The 24 Hour Experience

Overview

So, we survived the whole of White Night, and we were pretty smug about it. Just when we thought there was no cultural event we couldn’t conquer, The 24 Hour Experience announced itself. And if you’re thinking that means 24 hours of arts happenings around locations in Melbourne, you’d be right. Break out the caffeine and Red Bull, stat.

From noon on March 29 until noon on March 30 a handful of Melbourne locations will be transformed into living artworks with 24 shows spanning the city streets. Think the State Library, the Magistrates’ Court, Melbourne City baths, Malthouse Theatre, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, Princes Bridge, the Queen Victoria Gardens and of course more. Intimate and experiential works characterise the whole experience, and audience members will be drawn on from time to time.

Things will kick off at noon on Saturday with an interactive wheelchair based navigation of Melbourne’s CBD. Gather at midnight in Federation Square where a series of videos explore changing states and passing time will ring in the new day. At 11am on Sunday, the last show will begin. In the Alexandra Gardens audience members will be given a mobile headset, listening to pre-recorded love scenes from undisclosed movies as they watch two actors interacting with one another. The show demonstrates our ability to project love narratives onto any situation. What a romantic ending.

If you buy a 24-hour pass, you’ll be given the inside scoop on food and drink and possible napping locations. 12-hour passes are available for those who prefer sleeping between art excursions. See the website for more details.