campaign and will be auctioned off on Oct. 1 at a gala event.
Festival-goers enjoyed a pleasant evening at the event that was advertised as running from 6:5711:57 p.m. and the few drops of rain that did fall didn’t dampen their spirits. And the event received a second wave of attendees at around 9:30 p.m. when some 2,400 people exited Centre 200 after a Cape Breton Screaming Eagles game.