unusual magic: March 2010

Sunday, March 21, 2010

{ luminarium }

A couple of weeks ago, we (Dad, Mum, Kathryn, Amy & I) headed to Adelaide for Writer's Week, which is part of the Adelaide Festival - & on at the same time was the Adelaide Fringe. One of the attractions at the Fringe was Amococo, a luminarium.

A luminarium is a sculpture people enter to be moved to a sense of wonder at the beauty of light and colour. It is an inflatable walk-in sculpture on a monumental scale, typically measuring from 800 to 1000m2. They are easy to erect and can be configured to adapt to different sites.

The experience was quite awesome - we were in there for about an hour & probably could have stayed all day. Once you've bought your ticket, you remove your shoes & are let into the first chamber - sort of like an airlock - where you are given a brief history Amococo (it was constructed totally by hand). Once you enter the main part of the structure, you are free to wander along the tunnels, stopping in 'pocket' alcoves or in central chambers where the ceiling is higher.

Some of the alcoves have air vents, either letting in fresh air, or blowing cool air. Writer's Week was great & we went to a few other exhibitions that were interesting, but I think Amococo was my favourite - I wish I could visit it again.