Here’s a few more images that help tell the story of our journey to Melbourne, beginning with some pix of the prep work we did in the weeks before we left…
Mills mixes the chemicals that color our liquid methanol shots. Copper chloride for green, lithium chloride for pink, potassium nitrate for purple, calcium chloride for orange. photo by Margaret.
the pink electronics boxes that hide in the spine get a once-over check as we install a metal panel to hold their connectors in place. photo by Margaret
And here we are on site, installing our snake.
Marisa appears to be locked in a sweet b-girl stall move, while she helps Steve connect a pipe in the fuel depot. photo by Margaret
Mills grins at the barrel of fuel that appears to have splintered a pallet. not the first time, surely not the last… photo by Margaret
Xa builds cable extensions so the buttons can reach the perimeter fence. photo by Margaret
The night of the show was an interesting experience, in that normally we have several nights of running a sculpture to tweak and replace and adjust things. At White Night, all our changes had to happen between methanol shots, as the crew swapped roles and traded places and worked different areas. It made for a different kind of dynamic performance, and it was a fun change for us.
this glorious shot was captured by photographer Mark Campbell. thanks for sharing, Mark!
snake head! this gorgeous shot was shared to us from enthusiastic White Night attendee Prashphutita Greco. thanks, Prashphutita!
Snakey roars above the crowd… photo by Prashphutita Greco
the ground illuminated in an eerie green glow, lit up by a methanol shot! photo by Prashphutita Greco
that sweet sweet feeling of closing the container. in blue and hi-viz-yellow are Natalia and George, our trusty security guards and newest FLG recruits. they kept the site safe and secure and were super pleasant to hang out with every day. thanks, friends!
… wait, one more picture. Australia is famous for its weird animals, and true to expectation, Melbourne had a few cool species of flying things hanging around the civic areas. Every night when dusk fell on our build site, the grey-headed flying foxes would come out and swoop around the tree tops. If you’re not looking closely, you’d think they’re birds, but their silhouette is unmistakable. They have an average wingspan of 3’4″ and they weigh over 2 lbs. They are the largest bat in Australia — when they land on a tree branch, the whole thing bounces under their weight. Mills got this great pic of them hanging around the river at Yarra Bend Park:
flying foxes! photo by Mills
There’s even a bat rescue and rehab center for these guys (with a super cute Instagram). Flying foxes are really remarkable creatures, and just one of the weird biological gifts you can see in eastern Australia.
