Osmose

Artist: Hamish Steptoe (New Zealand)

Collaborators: Angus Muir (New Zealand) / Jarrod Barrow (New Zealand) / Fryderyk Kublikowski (Poland)

Osmose is a multi-sensory artwork that visitors experience by lying down under coloured shards of light.

The changing colours of the shards evoke feelings of calmness and stillness or energy in the viewer. As they lie underneath the shards and let the light wash over them, participants also experience sounds tuned to the frequency of the colour that appears above.

The artist’s objective is to raise question regarding the power of colour in our lives: to explore the direct and personal effect it can have on our bodies and minds.

While perceptions of colour are somewhat subjective, there are some effects that seem to have universal meaning. Warmer colours on the spectrum are widely thought to evoke emotions ranging from feelings of comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colors on the cool side of the spectrum, such as blue, purple and green are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

Osmose also gives participants the opportunity to regard the world from a different perspective. They view the Sydney Opera House lying down; people's faces are replaced by their shoes; their close circle of friends will suddenly expand to include others sharing the underspace of the installation.

It fosters the unique feeling of being inside an intimate space within a crowded and busy environment. It also functions as a point, during Vivid Sydney, where people can plan to meet, return, relax and find serenity.

Country represented by installation:  New Zealand