One of Vivid Sydney’s most anticipated events has made its debut at this year’s festival. Dark Spectrum takes you on a journey through seven fundamental and shared human emotions - including feelings of constriction, unfamiliarity, and revelation – through the use of lasers, lights, robotics and music. It’s a self-guided journey which is separated by distinct areas deep in Sydney’s underground, using the previously abandoned railways under Wynyard station to create a darkness unlike any other.
Although it’s a timed, ticketed event, if you visit during peak hour (such as a balmy 20 degree Saturday evening, like myself), expect a hefty line snaking around Wynyard Park. Don’t be alarmed though, the line moves pretty quickly, and by the time you’ve adjusted to your new surroundings you’re likely to be inching closer to the venue’s entrance. Once inside, you’ll be grouped with approximately 40 other people to the briefing room, where a television and two display boards will fill you in on all the contextual knowledge you need to fully immerse yourself in the experience. From the briefing room, you’ll be free to move (mostly) at your own pace through the 350 metre trail and experience each exhibit before emerging above ground. Tickets for Dark Spectrum range from $35 during the week, to $50 on weekends.
One of the best things about Dark Spectrum is that it can be experienced at almost any time of day without impacting your experience. Unlike the rest of Vivid Sydney which relies on nightfall to be fully appreciable, Dark Spectrum is cloaked in darkness even in the daytime. This makes is a great experience for families who don’t want to begin their night too late and get home even later. However, I’d recommend visiting during the week for off-peak ticket pricing, as I found the event itself to be considerably overhyped and underwhelming. The ‘emotions’ that you can expect to experience are conveyed in an extremely abstract manner, and the highlight of the show was the synchronised robotic dance, accompanied by some mild pyrotechnics, which happed three-quarters of the way through. The acoustics in the tunnels don’t lend themselves well to the music being played in each room, and no matter how hard I tried to ‘get’ the metaphors that were curating the narrative, I found my imagination working extra hard to earn the value of my ticket back. This is not to say that the experience was unenjoyable – the lights are certainly interesting to observe, but $50 is pricey for a single entrance, and compared to similar experiences such as TeamLab Planets in Tokyo, this is lacklustre.
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