White Night - Art and Lights

This was the first year Melbourne hosted a White Night festival. White Night is an all-night arts festival celebrating food, art, film, music, and light. It started in Saint Petersburg, Russia where during the weeks around the summer solstice, the nights are literally white/bright because of its latitudinal location. Other large cities have followed suit such as Paris, Tel Aviv, Italy, Britain, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago (2007, the first one of its kind in the US), and more. Around 300,000 people attended Melbourne's White Night on February 23rd/24th.

I arrived in the city a little before 7:00p to see the Federation Bells ring. This was one of the locations I came across in my Mali Hunt and said that I would one day go back to hear them ring, so I did. Afterwards, shortly after 7p I made my way back towards Federation Square to see how the Zumba was going and oh boy was it going. I dropped my bag in a corner between the stage and speaker within eyesight, kicked off my flip flops (BIG mistake), and jumped right into the front row. I Zumbad in Fed Square with who knows how many other people for an entire hour, full out, barefoot on bumpy, jagged cement. At the end of the night/morning I will come to find a blister the size and shape of a quarter with a dime next to it. And once all the hype of the night/morning dies down I will come to find that that blister makes my entire foot feel like it is on fire and is practically impossible to walk on. It was soooo worth it though!!

After Zumba I met up with a friend of mine (Steffen, the one I did the mud run with quite a few months back). Luckily, he just so happened to be inside the building I was standing outside of, because otherwise, we probably would have never found each other in the masses. Once we met and I explained my sweaty appearance and limp (Zumba) we went to an interactive laser display in St. Paul's Cathedral, except, there were too many people doing it and not even using it in the way it was intended so we left and planned to come back to it. We saw some of the illuminated projections on the different buildings, which was pretty cool.

Why I wouldn't have been able to find Steffen

We saw these two french women living in this itty bitty apartment, which was weird... the kind of weird that forces you to watch. However, during this performance I noticed a group of people next to me SIGNING!!! I watched for a minute just to be sure that that is what was going on and then I tapped the shoulder of the guy next to me. I asked the guy if he was Deaf and he said yes and then asked if I was. I explained that I wasn't but that I studied sign language and Deaf culture at uni. We chatted for quite some time about what I was doing in Australia, where I was from, Melbourne's Deaf community, some book stores, a friend of his who is from the States, etc. He showed me the sign for Melbourne and Sydney. He introduced me to his friends and explained how I knew sign, where I was from, etc. We talked about some signs that are different between ASL and Auslan (Australian Sign Language). Luckily he knew the ASL alphabet because when we got stuck in understanding each other's signs we were able to fingerspell. This experience was really cool for me because I haven't used sign language to talk with anyone since I left for Australia, when before that I was using it almost every day. I have also never signed with someone from another country who was Deaf. I was shocked at how much I still remembered and the fact that we were able to understand each other since I have had little to no practice on my receptive and expressive skills since May. It was really cool too that this knowledge, this language, allowed me to communicate with a group of people I wouldn't otherwise have been able to communicate with (without typing on my phone or writing it down).

Afterwards Steffen and I watched a mime and marionette show. We watched people misuse a projection art installment by just making random shadows on the wall rather than following the directions. We talked with the artist a bit about this and her feelings on it. We watched some random film in an alley. We saw our image projected onto a wall in another alley and then manipulated. We saw some lit, lantern like shoes hanging over another alley. We went and stood at the intersection of Collins St. and St. Kilda Road on a raised step to get a better perspective of the crowd and couldn't believe what we were seeing. You couldn't tell who was coming or going and they had to have traffic control cops there to gather the people after each street crossing so the cars could go. They weren't expecting this many people or this kind of crowd, so they hadn't closed Collins Street which is one of the main streets through the city (St. Kilda Road was closed because several of the art exhibitions were on that street). Afterwards we went and got dinner at Hungry Jacks (10:30p). The line was to the door at both registers and this is one looooong fast food restaurant. We ate outside on the dirty, gross steps of some building (it may have been a church). We watched the stage at Flinders Street Station from the steps while we ate.

Security blocking people from crossing

Let the masses cross!

Flinders Street Railway Station

We worked our way through the crowd back to Federation Square where the dancing was taking place (11:00p). Steffen and I participated in some kind of dancing that I don't remember and then we did bollywood dancing. Afterwards we continued moving through the crowds as we headed towards the river for Melbourne's largest ever water and laser show. We watched it once through, not in the greatest spot, and Steffen wanted to watch it again. At this time was when my friend from church, Julia, met up with us, so we all decided to sit and watch it again from better seats. (11:30p). The patterns and images they could create with shoots of water and colored lights was quite mesmerizing. It reminded me a lot of the fireworks, laser, and music display on Australia Day in Sydney.

