INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed artist Bruce Munro says Sunraysia’s large-scale light installation projects are “completely on target” to be delivered next year.
The designer of landmark sound and light installations at Uluru and Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory attended last Sunday’s Tropical North Victoria tourism campaign launch, when the Trail of Lights and Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra, or FOSO, were announced for each side of the Murray River.
While Lock Island at Mildura had already been mooted to replace the original plans of a Trail of Lights site at Cullulleraine, subject to government approval, the NSW installation will now be located 4km from Wentworth, on Log Bridge Road, with the iconic Perry Sandhills and Thegoa Lagoon as backdrops.
FOSO will be a world-first display featuring full symphonic orchestra music and aims to also provide an outback experience for visitors.
Munro said planning for the implementation of the installations was “all good”, with the Mildura side of the project anticipated for delivery by Easter next year and the NSW installation to follow later in the year.
“From our point of view, we are ready to go,” Munro said, adding that both locations were “very, very good”.
“The work that we are creating is pretty much all done … we’re completely on target.”
Munro said the Trail of Lights was already largely ready, while the “massive” FOSO was something he had been working on as a concept for years to create a “symphonic orchestra of light”.
The artist said he and wanted to create installations that were “appropriate for the space” and would not “over-stimulate the senses”.
“The Lock Island installation is very much a gentle experience of light; by contrast the NSW installation provided an opportunity to bring in a symphonic orchestra of light combining sound and light.”
Munro described the Lock Island installation site as a “no-brainer in similar fashion to the Wentworth project at Perry Sandhills” for his third and fourth semi-permanent installations in Australia.
“Lock Island is a tremendous space – we are just down from the CBD and you are taking advantage of all the work of the riverfront, the Powerhouse and all the beautiful pathways, and then access to the restaurants and hotels,” he said.
“(But) it is relevant to a place for as long as its required – you do not want to put something somewhere where people do not want to see it.”
Munro said there was some manufacturing left to complete, as well as some more work on the ground before the construction team, and the installations, arrive on Australian soil.
“A lot of work has been done to make sure all our locations are right, but we have also been in discussions about the other infrastructure that needs to go in on both sides of the border,” he said.
“We are keeping it very light on the land – the idea is that when these things are placed and when they go away, you wouldn’t know.
“There won’t be any great big trenches being dug into the ground with heavy machinery, so it will all be done in a very sympathetic way.”
Mildura Rural City Council strategy and growth general manager Peter Alexander said the location of the Victorian Trail of Lights installation near the banks of Mildura’s riverfront would only capitalise on the “one-of-a-kind experience”.
“A vital step in deciding on the move to Lock Island was engaging with a broad range of key stakeholders, taking in tourism, hospitality and accommodation operators, as well as nearby residents,” he said.
“The feedback was overwhelmingly supportive and clear that this move will help us to continue to refine our offering to take this attraction to the highest possible level.”
Wentworth Mayor Daniel Linklater praised the collaboration between the neighbouring councils to deliver two distinct and unique attractions.
“The collaboration between Wentworth Shire Council and Mildura Rural City Council on this project will see a massive increase in tourist numbers and additional nights of stay benefitting the whole region,” he said.
“As a council we are very excited with the FOSO project, and all the opportunities it will provide our community.”
WHAT TO EXPECT
The Lock Island installation
TRAIL of Lights on Lock Island, subject to government approval, will feature 12,500 “firefly” lights among other attractions.
Artist Bruce Munro wanted to create something that was appropriate to the space.
“It’s very much a gentle experience of light,” Munro said.
“We are creating a carpet of gently moving light, so the idea is that you walk through it and it’s more of a meditative experience.”
A piece called Gone Fishing will be added to the spectacle which will be made up of fishing rods and fibre-optic lights, adding a touch of colour that will delineate the pathway around the bottom perimeter of the island.
“Gone Fishing is also a reminder that when we go fishing, we are often escaping the day-to-day stresses, so what we are trying to do is a decompression installation; we just want people to relax,” he said.
The Victorian side of the installation was supported through a $3 million Victorian Government Regional Tourism Infrastructure Projects grant.
The Perry Sandhills installation
THE Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra, or FOSO, will be located 4km from Wentworth, on Log Bridge Road, with the iconic Perry Sandhills and Thegoa Lagoon as the backdrop.
“The NSW installation is something that I have been working on for many years as a concept, but the opportunity to bring it here is to create a symphonic orchestra of light,” Munro said.
“You have got this area of about 200 metres by 100 metres with 80 of these Hills Hoist instruments laid out in a symphonic pattern.
“We are programming a piece of music we’ve had specially commissioned where every instrument has its own digital score.
“You will hear an individual musical instrument playing, and then you move on to another one with another instrument, and trying to balance that with the whole sound and individual sounds.”
The NSW side of the installation received $4.9 million in funding from the NSW Government.
