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Published on June 20th, 2022 | by Andrew Bistak

Kaleidoscope Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt, extended until 24 July

Due to popular demand, Kaleidoscope will remain on the Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt throughout the school holiday period and close on Sunday 24 July.

Launched in early June as part of the RISING program, Kaleidoscope is the latest large-scale project from installation artist Keith Courtney, and scales a deceptively simple device to epic proportions, creating a world of constantly shifting illusions.

700sqm of glass, steel, mirrors and moving prisms, visitors navigate a maze of corridors witnessing a slowly revolving display of light and colour and movement. Motion and gravity are distorted and spaces fracture, surprise and disorientate the senses at every turn.

Arts Centre Melbourne Director of Programming Edwina Lunn said: “We are thrilled to be extending the season of Keith Courtney’s unparalleled large-scale work Kaleidoscope. It has created such a buzz on the forecourt and been so wonderful to see and hear families, children and young people chatting about it after. Every time I go in, day or night, I get lost and squeal at my own Kaleidoscopic reflection! If people thought they were missing out, here is their chance to book in and engage with something totally surreal and beautiful.”

For anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment, Kaleidoscope will be offering a low sensory session in the second week of the school holidays on Saturday 2 July from 11am – 12pm. This will mean that the soundscape volume will be lowered, ear plugs will be available and information about what the experience entails readily available online and at the box office upon request. This may support access for people including, but not limited to, people with autism, sensory sensitivities, Tourette’s syndrome, learning disabilities or dementia, as well as people living with anxiety or people who have experienced trauma.

Drawing on the time-honoured charm and simplicity of the kaleidoscope to create a larger-than-life immersive symphony of light, colour and sound, this large-scale new immersive artwork has been designed to warm the heart and temper the soul.

Keith Courtney is one of the masterminds behind the acclaimed House of Mirrors and 1000 Doors which also featured on the Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt in 2017 and 2018 respectively. This latest work has been developed in collaboration with visual artist Ash Keating, composer Tamil Rogeon and artist Samantha Slicer alongside a team of highly skilled technicians.

Courtney has a track record of delivering high-quality and immersive art projects in collaboration with major Australian festivals, international artists and venues. Previous work includes The Crosses, a series of inverted crucifixes perched across the Hobart waterfront for MONA’s 2018 Dark MOFO; Radiant Lines, produced in 2012 in collaboration with UK artist Asif Kahn; Stickwork in collaboration with American Artist Patrick Dougherty in 2014 and the IY Project for DARK MOFO 2017 in collaboration with UK light artist Chris Levine.

House of Mirrors, a labyrinth of mirrors playing on the classic sideshow favourite, premiered at MONA’s Dark MOFO in 2016 and went on to tour 12 major cities across the globe, including Singapore, Auckland and Toronto, attracting more than half a million visitors and is now part of the MONA collection. 1000 Doors premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival followed by a 10-city tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Keith Courtney says: “No one will have the same experience in Kaleidoscope – this is a multi-sensory and at times physical experience where the visitor is completely submerged in sound and light. By day, it is a maze of mirrors and shadows and at night shifting shapes and colours take over in a vortex of serenity to somewhere or nowhere.”

Kaleidoscope is on at Arts Centre Melbourne until July 24, and will then head to the Brisbane Powerhouse from 11 August – 3 October followed by an international tour.

Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne in association with RISING
Kaleidoscope
Art Centre Melbourne Forecourt | 1 June – 24 July

Daily from 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM*
*Final entry 9:30 PM

Tickets: Standard $15
Children 5 years and under FREE
Persons 75 years and over FREE

For more information visitartscentremelbourne.com.au


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.


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