Hundreds of disco balls over Fed Square for dancing

Afterwards we headed across the Princes Bridge (after about 15 minutes of standing around waiting for Steffan's friend who turned out to actually be on the bridge down at the other end of the river) to the other side of the Yarra River (Southbank area). She met up with us by the river where we took in the projections on the Princes Bridge, the light up "White Night" letters, the multi-colored lights on a bridge further down, the ridiculousness of these people trying to ride a bike that went right when turned left and vice versa, and the nice messages on these giant, inflatable, illuminated balls on the river. Then we walked over the Sandridge Bridge back to the other side of the Yarra River. On our way back to the center of the festival we ran into a bag pipe playing Cookie Monster. We went down into the subway to see an instrument that was interactive and made out of recycled pieces, but when we got there it was pretty much packed away and the artist was nowhere to be seen, so we left.

We worked our way into the crowd in front of Flinders Street Station to watch and listen to the The Cat Empire (2:10am), a band I had never heard of, but Julia and Steffen were pretty keen, so we went. Unfortunately, when you get a crowd of this size together the idiots will show themselves. As we were standing there, completely squashed and stuck in place a couple people started climbing the light and signal poles across the way on the other side of the crowd. Well those idiots got down and then another idiot decided to climb the pole right next to where we were standing. If that wasn't bad enough he then stood on top of the pole. And if THAT wasn't bad enough, he then jumped, sending a hard, heavy gray cover flying down and hitting me right in the face. Since I couldn't move in any direction I instantly went down to the ground covering my head in protection because I didn't know what else was coming down and if he was coming down. In the process I lost my glasses, which I picked up just before Julia pulled me up along with another girl/woman who then plowed through the crowd as I screamed and cried. Above my eye hurt and my nose hurt like crazy. I couldn't see, because I didn't have my glasses on and was crying, but thought the worst about my nose - broken. They got me through the crowd in no time, which was quite a feat with how tightly packed everyone was. Once we were back on the sidewalk and semi-out of the crowd, the woman asked if she thought we could make it to the First Aid tent on our own and pointed in its direction. Julia and Steffen said we could, so she went back into the crowd. The screaming was making my nose and head hurt more, so I stopped even though it hurt and I was still in a bit of shock and confusion, although I should have kept going because it took a lot longer to get through the crowd without it.

We got to the First Aid tent and they sat me down and asked me general questions and the doctor said it wasn't broken, but she could definitely see some swelling and bruising beginning. Then one of the emergency guys asked me for my ID so I went to get it out of my wallet, couldn't find it, so I looked again (there was a lot of stuff in there), couldn't find it. I started dumping out the contents of my purse, Julia helping me. When it was official that it wasn't there... I felt like I was going to vomit. 300,000 people and I'm supposed to find one individual wallet?! Everything was in there - ID, cash, credit and bank cards, membership cards, etc etc. It wouldn't have mattered quite so much had I not been in a "foreign" (Australia isn't really foreign, but it isn't home either) country where getting all those things replaced would have been MUCH harder. I had to stop for a minute and think logically though about where it was. When we saw the Cookie Monster I took my wallet out to donate and then I know I put it back in, so it had to have fallen out when I went to the ground after that thing hit me in the face. Julia offered to stay with me and Steffen and his friend offered to go back into the crowd to look for it. I'm so thankful Julia was there with me doing her best to keep me calm and focused and put things in perspective. The emergency guy came to ask for my information but I couldn't give it to him because I was for sure if I opened my mouth I was going to vomit. I called my mom for a quick second however to tell her to pray (in addition to my already and continuing praying). I sat there what seemed like forever and then Steffen and his friend came walking up, no wallet in hand, I couldn't believe it. I asked as though it didn't matter though to try and maintain my cool - "No luck?". Their response? "The police have it. The lady who helped us out of the crowd went back to her spot behind where we were standing and saw it on the ground and picked it up and gave it to security." I thanked God (literally) and gave Steffen a huge hug and thanked him and his friend for braving the crowd once more for me. I was so relieved. I had a big gulp of water from the tent, gave them my info, sat for a bit longer with the ice on my nose and then decided I was ready to go get my wallet.

