SEE THE LIGHT

I RECENTLY SUBMITTED myself to a hallucinatory light installation by acclaimed American artist James Turrell; his Unseen Seen orb is the centrepiece of Mona’s Faro restaurant. Elsewhere onsite at the Hobart gallery, Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda’s beacon spectra shoots 15 kilometres into the sky to a mesmerised crowd and down by the city’s waterfront, thousands of festivalgoers flock to the ambient red glow of Dark Mofo’s Winter Feast and its flickering fires. What gives?

“Travellers are increasingly seeking experiences that transcend the superficial: experiences that offer