St Jerome's Laneway Festival is known as a day filled with fun tunes and cool people. And now there is a whole new element — art! Curated by DWDC Designs, Laneway now sees Brisbane artists, designers, VJs, signwriters, comic book artists, poets, sculptors, makers and stilt walkers taking over Alexandria St at this year's festival.
We had a chat with local artist Ky Curran about her work at the festival.
What are you doing for Laneway?
Theme Team 13. Curating the themes for site, VIP and green rooms at Laneway.
How did this all come about?
DWDC Designs got asked to theme the Brisbane Laneway site and we jumped at the opportunity to work with a bunch of talented friends and associates to vibe the Ekka site. We have created interactive Green Room/ VIP for years for different festivals including Sounds of Spring, Livid and Big Day Out.
How are you planning to execute the theme?
Collaborating with artists, designers and makers to create a street party with great music, art, atmosphere and stilt walkers. This is the year of the big balloon, Brisbane comics, upcycled furniture with a stencilled twist, fresh flowers and text.
Who is involved?
The theme team are Brisbane artists, designers, VJs, signwriters, comic book artists, poets, sculptors, makers and stilt walkers taking over the laneway of Alexandria St. Rob Corless, Barek and Frank + Mimi are some of the featured artists and will have a range of their work scaled over the site.
What do art and music mean to you?
Culture. It is an exciting time to be living in the zeitgeist of the Brisbane music and art scene. There is a history of healthy collaborations that saw festivals like Livid begin the movement that keeps us all entertained and employed.
Have you done anything similar before?
Our business has a broad range focussing on architecture, art, education and permaculture — so every job takes us in different directions. We teach, design, make and install and work with all ages. Recently we have worked with Education Queensland and State Library on living walls, edible sculptures and interactive food systems.
What do you want people to say when they see what you've created?
I would like people to walk away having experienced a moment of wonderment. If they are lucky, they will have keepsakes from free art Friday, been switched onto Brisbane comics/ streetart, or never look at a balloon in the same way again.
What are your skills and how are you utilising them at Laneway?
Nico is an architect and designer, so is great with spaces and is a killer installer. I have an eye for fine craftsmanship and love to create theme teams to share resources, skills and ideas with an ethical overview. After Laneway, the furniture gets recycled to local primary schools, or to not-for-profit organisations that need resources.
If you could collaborate and make art with any musician — who would it be and why?
Pussy Riot who were arrested on charges of hooliganism and have two of their members currently living in prison camps in Russia. Why? Because we are so lucky to live in a time and place to be able to think and express what we believe.
