White Rabbit - 'Double Take' Opening Night.

I think its pretty obvious to everyone by now that I do make it to quite a lot of art openings - and I have no doubt mentioned before that like all 'art gigs' be they Theatre, Concerts - Rock or Classical or the Opera or Ballet; every gig gets its own unique crowd or audience in attendance. It was probably my Dad who more or less enlightened me to this 'art' phenomena by telling me that some people would see him perform in a show at one theatre but would never set foot in that one...

So yes, every crowd is different, and part of the difference is the reason they are there, and its been something I have long been intensely interested in; I don't just look at the art, see the performance, listen to the music; I check out the nature of the crowd as well.

I had heard about the White Rabbit openings, I had heard that you would have to queue to get in. Queue for a 'normal' gallery opening. Surely they must be joking! Well, it was true, and on a chill late winter evening I joined the 100 meter or so queue for my first taste of the White Rabbit and I knew I was in for something different; the girls were dressed for summer clubbing - but then in Sydney that's the go all year round, though not something I would normally associate with art openings and on a night like this that was a different kind of cool.. The crowd was large, the full capacity one-in one-out policy was tightly enforced, 40 minuets after joining the queue I was inside in the warm well lit and spacious gallery.

While there were quite a few familiar faces at the opening, the whole affair had something of a Gala Event feel to it and that was reflected I think in a very different crowd to the type I usually see at openings. That's great of course, great for the gallery and great for art in Sydney in general. The work is distributed over three levels and while there was a 'loose crush' on the drinks allowed ground floor it was not too hard to get a good look at the art on the upper levels. Tu Wei-Cheng’s Valentine’s Day chocolate shop, was just one of many outstanding installation pieces and although most of the chocolate is made of silicon there is the delectable and unmistakable aroma of real chocolate wafting over the counter. Love or War? Lets make chocolate instead. Will I be back? Absolutely, and sooner rather than later as I want to get to know the art and these artists much better.

http://www.whiterabbitcollection.org/

30 Balfour Street
Chippendale NSW
Thursday to Sunday, from 10am to 6pm