F-light: Hooray for History

A friend of mine once said that Florence is so full of old art that it really isn’t motivated to find contemporary approaches. Judging by the F-light festival 2021, that is true. Most of the material seen was based on old masterpieces and/or shown in historically important venues. And why not – masterpieces are called masterpieces for a reason! 

The festival includes light art, video art, architectural lighting and something I would call Christmas lights. The pieces were spattered around the city, giving a chance to see other places than just the Duomo. Which is – I can't stress this enough – worth seeing. The outer skirts venues were mostly about architectural lighting, the flashiest projections were in the immediate centrum. After six weeks of travelling and feet tired like a prayer of a person fallen asleep (another Finnish expression for you to enjoy), I decided to concentrate on the central area.

The very loose theme for the edition was reflections. I quite didn't catch it while watching the artworks, not in a concrete way anyhow. Except for reflecting the old masterpieces. The theme was mentioned in some of  the info texts, but defined so widely it basically included everything. Also, Narcissus was referred to. 

Judith reflecting future with Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi.
Go see the painting in the Uffizi, it's supreme!

There was history in many layers in the projection based on La Divina Commedia on the façades of Museo Galileo and Camera di Commercio (artist unknown). I couldn't quite follow the plot, since I, unlike Italians, don't know Dante's texts by heart. So, I took it as an enjoyable piece of dada art, where anyone or anything could float to the wall next. Reflections by The Fake Factory, projected to the trademark Ponte Vecchio bridge, was more twofold. The art treasures of renaissance took turns with more modern, colourful and abstract images. I'm not quite sure of the latter, though. Maybe one theme is enough for one artwork and in this case, I'd go with history. 

Ponte Vecchio was one of the spots where sponsors' messages and information clips gained a tad too much time for my taste, in addition to being quite unbecoming. I know Italy's range in culture is wide to say the least, but the incessant tacky spacers were more Ragazze Cin Cin than Artemisia Gentileschi. Art is always a question of taste, but I do prefer the latter.

A Dada Commedia

Ponte Vecchio coated with history

Ponte Vecchio coated with colours

Even if history played a great part, the modern days were not totally forgotten. In the Reflexus series of short video artworks by the 2nd year students of ISIA Florence, the historical imagery was mixed with flashes of nowaday people – and some nowaday fauna, in a simple, stylish way. The Stream of Consciousness by METAEXPERIENCE. ART combined Piazza della Santissima Annunciata, one of Medici statues and projected texts, that are all the rage in the modern video art. As are "artificial intelligence and the most complex algorithms", which were used also here, not that it made any difference. Unfortunately, the projectors were a tad weak for the existing light and the texts did not appear as powerful as they could have. 

A person of history

Persons of today

Looking carefully, you'll see the writings on the floor

Florence is a fairy castle before Christmas, with streets adorned with abundant but stylish Christmas lights. Well, as stylish as Christmas lights go. In addition, F-light did its part in decorations, if only in off-program. The Mercato piece by Faniuolo reminds me of some other light works I've seen during my trip, like Valerio Festi's Porte Celesti in GLOW Eindhoven and Famiglia De Cagna's La Cat­te­dra­le di Luce in Ghent. Sometimes these mosaic-like light installations are classified as decorations, sometimes as art. An interestingly fluid demarcation.

Also in off-program there was the Christmas explosion on the façade of La Rinascente department store. A net of lights ran through different kinds of colour schemes, interrupted by a tad artsier animations. Anyhow, this one is easily classified as a decoration, if a splendid one.

Mercato Christmas lights are a tradition

A subtle moment in the Rinascente Christmas lighting

As to the actual light art part, there wasn't too much of it.  As it happens, this was also the most high art stuff in the festival. The most obvious example, Siamo con voi nella notte (We are with you in the night) by artistic collective Claire Fontaine at Museo Novecento has its roots in neon letter art, big in the 60's, having a comeback, it seems. Led lights have replaced neon, though, as they have here. Could have fooled me, led lights are pretty damn good these days. Anyhow, light letter art is often laconic and / or political, and same goes here, starting with the name. Siamo con voi nella notte is a graffiti slogan from 70's, expressing solidarity with political prisoners. The artwork is a comment on closure of museums because of the epidemic, a kind reminder that art is still there, and is provided to the public by all means possible. Like making a square a piece of art by claiming it with a sign.

