In January-March 2015 I went on a vacation and visit a close friend who lives in Melbourne. Couple of months before my flight I contacted a group of local artists from the international Burning man community. I got to know the Crucible project through the regional Burning Man in Israel (aka MidBurn).
Luck was in my favor, at exactly the same dates that I was planning to visit Melbourne it appeared to me that they are planning to work on a project for Melbourne White Night. The original concept for White Night (Nuit Blanche) was conceived in Paris in 2002, in a bid to make art and culture accessible to large audiences within public spaces. Paris’ Nuit Blanche has inspired an international network of White Night events in over 20 cities globally, with each city moulding the event to reflect its unique passions and characteristics.
It was exciting to start working on a project from another side of the world with people that I never met before. I contributed anyway I could – in lighting/DMX design and welding. It was the first time that I collaborated and discussed with people that I never saw before about the lighting issues of the project from another side of the world (Israel-Australia) – We discussed the problems, solutions and how we can achieve astonishing result with the few resources we had. The next day after I landed in Melbourne I was on a meeting with the guys to design the lights installation – guys that I only talked to them before through the Internet and never seen them before. It was an amazing experience suivez!
I didn’t do any large-scale metal art before although I did had experience in welding and metal work with agricultural equipment but this was completely different story. I learned a lot thanks to the guys and enjoyed every moment. I’ll go back to Melbourne for sure 🙂
A major highlight was when we mounted the second wing of the dragon. It was the first time that the “huge pile of metal debris” looked back at me and it was a dragon.
I had the best time ever. We were working on the crucible dragon for 3 weeks(although I could’t participate in the whole construction process.. I was on a vacation 🙂 ), some of the guys started even sooner, with “Burning man” guys and girls and eventually it was displayed at the Melbourne White Night! 500,000 people were on the White Night that eve. It was sensational experience to see so many people enjoying an art installation that I took part in and I had to change to work with an amazing Sean Diamond and Steph Selig.
