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Australia Pavilion

The roughly 2,000-square-foot Australia Pavilion is divided into three acts, each exploring Australia within the context of the Expo 2012 theme: The Living Ocean and Coast.

In the first of three acts, dubbed “Coast,” indigenous art explores Australia’s ancient and ongoing relationship with the coast and oceans that surround the country. From a pavilion-design standpoint, this space is also a holding area where up to 60 people can explore the art prior to entering the main presentation in Act Two. This “gallery” area of the pavilion, aka Act One, is intended to set the scene for the rest of the pavilion experience, and to introduce the pavilion design elements.

Graphic murals (whose shape was inspired by Australia’s uninterrupted coastline and the sculptural projection screen found in Act Two) are all hand painted to ensure respect for the artist and to create a genuine, bespoke pavilion experience.

In Act Two, titled “Ocean,” visitors are invited to watch a unique multimedia presentation that fuses art and video into a single show. This second area accommodates up to 220 guests who stand around a central sculptural projection screen, designed by renowned Australian sculptor Matt Harding. The screen, which is a work of art in itself, reflects the dynamic tension of the ocean surface and the Australian coastline.

Each screen is designed to create a different view for each member of the audience. That is, the presentation is unique to each visitor because no two visitors have the exact same perspective (or see the exact same panels of the screen). Also, walking around the sculptural screen allows visitors an evolving view of the presentation as different panes come into view as they move throughout the space.

Further enhancing the viewing experience, the projection screen is semitransparent, which creates a sense of diving under the water as you walk around the sculpture. You can view the presentation from either the top side of the screen or from the bottom side, which feels a bit as though you’re witnessing the content from beneath the waves. The Astral photography used in the presentation was captured from four points along the Australian coastline.

The third act, called “Life,” features a photo opportunity, where visitors are invited to pose for a picture in front of a whimsical set. Clearly a fun ending to the pavilion experience, the photo opp leaves guests with a souvenir of their experience.