Bruise and bump on nose (I got out very good considering) and can't really tell in the picture, but there is a scratch above my left eye

We walked down to the police station, which was just around the corner really, and waited for quite some time as person after person passed us not asking us anything about why we were sitting here or if we needed help or anything. Finally, a large group of them walk out and after the 4 of us exchanged glances and small chuckles at the disbelief that every single one of them was going to walk by without saying anything, at the last minute one of them turned around and said are you the one who lost a wallet. I said, "Yeah, it's purple", and she handed it over. No questions about identity or anything, just, "Here you go". I opened it and nothing was missing, not even any of the cash. I seriously couldn't believe it though that out of all the people that would be standing behind us among a crowd of 300,000 it would be someone so amazing that would brave the crowd twice (4 times if you count returning to her spot) for someone they didn't even know. However, in church we'd been talking about how God answers prayers and how when we pray He moves and I couldn't help but think that this was God showing me that when I pray He listens, He cares, He moves, and things happen. I was just talking to my mom a couple days prior about this and how I didn't know if He was preparing me for an opportunity to see Him answer prayers or what and my mom said that she had actually been praying that an opportunity such as that would arise. So in the end, it was all pretty cool, and I could see God in the entire situation. Once the police and security people left, the 4 of us burst out laughing at how ridiculous the whole event at the police station was. We then headed back out into the crowd to watch the last 20 minutes or so of The Cat Empire. We had much more space this time and were just a bit further back and away from anything anyone could stand and jump on.

Afterwards Steffen's friend headed home and while Steffen and I had every intention of continuing, Julia was possibly thinking about heading home as well, but decided to stick it out with us. We did this thing where you sit in a box on a cart and someone pushes you down the street and it messes with the way you perceive things and kind of turns the streets into a movie. Throughout the night we also kept running into Uptown Brown who is a one man band that was really cool to listen to. Afterwards we went back to Federation Square so Julia and I could learn and do the Thriller (4am), which was absolutely hilarious. Then we went into the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and I did a screen test as Hermione.

Next we went back downstairs to something called, "A Moment". It was a blue and brown painted, nest like, caravan with fairy lights, cushy carpet, a small table, and a teal type writer inside. When it's your turn you are given an iPod and a set of earbuds. There is a quiet voice of a young girl on the other end. She spoke a little bit about herself and who she wants to be when she grows up. There was soft music in the background. Once that finished you climbed into the caravan. The little girl then instructs you when you are ready to use the typewriter and type whatever you'd like. Before moving to use the typewriter I took note of what was on the walls... hundreds of little typewriter written notes pinned to the wall. The walls and ceiling were covered with notes of previous participants' letters to themselves - "Let them say what they want, you know where your worth is and how much you matter", "You're only 19 and you've already ruined your life for yourself", "You're 8, when you're 20 you want to be a zoologist", "Life is short and you're too thin. Don't let their words be the end of you. You are a marvelous being.", "You've done it! With hard work you have reached your goal!", "You are loved.", etc etc. Note after note after note, some inspirational, some heart breaking, some innocent, some cryptic, the list goes on. It was a surreal feeling sitting there in the middle of the streets of Melbourne reading all of these immensely personal notes of other people who had sat right where I was. I decided it was time to get to typing my own. What to type though... If I could say anything to myself what would it be? What would I want someone sitting in here to read? Should it be about my past, present, or future? How personal am I willing to be with something so private and yet so public? I typed what I had to say, held on to it for a moment, and after reading a few more notes, found a space and pinned it to the wall - Wondering who would come after me and read this? Will this help someone unknown? What will be done with this note to myself when all this is said and done? I sat there for a moment longer continuing to read the notes - I could have sat there and read all night - until I decided I had probably been in there long enough and should let other people have this experience. When I climbed out of the caravan there was a tiny rolled up piece of paper with a little string tied around it resting on my shoes that said, "dear me, be brave, walk slow. value small things but dont forget the big stuff. be wise. believe in people. xxaMoment" It was written with the same paper and type writer as in the caravan. I slipped on my shoes and unfortunately, just like that, the moment was over - back to the busy streets and noise of Melbourne. However, when I think back to that moment I often grow quiet and still as it was a special, intimate, personal moment that I can't explain in words.

