Power plant is a sensory overload - an experience both a little bit magical, a little bit eerie. A light and visual exhibition between five ‘artistic gardeners’, they take over well known gardens, installing light and sound inventions to force you to reconsider the space, the sight, the sound, and your relationship with them and your imagination. The first was in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens in 2005 and experienced in this case on the other side of the world in 2014 in Wellington’s, coming via Liverpool, Edinburgh and Sydney. The vital reimagining of the space and nature is like a childhood immersion in that space between fairy tale, fantasy, and nightmare. I visit in the day and inhale the rose scent, walk the gravel paths smiling at lush green, and admire the view from the top of the Cable Car. As I walk the track at night and see the scenes unfold it all seems a bit trippy, electric and eccentric, senses being stimulated by flickering lights, sounds that lure you in and novel uses of recycled gramophones, windscreen wipers and spark igniters. Children stand wide eyed in wonderment, adults are drawn back to their inner child, men peer closely trying to dissect just how the contraption was formed, and everyone is inspired. Never lose your sense of wonder.
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Electric gardens
Power plant is a sensory overload - an experience both a little bit magical, a little bit eerie. A light and visual exhibition between five ‘artistic gardeners’, they take over well known gardens, installing light and sound inventions to force you to reconsider the space, the sight, the sound, and your relationship with them and your imagination. The first was in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens in 2005 and experienced in this case on the other side of the world in 2014 in Wellington’s, coming via Liverpool, Edinburgh and Sydney. The vital reimagining of the space and nature is like a childhood immersion in that space between fairy tale, fantasy, and nightmare. I visit in the day and inhale the rose scent, walk the gravel paths smiling at lush green, and admire the view from the top of the Cable Car. As I walk the track at night and see the scenes unfold it all seems a bit trippy, electric and eccentric, senses being stimulated by flickering lights, sounds that lure you in and novel uses of recycled gramophones, windscreen wipers and spark igniters. Children stand wide eyed in wonderment, adults are drawn back to their inner child, men peer closely trying to dissect just how the contraption was formed, and everyone is inspired. Never lose your sense of wonder.
