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EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

FREE ADMISSION -
Customs House exhibitions and events are open to the public and free of charge, unless otherwise indicated.

Giant Digital Origami Tigers - 2010 Chinese New Year installation
By LAVA

Customs House Square, Forecourt
11 February - 14 March 2010

This installation is inspired by traditional Chinese lantern-making methods and zhezhi - the art of paper folding - more popularly known as origami. Developed with cutting-edge design and the latest in fabrication technology, this spectacular installation combines tradition with innovation, bringing East and West together.

The lantern sculptures were initiated by Customs House as part of an ongoing exhibition installation program driven by world-class practitioners in the field of architecture and design. These tigers mark the Chinese lunar calendar Year of the Metal Tiger, and help to raise awareness about the endangered status of these magnificent animals.

The installation was designed by the multinational architectural practice Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA). Made from an aluminium wire frame with a stretched Barrisol membrane, the sculptures sit 2.5 metres high, 8.5 metres long, and each weigh less than 150 kgs. They are illuminated at night by pulsating energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly LED lights.

Image: LAVA

ModelCity time-lapse and 3D lenticular exhibition
By Peter Murphy

Red Room & Media Wall, Ground Level, and Exhibition Space, Level 2
26 November 2009 - late February 2010

Sydney photographer Peter Murphy has produced a series of novel kinds of stereoscopic multimedia pieces and panoramic time-lapse videos for his exhibition ModelCity. His latest work exploits breakthrough hardware and software technologies in the areas of auto-stereoscopic (no-glasses-required 3D) image capture and display, and panoramic video stitching and warping. At the same time there is a sense of the city as a toyland.

On the Media Wall, Murphy shows a series of 360 degree time-lapse videos of Sydney CBD scenes in a circular ‘little planet’ perspective. These views paradoxically provide a simultaneous experience of god-like overview and immersive panoramic immediacy. In the Red Room, Murphy uses a large 3D screen to show a hologram-like slideshow of Sydney and the City Model, a series of large 3D lenticular prints emphasising the built environment, and an interactive kiosk where users can navigate time-lapse videos.

To view Peter Murphy's images click here.

Image: Peter Murphy

NOCTURNAL photography exhibition
By Peter Solness

Library & Exhibition Lounge, Level 1
29 October 2009 - late February 2010

In this series Solness seeks out an essence of place in every photograph - whether virgin Australian bushland or the stone skin of the land. Each image is shot within 50km of the Sydney CBD, demonstrating how closely we dwell to such a powerful natural landscape. Intricate bushland scrub, towering and sensuous trees, gentle waterfalls, the ocean and Indigenous rock art paintings, are all treated with great passion and respect with Solness' camera.

By making the artistic choice to light each vista, he reinvents each scene before him, adding a dream-like nocturnal beauty to every photograph. Yet despite their photographic purity and lack of manipulation, there remains something painterly in this photographer’s approach. Light doesn’t reflect, so much as emit from each subject, in ways that are similar to Surrealist painters such as Paul Delvaux.

Image: Peter Solness

Australian Open 2010 tennis live site

Customs House Square, forecourt
28-31 January 2010

FREE to the public

Come down to an official Australian Open live site and watch live footage of the tennis action. Relax with a glass of something cool or a coffee, or simply take a seat on the specially built stand. You can be part of the world’s biggest stage - the Australian Open!

Image: Momentum Worldwide