Sydney CBD's Laneways Have Been Decked Out with Four New Public Art Installations

If you happen upon a pink furry fortune-telling ghost on a walk around Sydney, you may have run into a local Newtown resident out-and-about or you may have discovered a new art installation commissioned by the City of Sydney. Beginning the year by bringing some artistic joy to the streets of the city centre, the Council has installed four temporary artworks across the city as part of the new City Art Laneways public art program.

The four art pieces, commissioned for up to $50,000 each, can be found in Barlow Street, Wilmot Street, Abercrombie Lane and Barrack Street, all located in the CBD and Haymarket. Environmental group Dirt Witches has transformed Haymarket's Barlow Street into a micro forest made from 30 plant species. The installation incorporates critically endangered eastern suburbs banksia scrub, as well as sugarbag stingless native bees and their hives, and will host talks on environmentalism from scientists, poets, academics and artists throughout its activation.

On Abercrombie Lane, you'll find the aforementioned pink furry ghost offering up insights into the year ahead through an interactive fortune-telling video titled We Are All Astonishingly Wise. This omniscient spirt, created by Katy Plummer, allows you to draw an oracle card containing a mysterious riddle designed for self-reflection on the year that's been and what is to come.

Multimedia artist Adam Norton has installed giant badges around Barrack Street emblazoned with provocative and prophetic slogans. The badges are mounted to lamp posts and draw on the uncanny relationship between current climate and public health emergencies and pop culture and science fiction that anticipated these emergencies in years gone by.

Wilmot Street's artwork is yet to be installed, but when it is you'll find a vibrant light installation that responds to the mood of the weather by artist Rochelle Haley.

We Are All Astonishingly Wise will be up until Sunday, February 7, 2021, while Giant Badges, Ever Sun and Barlow Street Forest will remain until July. Read more about the City of Sydney's City Art Laneways program and where to find each artwork at the City of Sydney's website.

Images: Jessica Lindsay