Subtle art takes over the whole piazza

Even though I’m really into contemporary art, I found the old-fashioned approach quite refreshing and something I haven’t witnessed in any other flight art estival. Maybe Florence isn’t a beacon of contemporary light art but why should it be? In a city like this, full of historical beauty, why not flaunt it proudly – and maybe take a little more daring take, artistically? 

And while at it, think of a more stylish way to advertise the sponsors.

Other people writing about F-light

Ciao tutti: Firenze Light Festival – prachtige lichtshow op de mooiste monumenten van Florence (in Dutch)
Emergenza Cultura: L’anima e l’arte di Firenze svendute a sponsor e loghi (in Italian)

Touristy tip

If you're travelling by train to/from Bologna and want to enjoy the scenery while travelling, a warning: two thirds on the route from Florence is tunnels. Florence-Rome stretch is quite tunnel-y as well, but not nearly as bad. 

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Spectacular thanks to Niilo Helander Foundation, that has made possible my Grand Tour of Light Art, including the visit to F-light.

Candles in a Plastic Garden and Easy Exits in Lyon

Fête des Lumières in Lyon is the grand old lady of the light art festivals. It has a pedigree ever since the 17th century and is still one of the most revered light art festivals in Europe. It’s kind of a Maggie Smith of light art festivals.

To put its history simply: the festival evolved from previous festivities in 1850’s, when a celebration for a St. Mary’s statue had been postponed several times for everyone’s frustration, lastly because of a storm. But behold, the skies unexpectedly cleared and the people of Lyon spontaneously lighted up the candles and celebrated on the streets. It was such a blast that it became a tradition. The nowadays festival is still held during the days surrounding December 8th, the original party-hard day. These candles, lumignons des coeur, are still an important part of the festival, even though there are fewer of them on windowsills. In modern times the candles light a park, for charity. With blue lights and plastic decoration to match.

History meets led-lights

The assortment of light art works on display in the festival of 2021 is, according to the program and my observation, eclectic – as it usually is. No specific theme is decided, there's something for everyone and the range of the artworks goes from spectacular projections to small scale demos. 

I found favourites throughout the spectrum. 

Mandatory cathedral projections rarely check my favourites box, but Iris by AV Extended had its moments. I do appreciate the idea of turning the wall around and studying the light that falls inside the church from its windows. Even the flaming iris part of the show was tolerable.

Even though there was a lot of material included in the Ricochets-projection by Jérôme Donna, the style of it was stylishly simple. There was mostly black and white imagery with clear motives, of which I just loved the cubistic moment of plain squares. One sees anything this minimalistic in large projections so rarely that I felt like I was witnessing history in the making. The Lyon Zoo is somewhere around the trees where the piece was projected, that’s probably why there were apes and other animalia as well. I preferred the cubes.

More imaginary fauna was available in Visions by Luminariste, also very black and white and stylish. Bringing forward some Finnish light art: Olivia Pohjola had a similar touch in her piece Edeltämenneille in the FLASH3 light art biennale Light and Death earlier in 2021. The Finnish approach was a tad more pessimistic, concentrating on (nearly) extinct species, but both of the artworks raised some valuable what if -questions, I'm sure.

Light is pouring from the windows

A cubistic moment in the history of light art

An imagined biota

A foregone biota of Olivia Pohjola's Edeltämenneet
from FLASH3 light art biennale in Helsinki, Finland.
Photo: Hannu Iso-Oja / Finnish Light Art Society FLASH

In the student section there was the wonderful Epure (Godfathered by Daniel Rackowice and Massimo Uberti, I'm sure), a study of space by Aurelien Colliou, Ayman El Biyadi and Manon Girard, students in Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Lyon. The glowing box was a simple, ethereal object amidst the very material buildings. A perfect combination with the environment, with a perfectly absurd location. I especially enjoyed the poster below the artwork, with a man staring starkly towards the box. I hope it was intentional.

Then there was an old acquittance from Ghent, Museum of the Moon by Luke Jerram. As in Gent, it was successfully placed in a totally wrong environment, that enhanced the contrast of the highly naturalistic moon and its unnatural placement. Now, there’s an artwork that radically changes in relation to its venue, without a proper one being just a novelty air balloon.

As I approached the Aftereal by Yasuhiro Chida, I wondered what that eerie blue mist was, vibrating in a parklet. Turns out, it’s UV-coloured threads. I love how the piece had no magic whatsoever when watched up close, but how it didn’t lose any of its subtle beauty because of that. Even though a darker and more peaceful location would have supported the artwork better, I think. Obviously, there are not too many such places in the heart of a big city.

