Thrilling maze of doors to swing open

IT’S out with the ice rink and in with a maze, as interactive art installation 1000 Doors creaks ajar on Sturt and Armstrong Streets next month.

Created by Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney, the maze of spooky corridors with doors, portals, gateways and screens has been funded by a Regional Development Victoria Regional Recovery boost of $100,000.

Designed to have a nostalgic, but haunting and claustrophobic feel, as if historic personalities previously in the space are still lingering, 1000 Doors is its own parallel universe of vestibules, parlours, holding pens and time travel.

“A door is a beginning and an end, a promise and a warning,” Wagstaff and Courtney said in a statement.

“What waits on the other side is limited only by the imagination and decided only by an action. Step across the threshold of you.

“We are so thrilled to be presenting 1000 Doors in the heart of Ballarat. Particularly when countless doors were originally sourced here. It’s like these doors have been on this extraordinary journey and led us back here to Ballarat.”

City of Ballarat mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said the project will not only thrill locals but attract tourists.

“1000 Doors is no doubt going to have people flocking to experience what will be a truly sensory experience, and I particularly love the fact it will help activate the CBD just after the ice rink moves out, so we will still have plenty of people moving around our city centre,” he said.

Ballarat Regional Tourism chair Paul Martino said this support from Regional Development Victoria is lifting the area’s economy up.

“The 1000 Doors activation will drive an increased awareness of experiences in the Ballarat region, encouraging local artist engagement and capitalising on new, innovative technologies and artistic mediums that are accessible and inclusive to a diverse audience,” he said.

Local musicians, sound producers and artists are sought to contribute audio which will accompany the maze.

1000 Doors was a sell-out success at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Brisbane Festival, and Adelaide Fringe Festival. Wagstaff and Courtney also designed MONA Hobart’s House of Mirrors.

The exhibit will open on Wednesday, 4 August, running for just over a month. Entry is $10, or free for children under five, or adults over the age of 75.