BLINK is a four-day light and art festival that will include 21 light projection mappings, a parade, multiple building murals, 27 art installations and six stages of live entertainment.
The Art Installations
The art installations play a key role in connecting all four zones. Here are brief descriptions of each installation.
Zone One: The Banks
Impulse is a group of interactive, acoustic and illuminated seesaws that respond and transform when in motion. Toronto-based Lateral Office created Impulse.
Brite Idea is a 10-foot-wide by 6-foot-tall homage to the iconic Lite Brite toy. Local artists Such+Such designed the installation.
Zone Two: Downtown Central Business District
HueTUBE Flow is an interactive art installation that allows people to generate acoustic vibrations and light through touch. Canadian groups Generique Design and En Temps Et Lieu created the installation.
Go with the Flow JeL.E.Ds is an immersive art installation created by Patchy Projects, a trio of artists that includes Chris Hall, Alec Rudek and George Berlin.
The Light Painting Photo Booth by Xavier University Department of Art faculty member Jonathan Gibson allows people to create their own piece of art at BLINK.
Storybook is an illuminated diorama of white layers and light sculpture designed by Cincinnati architecture firm BHDP Architecture.
The Queen's Throne is an LED-illuminated sculpture that resembles Union Terminal. Local artists Kate Demske and Josh Stout created the Queen's Throne.
The Seen and Unseen is a light sculpture created by Cincinnati-based brand-experience agency LPK that will light up Garfield Place.
Luminous Ether is an interactive lighting experience created by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, a national, nonprofit society with a Cincinnati-based chapter.
Intrude, by Tasmanian artist Amanda Parer, is made up of internally lit, inflatable rabbits that will invade Court Street during BLINK.
Zone Three: Over-the-Rhine/Washington Park
Stumpies, by Cincinnati artist Matthew Grote, are wooden lanterns lit from within by LEDs. At least 30 Stumpies, each painted with unique characters, will line the Central Parkway median and other areas of BLINK.
It Must Give Off & Receive Light, by Cincinnati-based Intermedio, is a maze that invites participants to walk through humming and blinking columns of light spread out across an outdoor parking lot roughly 100 feet by 70 feet.
Al-hambra Nights is comprised of multiple illuminated geometric sculptures hanging at various heights. Indianapolis-based artist Anila Quayyum Agha created Al-hambra Nights.
Architects of Air is an interactive maze of lights and inflatable domes created by European artist Alan Parkinson. It will transform Washington Park into a walk-through luminarium by day and a glowing light sculpture by night.
Vase Maze, by artist Gautam Rao, is an interactive mini-golf course made up of six playable holes. Each hole will have an illuminated “vase” standing 8 feet tall.
Irradiate – Urban Meadow is a one-block landscape of immersive lighting and LED lanterns. A group of Pleasant Street neighbors created the installation.
BLINK of an Eye is an interactive light sculpture created by University of Cincinnati adjunct professor Erin Taylor.
The World's Largest Mobile Disco Ball measures 11 feet in diameter, contains nearly 1,000 mirrors and weighs three-quarters of a ton. W.M. Kelley, a manufacturing facility based in Louisville, Kentucky, constructed the disco ball.
Easy Breezy is a canopy of white umbrellas outlined in different colored EL lighting tape that gently sways back and forth and appears to dance when someone walks by it. Dayton, Ohio, artist Mallory Feltz created the installation.
Zone Four: Findlay Market/Over-the-Rhine
Endless Commerce, by artists Joe Girandola and Matt Lynch, is a re-creation of Brancusi's "Endless Column" made from discarded milk crates and outlined with changing LED light strips.
Applause is an interactive applause sign that will react to the actions of BLINK visitors. Tyler Hamilton, the senior art preparator at the Contemporary Arts Center, created Applause.
Forealism Tribe's Light Ship and Infinity Portals incorporates light, projection mapping, performances, audience engagement and dance parties to create an otherworldly experience.
Charlie the Peacock is a large illuminated and automated peacock that will open and close its plume synced to music. Charlie is the creation of Tim Scofield, Kyle Miller and Steve Dalnekoff.
Roaming throughout BLINK
The Kinetic Kauchii DekoSofa will travel around BLINK, coming to people where they are. A pilot – part performance artist, part safety officer – will control the speed and steer the couch. Baltimore-based Formstone Castle Collective created the couch.
A pack of three illuminated Chomper bikes will roam throughout BLINK. Opera-Matic, an arts organization focused on building community resilience through creative play, created the bikes.
Credits:
All photos courtesy BLINK Cincinnati