Strand ephemera 28 july - 6 August 2017

One of the big events in the Townsville Arty Community is the Strand Ephemera installations which grace the Strand each year. This year I managed to walk the 5km stretch of the Strand and back and see all of the pieces BUT left my camera behind. So I had to go back and do it again!! Maybe leaving the camera behind was a good excuse to get the extra exercise.  There were a few really great exhibits amongst a few fairly mediocre ones. Mind you that is only my opinion and all of the pieces on display had a lot of hard work and time put into them and we should appreciate that. I did feel that this year is not as interesting as last years offerings but the whole was better organised, with free maps of the displays and a book with explanations of each piece and other information about events that are on at the same time, for example, the Australian Chamber Music Festival, all for a donation. Last year the book was quite costly.
I think my absolute favourites were the Octopus on the globe and the Ancyent Marinere sails.
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Ancyent Marinere ... are those her sails. By Marion Gaemers and Lynette Griffiths. "Themes in this poem by Coleridge (life, death, nature, seas) are reflected in the ghost net sails

Giant Pacific Octopus by Cameron Rushton. This is a tiny representation of the North Pacific Giant Octopus which grows up to 6 meters in its, sadly, five year lifespan. It is said to one of the most intelligent animals in the ocean!.

One of the big drawcords this year was an entry simply called " Cloud", assembled by Caitlin r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett. It consists of 6000 LED lightbulbs with pull strings and associated electronics. The photo below is it during the day when it is not lit but at night patrons on the Strand can interact with the Cloud by pulling the switches and changing the aspects of the work.
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When taking photos this morning I was not able to photograph what I believe is the winner of the Strand Ephemera Award for Artistic Excellence worth $10,000 as she was being interviewed by the media. There was a small sign beside it saying WINNER, hence my thinking so and of course the interview taking place! 
The artist is Erica Grey and the work combines PVC, synthetic materials and solar powered LEDs to reflect the beauty, colour and bioluminescence found deep in the sea. I'd like to see it at night!

​As well as the Chamber Music there is also a Pop Up NQ event which I'll talk about under art.
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