FEAR and excitement – they are both vital ingredients for any great amusement, House of Mirrors artist Christian Wagstaff says.
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A 350 square metre mirror maze is the new addition to this year’s Bathurst Winter Festival and a crew of workers has been setting it up outside the Civic Centre since the weekend.
Co-creators Mr Wagstaff and Keith Courtney from CPS Productions say the House of Mirrors will add a new dimension to the fourth annual winter festival.
“When you walk in it looks like there’s thousands of mirrors,” he said.
Mr Wagstaff said these days people were so caught up their digital devices, and the duo wanted to create something that would add a dimension.
“There’s no digital effects, it’s all optical,” he said.
“Everyone experiences it differently, which is part of the art … fear and excitement at the same time is what an amusement is, it’s a beautiful mix.”
Everyone experiences it differently, which is part of the art … fear and excitement at the same time is what an amusement is, it’s a beautiful mix.
- CPS artist Christian Wagstaff
Mr Wagstaff said the artistry in the mirror maze was bringing back something from the past.
“When you talk about a mirror maze, people say they’ve never been in one or they were last in one as a kid,” he said.
“We wanted to revive an old school attraction.”
Mr Wagstaff said that Melbourne-based CPS had created 10 separate mirror installations in the past two years, and the Bathurst Winter Festival was the first regional one outside Victoria.
Each mirror is flat, measures four metres in height and was brought into position using a 50-tonne crane.
Tickets to enter the House of Mirrors cost $5 each.
The Bathurst Winter Festival runs from July 7 to 22.