As winter continues to keep the city in hibernation mode, Portland’s 2nd annual Winter Light Festival commences—presented by Portland General Electric and hosted by Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).This public art festival provides a unique experience that lures the community from winter’s dim to an innovating aura of coming Spring. Showcasing contemporary light based art installations and performances of over 60 artists; they combine light and technology to create educational and interactive artwork.
The wet weather didn’t stop families and friends from gathering together to experience a public display of inspirational community-based projects. The purpose of this event was to bring the community “out of the dark” that comes after the holidays and create and glowing stepping stone to what is to come.
Being held a the East end of the Tilikum Bridge and along the Eastbank Espalanade, you are instantly being greeted by the PXL Matrix done by Josh Kottler on the Hampton Opera Center. It seems as if one light connects and leads you to another, taking you further down a path full of light and wonder to the Radiance Dome held at the bridge lot. This installation done by Light At Play is based on a “5 frequency geodesic dome that contains 190 illuminated panels and 120 vertex lights which together form a highly customizable, light-driven 3-D surface”. Glowing hula hop performers captivate the audience and fill the dome with radiance from the inside out.
For those that wanted to leave a mark, Graffiti Lanterns invited the audience to interact by scratching off the layered black opaque paint, exposing a hidden light source beneath. From people’s names, to designs and illustrations, these lanterns bare markings of those who have come and gone, sharing and making the experience together.
The illumination of light doesn’t only come from the installations but it is seen the faces of the people. Children look up and marvel with curiosity as they tug on their parent’s hand to look onward and move from one creation to another. The Light Chimes installation, an artistic collaboration between Andrew Haddock and design studio, Sticky CO., “reacts to movement giving off various sounds and beams of colored light, providing a melodic and visual synesthetic experience”, give each individual stepping under it a sense of self-awareness.
Moving on forward towards the Esplanade, over 50 Glow Bunnies cover the grassland—made from once piece of corrugated plastic, Olivier Bouwman uses wireless controlled LED light bulbs that are programed to shift colors and patterns all throughout the event. If we weren’t excited for the pastel season already this definitely captured everyone’s attention. Flamboyant Productions offer up space performers on stilts and curious bugs on wheels—adding more substance to the idea of innovation.
As you continue to follow the path that his been lit by the ideas of others, the installations not only encouraged interaction with the exhibit but other festival attendees. From the Pixel Throw-up, Glowing Buckets, to the Parallax, the 2017 Winter Light Festival brought some warmth to what has been a very cold season.
The community showed their support to the artists, as well as the event itself, by lighting themselves up in Christmas lights, glowing umbrellas, and creative light themed outfits that showed true Portland Spirit. The concept of this event is as innovating as the art in it—lighting the way from dark to light, cold to warm, and leaving each individual with a touch of glow they can carry back to their homes and on to the new season ahead.