Afterwards we all headed back down Flinders Street towards St. Paul's Cathedral to see if the exhibition in there was any better with less people and turns out it is way cool!! The lasers coming from above respond to your movement. If you stick your arm/leg in the light path it goes around it. If you move your arm in and out it bounces as it avoids your body. With other people doing it as well, it's cool to see how your movement alters their movements and what images or patterns you guys can create together without even speaking. As we were leaving we walked past a small hill of grass outside the cathedral and the sight was just so strange considering we were in the middle of the city - people just passed out in the grass. We then headed back down St. Kilda Road towards the projection installation we were at earlier where we spoke with the artist because no one was following the instructions. Turns out, this too, was a fantastic art piece when used appropriately. The projection instructs you to stand in a specific spot so your silhouette is then projected. A girl from the audience got up and stood there. As she stands there this story unfolds around her and she is the story. A lion that walks on 2 legs fell in love with her and gave her a rose. She rode in a boat. She was taken up on a ladder into some foreign flying thing. She was in the newspaper. She stood in that one spot the whole time - only moving her arms and torso really and yet she was able to tell a whole story. You could tell she had been sucked into it. Almost like she had forgotten she was doing this in front of a large crowd in the middle of Melbourne. The crowd as well was enveloped by the story - looking past the girl standing there and connecting with the silhouette on the wall. We spoke with the artist again telling her how glad we were that they figured out a way to make sure it was done properly and how brilliant and entrancing it was. She was so thankful for our comments.

Now it was time to figure out how to get home. Steffen swore the bus was coming to Collins Street, but Julia was pretty sure it was down St. Kilda Road. I was taking a tram so I didn't care where the bus was. Rather than sticking to his gut, Steffen went with Julia and I to the St. Kilda stop. On our way there we saw a fraction of the trash produced by the night and got to see the sunrise behind the trees over the river. We saw the White Night sign again, but this time it had been drawn on by the artist. We waited at the bus stop for awhile and it turns out the bus was coming on Collins Street, but it was too late so we had to wait for a tram. As we stood there we got to watch all the trams come in for their day at work and just decided to get on a tram to Caulfield train station. Julia would drive me home from there and Steffen would take a bus. By this time I believe it was around 6am. That tram trip was by far the most bizarre, most hilarious trip I will probably ever take on a tram.

The Melbourne sky turning blue again

By this time all 3 of us had gone absolutely sleep happy. I'm pretty sure everyone there either thought we were on something or we were completely wasted. You could tell who was on the tram just starting their day and who was on the tram from White Night. There was a guy in some crazy white costume that I vaguely remember. There was an older gentleman in the seats next to us and we ended up helping him name his charity foundation/organization. All 3 of us were talking absolute nonsense about anything and everything and couldn't stop laughing about nothing. We got off the tram and parted ways and Julia and I could hardly walk straight anymore. I had completely forgotten about all public/social rules and etiquette, was no longer controlling the volume of my voice, still laughing about nothing, and we shouted hello and waved at some workers in the parking lot across the street. We got in the car and couldn't find seatbelts or remember where certain buttons and things were. Once we got situated there she headed to my house. We danced like lazy lunatics until she got to my house. Honestly, it probably wasn't safe that she was driving and/or that I was in the car with her, but the roads were so empty that it didn't matter. By this time it was around 7:00am (I think).

I got inside and my host family was awake. Michelle was very confused at why I was just walking in the door and my host parents were shocked that I actually made it for the entire night. I told them a few of the main stories and attractions, looked at and uploaded a few pictures, then showered and got ready for church. That's right... By this point I had been up for over 24 hours and I was still going to church. I didn't care how tired I was, but my days at Compass Church are limited and I'm not missing one simply because I chose to be ridiculous and stay out ALL night. At this point, I actually wasn't tired. I was feeling quite good actually. Louise picked me up for church (because my host parents said I couldn't drive, fair enough). Worship was good, but I had to fight so so so very hard to stay awake during the sermon. I had lunch with my Aussie family (Nikki, Louise, and their parents - Joan and Ian). Towards the end of lunch I was instructed to go take a nap because apparently I was falling asleep at the table. By the time I had laid down I had been a little over 30 hours without sleep and I was knocked out in no time.

Regardless of the mishaps with the stupid guy, the sore nose, the lost wallet, the missed bus. Regardless of the blisters on my feet the size of my thumb that put me in so much pain by the following day (Monday) that it felt like my foot was on fire. Regardless of the pure exhaustion throughout Sunday. White Night was one heck of an experience from beginning to end and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!! Unfortunately I won't be here for the next one as I will be back home by then, but these memories of being out in the streets of Melbourne from sun down to sun up with 300,000 people experiencing and appreciating art in so many different ways, with 2 good friends... will definitely be a story I tell for a long long time. =]

Sunset

Sunrise