This winter, Melbourne’s Fed Square is putting on a free program of events that’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Running until August 7, the Anything But Square: Under Surveillance program features an epic (and we have to say it, kinda creepy) eye installation that’s cleverly designed to make you question if we’re actually being watched, all of the time, plus DJ sets and an outdoor cinema like no other.
Renowned for its world-class art galleries, impressive exhibitions and a handful of excellent eateries, Fed Square is used to putting on a show. This time is no different, though just a heads up – the Anything But Square: Under Surveillance program is one you can’t unsee.
Photograph: Supplied/Fed Square
The Eyes
When: Until Aug 7, 24 hours
We know our devices are listening to us. But what if we’re being watched, everywhere we go? Enter ‘The Eyes’. An eight-metre installation by artist studio Cool Shit and commissioned by Fed Square, ‘The Eyes' is the dystopian centrepiece of the Anything But Square: Under Surveillance program this winter. The inflatable installation is made up of gigantic eyes watching you, watching them, watching you. Designed to explore murky feelings of awkwardness and intrigue, ‘The Eyes’ are ever-present and ever-watching, making you ponder if we’re ever truly alone anymore. ‘The Eyes’ is located in the Main Square of Fed Square, but really, you can’t miss it. Just don’t let it see you first.
Photograph: Supplied/Fed Square
Fed Live: Dance Dystopia
When: Fri Jul 22, 29 and Aug 5, 6-9pm
As the sun goes down this winter on a Friday, Fed Live is transforming into a Dance Dystopia with some of Melbourne’s best DJs spinning smooth tracks guaranteed to get you up and dancing. Gather your mates and head on down to the Main Stage of Fed Square under the watchful gaze of ‘The Eyes’ for a Dance Dystopia party – think The Matrix meets Metropolis, but with DJs. Featuring sets by Yo!Mafia, Jesse Boyd, John Course, Kaïra Cuvée, Cliftonia and more, Dance Dystopia is sure to get weird, wild, and fun. You can catch a DJ set every Friday evening until August 5. There’ll also be loaded hot chocolates and creepy, eye-themed sweet treats. The best part? It’s free. And all ages are welcome. We’ll see you there.
Photograph: Supplied/Fed Square
Surveillance Film Festival
When: Sat Aug 6
BYO blanket and head on down to Fed Square for an outdoor cinema like no other – the Surveillance Film Festival, which has featured a thrilling line-up of spy and surveillance-themed films. The program is mostly finished, but has saved the best till last. On Saturday August 6, get cosy in your outdoor chair and enjoy two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most enjoyable and most defining films, North by Northwest (in which Cary Grant’s debonair advertising man is mistaken for a government agent and pursued across the USA) at 6pm, and at 9pm Rear Window (wherein a convalescent James Stewart takes to spying on his apartment block neighbours and witnesses what seems to be a murder). There’ll also be free loaded hot chocolates and eye-themed sweet treats available on the night.