An extra room from another dimension

Blue and Moon

Mist of ribbons

I run into the first waiting lines at the entrance of Tête d’Or park. I had a chance to call a friend and bypass the cue, but since I am a staunch democrat and the cue looked short, I didn’t grasp that privileged chance. I immediately regretted, as I noticed the cue just looked short and there was an extra marathon in the end of it. But the park was worth it. It was a perfect venue for the electric dragon Hydra of La créature du lac by Nicolas Paolozzi, which I have to say, looks way better in real life than in my photos. The movement of light is an integral part of the piece, and it was done with restraint and skill. The artwork was a diptych of a kind, combining Hydra and a flower themed piece by the same artist. In this case, I think the artworks would have been stronger and more equivocal on their own. Resist the horror vacui!

This is probably a fifth of the whole Hydra

A special high five from me goes to signs. Marking the route people should follow is a constant blight in big light art festivals. In Lyon it was easy to just go where everyone else is going, and the exits where especially distinguishable. Artworks of their own.

Other people writing about Fête des Lumiéres

Lucky Sophie: Notre Fête des Lumières 2021 à Lyon (in French)
Planes Trains & Shanes: Fête des Lumières in Lyon

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Spectacular thanks to Niilo Helander Foundation, that has made possible my Grand Tour of Light Art, including the visit to Fête des Lumiéres.

Light Art about Lausanne

At Lausanne Lumières 2021, it's all about the city.

For a couple of years, Lausanne Lumières festival has included mainly façade projections in its programme, which practically makes it more of a video art festival than light festival. But nevermind that, since the light art might make a come back anytime. I’m not sure if I hope that, I’m surprised to say, since there are not too many this cozy projection festivals. Usually, it’s all about spectacles on cathedrals, but in Lausanne, it’s all about Lausanne.

The festival of is egocentric in a healthy way. Many of the artists are lausannians, the artworks are made for Lausanne, premiere there and/or usually even the topics are related to the city and its buildings. Also, the festival makes one really look at Lausanne as a city: not only the most striking buildings, but also the not so pretty or noticeable. Even the size of the festival favours the city. It's not too large artwork- or areawise, but leaves plenty of time and energy to admire the city and have a cup of glühwein while doing that.

Coloured squares are all the rave these days

The oldest buildings with most ornate façades got the most vivid projections to adorn them. The Zoological Museum is one of the museums Palais de Rumine hosts, and one can easily see a connection to the imagery of projections of Diving in the Sea of Colors by Daniel Margraf. They include an intensively staring fox, birds, plants and other stuff less easy to recognise, but no doubt belonging to the zoological realm. Another highly decorational artwork was Montfalcolor: Act 3 by Patrice Warrener, colouring the gate of Montfalcolor of the Cathedrale of Lausanne. The colours added to the bunch of statues in row reminded me of the ancient Greek statues, supposedly being fully coloured originally. Just like illustrations of those statues, the holies of Montfalcolor became interestingly cartoonish as colour was added. 

Animal kingdom, in and out

One of the least coloured scenes

Another colourful and vivid work, La ville étoilée, needs a middle weight pons asinorum to Lausanne, since connection between the city and Vincent van Gogh is not universally known. Probably because there isn't one – except for an immersive van Gogh show visiting the city and an amount of copyrights in the depths of lausannian vaults. Anyhow, wall-sized van Gogh is never a bad idea and projecting it on a wall of a bank gives it a certain Swiss je ne sais quoi!

Art and money meet

Not all the artworks in Lausanne were bursting with baroquesque colours and details, there were quite a few more straightforward and contemporary projections to see as well - on more modern façades to fit. Tempo by Rocío Eggío and Elisa Ciocca made wonders to the office building of Retraites Populaires, covering it with 70's style graphic shapes, flowers and record cover imagery. Such a boring building, such a great canvas! 

Horde approached the city of Lausanne from a typographical angle. L-A-U-S-A-N-N-E examined the letters of the name of the city and a font type named after it. As a lighting designer and a graphic designer I fully appreciate. An example of quite a niche idea giving interesting results (at least for people of my background).

Futuristic-renaissance style imagery of Random Access Stories give the Bel-Air tower a brave new look. Pronounced, angel-like characters, god's fingers and inevitable babies glide across the façade in clips designed by alumnis of Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, commenting the ubiquitous media, flickering in our networks.

