WINDOW DRESSING: ON THE OUTSIDE, LOOKING IN

Window Dressing at VIVD Sydney in the Frank Gehry Building in Sydney CBD until June 15th.

Who is the stranger? The one who looks or the one who is looked at? Is our curiosity to peek into the intimate lives of others always a bad thing?

Crypto-scopo-philia, the desire to look through windows of homes as you pass by, taps into a universal curiosity. We all share this impulse, and this work invites us to embrace our inner voyeur. Experience several imagined lives as you gaze up at a wall of illuminated windows, observing people living strange and beautiful lives within.

Created by Liesel Badorrek, it features eight performers, including an aboriginal actor Iya Ware, for whom this work is like nothing else she has done before. “Window Dressing” unfolds across eight windows of the Frank Gehry building of the UTS in Sydney’s CBD. Offering a glimpse into the diverse tapestry of human life.

Each window springs to life with scenes of the everyday turned extraordinary. With no dialogue, the performance is set to a carefully curated score, accessible through an app, leaving the interpretation of each vignette to your imagination.

Iya told Ngaarda Media “that the words that you say don't matter because this the people that are watching you, they can't hear a thing that you're saying. They're only listening to the music and they're only watching you.” What makes this performance different is “I think for the first time like we have a lot of freedom inside what we're actually saying which is not usually the case”.

“Window Dressing” can be seen every evening this week until Saturday as part of VIVID Sydney. Witness unique stories play out as you embrace your curiosity and connect in the most intimate, yet public of spaces. In a festival of technological wonder, "Window Dressing" is disarmingly lo-fi and speaks to deep human curiosity and connection.

You can hear Iya Ware’s conversation with Marion Cheedy if you click on the link.