Lighting of the Sails: Audio Creatures

(Artistic inspiration and direction by Ash Bolland, music by Amon Tobin, visual content and animation by Spinifex P/L Sydney.)

Tableaux that evoke the pulsing sea creatures, eye-searing bird-plumage and iridescent plant life of an organo-mechanistic future are projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House — and invite audiences to take a unique dive into an indescribable world of colour and light during Vivid Sydney. Sydney Artist and Art Director Ash Bolland presents the imagery behind Audio Creatures, brought to life by breathtaking soundscapes from Brazil’s legendary sound-wizard and composer Amon Tobin.

Bolland, who was a pioneer of precise 3D artistry and striking graphic design before working as a writer and director for Nintendo and then some of the world’s biggest ad campaigns, has often colluded with the legendary Tobin — whose career in electronic music and audio manipulation spans over 20 years, most famously through his spikey, propulsive, uncompromising work for Ninja Tune and on the Cannes Palme d'Or nominated film, Divine Intervention.

This year, the pair will collaborate with Olympic veterans Spinifex on a visceral, visionary work that will transpose the admirers of Utzon’s ineffable ‘sails’ to a parallel universe beneath the Sydney harbour line and beyond the jungle walls of a predatory CBD.