Buchan Group Vivid Sydney 2017 Installation re/FRACTION

Buchan Graphics team reinvent familiar Sydney landmarks ahead of Vivid Festival.

People experiencing Sydney’s vibrant nightlife will have a chance to experience a whole new side to Martin Place’s landmark Lloyd Rees water fountain during Sydney’s 2017 Vivid festival.

As part of Australia’s largest annual light festival, the Brisbane office of acclaimed design firm The Buchan Group has created, re/FRACTION - a brilliant installation that shoots glittering, refracted light across the fountain’s length.

Scenes play out continuously over the 20-metre-wide turbulent canvas, looping throughout the evening to greet festival-goers as they move along the length of Martin Place.

Buchan Group Graphics Senior Associate Anthony Rawson said re/FRACTION would give Vivid visitors the chance to “form a bond” with the installation and become part of the festival itself.

“re/FRACTION plays on the themes of vibrancy, personality and movement, and invites audiences to interact with the amplified light, flowing visual scenes and distinct colour effects,”

Using cutting edge digital design, extensive light vibrancy technologies and animation expertise, this installation allows viewers to see another side of what an already well-known structure.

This year’s creation, one of 7 the graphics team are involved with, builds on the narrative of how light can effect an object and a person’s mood, which is featured by the changing animated scenes seen in the fountain.

Creating re/FRACTION has enabled us to experiment with and evolve new methods of light vibrancy and manipulation to reinvent already well-known landmarks.

Along with two other major immersive light installations as part of the festival; inSIGHT – a unique, low-fidelity render of the human face that will be featured at the Royal Botanic Gardens; and Portholes – a display that captures the viewing experience of explorers as they peer through windows to marvel at the furthest reaches of the earth, which will be on display at The Rocks.

The Buchan Group worked alongside design studio Propaganda Mill to deliver Portholes, and Precision Engineering and Manufacturing for many aspects of the installations, to deliver four more pieces that will be on show across the city throughout the festival, including; Uncovered World on display at The Rocks, 100 Ways to Say I Love You, showing at the City Recital Hall, Big Red Button on display at the gardens, and Music Box at The Rocks.

“Drawing on the design, animation and projection expertise we normally reserve for our clients, we’ve been able to create interactive Vivid pieces that will change how people view light and how light can affect water and other objects”

The Buchan Group’s displays will be on show every night throughout Vivid Sydney 2017 from 26 May to 17 June.