Art Processors, the experiential design consultancy, has shared details of its new exhibition for the Museum of Sydney, called The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50.
The exhibition encourages visitors to delve into the rich history of people, place, performance, design, and engineering that have all contributed to the creation of Australia’s most iconic landmark.
Art Processors collaborated closely with the Museum, creating the concept for the exhibition, supporting curation, producing audio interviews, and developing four unique interactives: Maestro, The Drafting Table, On This Day, and Thanks for the Memories.
The interactives use cutting-edge interactive and motion-control technologies, such as smart motion-sensing cameras, live generative audio and images, AI, and data visualisation. This offers space for play, exploration, and delight. Visitors are encouraged to have a go at drawing parts of the Sydney Opera House, contribute memories for public preservation, or explore thousands of prior performances. The centrepiece is Maestro, a beautiful generative musical experience.
The People’s House also features a collection of historic artefacts, including costumes, posters, photographs, architectural sketches and other nostalgia on loan from organisations such as Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet. It also shares the collection belonging to Sam Doust, Art Processors group director, creative services. Doust is a renowned Sydney Opera House historian and creative director for the exhibition.
Performative centrepiece
Maestro is an immersive musical experience that encourages guests to participate in a generative performance of sound and light that they may control with their bodies. It fills the first gallery.
This focal point of the exhibitions uses sensor data to translate gestures and movement into musical elements such as dynamic rhythms, explosive percussion, driving rhythms, fragmented beats, and animated bass. This human-centred approach to using technology to express creativity blurs the barriers between performer and audience.
Doust explains:
“We asked ourselves, how can we create a space where people feel they can genuinely perform and commune with the creative spirit of the Opera House? I think ‘Maestro’ answers that very nicely—it doesn’t even have to ask the question. The moment you walk into the space it feels performative, it feels live, it feels extemporaneous, and it feels communal. Because people contribute to the space, one way or another, whether they’re actively participating or simply watching.”
Interactive experiences
The exhibition also features a range of interactive displays that explore different facets of the history of the Sydney Opera House. They include:
- The Unearthing Stories audio trail. 10 people connected to the Sydney Opera House have been interviewed, and their stories can be heard throughout the exhibition. Visitors can hear memories of being on stage, tales of scaling the building’s iconic sails to watch the sunrise or learn about the work that goes into making your theatre seat comfortable. Each story connects to the exhibits and lasts approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
- A walk through the history of the theatre. In gallery 2, visitors can explore the theatre through three different experiences: First Act, On Stage, and Backstage. The exhibit shares the history of the Sydney Opera House from its Official Royal Opening, through exhibits including costumes, stage sets, and show posters.
- The Drafting Table. This exhibit celebrates the architecture of the Sydney Opera House through an interactive drawing activity. As visitors sketch their favourite parts of the World Heritage-listed building, conversational AI will share comments and encouragement.
- The On This Day interactive exhibit shares 50 years of performances. Visitors are invited to select a date and discover what performances were taking place on that day, presented using a custom app. The Sydney Opera House’s varied and extensive catalogue is visualised using a 3D model of the building, set in a starscape where each star represents a performance.
- Thanks for the Memories digital wall. This is a space where visitors can share their own memories of the Sydney Opera House, which becomes part of a compelling rolling visual display.
Doust concludes:
“The framing for this exhibition as ‘The People’s House’ has been a fascinating lens through which to view the past 50 – really 65 years – of the Sydney Opera House. Art Processors has delivered curation, exhibition and interactive design, and development, in collaboration with the Museum of History NSW’s staff, to co-create an exhibition that will form a wonderfully memorable experience that will evoke wonder, nostalgia and reverie.”
Art Processors recently announced that it won in the Experience Design category at Fast Company’s recent Innovation by Design Awards. The accolade was awarded for From the Sails: Light Years, a film and sound experience that the firm developed to launch the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
