The sites where we will be projecting are:

1. TELSTRA EXCHANGE

Walkway between Rokeby Rd and Park St, in front of Freshia Noodle Bar and Brew Ha, next to Crossways Shopping Centre (where Farmer Jacks is open until 10pm weeknights).

2. SMALES WALL

Back wall of Smales Jewellers, down the walkway off Rokeby Road in the council carpark.

3. FORREST WALK CAR PARK

Council carpark on the corner of Rowland and Forrest Sts, behind Jacksons Drawing Supplies and in front of Beyond the Trapdoor homewares and gifts (who are staying open until 9.30pm every night of the projections for last-minute Xmas shopping).

4. iiNET / ACE CINEMAS WALL

Large wall between Ace Cinemas and iiNet, opposite Hungry Jacks, KFC and Baskin Robbins.

5. WILSONS CARPARK

Wall behind Llama Bar + Kitchen, Nova and Daneechi, above the entrance to the Wilsons underground carpark.

Download a printable PDF handout with map here, thanks to the wonderful Kool Kreative.

Site 1 “Eat, Drink and Be Merry”

This animation features characters from Medieval stained glass from French cathedrals such as Chartres, Troyes, Bourges and Sainte-Chapelle, circa 1200AD.

There is some contention regarding why everyday people performing very secular occupations are featured in the windows of these Cathedrals. Traditionally it was said that these represented sponsor guilds who had paid for the cost of their own featured panel in the window, but the windows are actually older than the guilds.

Another suggestion is that it was the Church's attempt to make peace with the local people as the taxes imposed to build these Cathedrals were very high and led to rioting in the case of Chartres. Perhaps the bakers and winemakers featured in the windows had provided bread and wine to feed the stonemasons and other workers building the Cathedral and being immortalised in glass was their payment? No documentation from the time exists to explain why these everyday people were featured, but their expressiveness makes them just as engaging as when they were painted over eight hundred years ago.

Site 2 “How Does Your Garden Grow?”

This animation features characters from the late 19th Century decorative arts movements in France and the United States of America, including Joseph Vantillard and Louis Comfort Tiffany.

With the development of a middle class during the 19th Century, stained glass became very popular in the homes of wealthy families. The subject of these windows was often not religious. Country gardens, courtly knights and ladies and other historic and lyrical scenes were very popular, in contrast to the rapidly increasing urbanisation in society at that time. Tiffany was very interested in making three dimensional forms from glass, leading to his iconic “Tiffany Lamps” which you can still buy today.

Our favourite animator is Terry Gilliam from Monty Python - perhaps you can tell? :)

Site 3a “Hark the Herald Angels”

This animation features stained glass by Pre-Raphaelite artists such as Edward Burne-Jones, Morris & Co and their contemporaries created in the mid to late 19th Century in England.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were a group of artists and writers who idealised pre-Renaissance art and society. Their work often featured characters from Arthurian legends and they advocated abandoning modern industrial techniques in favour of hand-processes – for example wallpapers and fabrics were block-printed at Morris & Co.

As they were so enamoured of Medieval culture, they were also very keen to rediscover lost techniques – for example, they experimented with glass staining techniques to reproduce colours featured in French Cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Although they were only a small group, the Pre-Raphaelites were very influential internationally, seeding such wider trends as the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau.

These beautiful images were all shot by Dave Webster - photographer of antique stained glass in the UK. One day we'd love to do a stained-glass tour of the UK and Dave's Flickr would be our ideal Guide Book.

Site 4a Stained-glass themed live drawing by artist Jenna Downing

Jenna will be digitally 'painting' stained-glass style artwork as people watch.

She is using either an iPad and the app Sketchbook Pro, or a Linux notebook and the program MyPaint.

She will do a new piece each night, so call by at different times to see the work develop.

You can see more of Jenna's work at EvilGeniusInResidence.com including her brilliant Zoetrope workshops.