AK03: Art screening an innovative look at inner-city life

By CATHRIN SCHAER

It's an aquarium, fish fans, but not as we know it. Inside this particular "fish bowl" you will find, among other things, a groovy apartment party, fashion designer Denise L'Estrange-Corbet of World making a dress, a pair of boxers sparring in a ring and an older lady engaged in a spot of knitting.

"It's an idea we had based on the fascination you develop when you walk past a window at night and all the lights are on inside and the curtains aren't drawn," explains Fiona Milburn, one of the people behind the Aquarium project screening tonight and over the weekend in Freyberg Square as part of AK03.

"You can see what's going on inside the building, and it's a bit like peering into a fishbowl."

To create this voyeur's delight, images will be projected on the large upper-storey windows of the Pioneer Women's Memorial Hall in the square. Passersby will be able to watch several narratives going on in five separate window projections above their heads. During the show, a couple of stories will unfold, and a few tropical fish will make an appearance.

Aquarium has been put together by Unguarded Intersection, of which Milburn is a member. Group members had all been in the film industry and they formed Unguarded Intersection to make more creative, personal work using the tools of their trade.

Milburn worked with actors on the storylines.

Other participants Michael Brook, Mark Schafer and Kim Fogelberg worked more on the technical side, filming and figuring out how best to project the pictures.

The music was by Simon Fisher Turner, London resident, art soundtrack composer and formerly a member of 80s group, The The.

"The windows of [the Aquarium] are supposed to reflect the vibrancy that is now the CBD," Milburn explains.

Says Brook: "Hopefully people will just enjoy it. I don't think this kind of thing has been done very much before.

"And this will be something just a little bit different, a little bit magical in the inner city."

* Aquarium runs between 8.30pm and 9pm in Freyberg Square on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Herald Feature: Auckland Festival AK03

Auckland Festival website