 

Simple shapes for a simple building

Typographical light art

There will be a massive fingerprint stain in that window

No light art festival is complete without an interactive artwork. In Lausanne it was Big Pac, a wall-sized Pacman game. Camille Scherrer with Sigmasix are not the first ones trying out this idea, it has been tested previously by artists and commercial ventures alike. But this was the first time it was done in Lausanne! And what a labyrinth the façade of Maison Mercier was! Luckily, the interface for playing the game was in a not so observable place, since my days as a celebrated Pacman champion of my youth were long gone. But it was still a great fun!

A most fun public humiliation

The exception to the projections-only-rule was the artwork Comets│Sublimation by Atelier Schlaepfer-Capt & Int Studio. Even in it, the projection played a big part, but it was connected to a light art installation from a previous year. An interactive one, with the funniest interface! By swinging, the audience made light signals move by lines stretched from the swing to the surrounding buildings. It had something to do with comets and other astro stuff, but hey, swings! Jipii!

My thighs were killing me the next day.

Surprisingly many adults in the swings

Chromatic variations

The festival was held already 24.11.–24.12.2021, but in my usual slow pace I'm writing about it now. I was lucky to have a private tour of the festival by Mr. Ben Essig, who is one of the curators / organizers / bosses of the festival. And a generous provider of glühwein. We had most interesting discussions about art and popular taste, which I’ll go back to as soon as I can remember them. That glühwein, it was really good though!

Other People Wrting about Lausanne Lumières

• ...alt werden kann ich später: Lausanne Lumières (in German)
• L'objectif en Balade: Illuminations nocturnes dans les rues de Lausanne (in French)

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Spectacular thanks to Niilo Helander Foundation, that has made possible my Grand Tour of Light Art, including the visit to Lausanne Lumières

From dusk till almost dark in Amsterdam Light Festival

Is darkness really needed?

The tenth edition of Amsterdam Light Festival in 2021 was defined by Covid restrictions, to the brink of madness. At least during my visit in early December. I’m all for vaccinations, masks, distances and all that stuff, but what is the point of restricting an outdoor happening? And even yet, by cutting opening times from the dark end? The festival closed daily at five pm, so there was dark enough for a half an hour to see the artworks properly. As clock turned five, I expected to see at least some civil disobedience the Netherlands is famous for, but no. The works just closed. Where’s the resistance!

Oh, bollocks! 
Moonburn by Stichting Barstow was not too hallucinatory in daylight

On the other hand, not every light artwork needs total darkness. In fact, I often prefer watching outdoor pieces during dusk, while there still is some light left for the environment as well. It reduces the sometimes-strong contrast and I get to see more than just the afterimage burned to my middle-aged retina. 

So, let’s try to be positive here: how the artworks of ALF gained from (some) daylight? As said before, the dusky time slot is a short one, and the light changed all the time. So, no pure impartiality to be expected, just a few examples.

Hello Duskness My New Friend

There were surprisingly many artworks that either didn't suffer or even had some benefit of the daylight leftovers. Neighborhood by Sergey Kim was definitely one of those. The hanging laundry, an everyday item par excellence, became even more everyday-ish as its everyday surroundings were visible and became part of the artwork. Bunch of Tulips by Koros Design looked just as souvenir-like in light as it did in dark, and the surrounding Amsterdam, still visible, supported the theme of tulip craze.

Glowing clean laundry

Indeed, the tulips did change their colour,
running through the whole spectrum

1.26 Amsterdam by Janet Echelman was a real surpriser. I would have though that the huge net would all but disappear without a near absolute darkness, but no. The artwork might have lost an illusion, but gained another kind of vacillating beauty instead. Mr. J.J. van de Veldebrug by Peter Vink, with its linear, architectural approach, glowed in the thickening blue evening light like a drawing in AutoCAD. Most suitable!

Minuten in Blauw by Kira Ressing, Kyra van Baar & Naomi de Bruijn takes its inspiration of the moment of falling darkness, so it's no surprise the moment in question suits it superbly. I had a coffee break just to wait the sun go down a little bit more and during those fifteen minutes the change was essential. As I walked past the artwork some hours later, it was almost too dark for it, I think. The subtlety of the differences in light levels was gone.

Layers in scenery

A 3D light drawing

Amsterdam's windows

Alaa Minawi's My Light is Your Light is a winner in any light. It's bright enough to be (barely) visible even in full daylight, beautifully glowing in dusk, and calmly articulates the outsiderness of the characters, as they continue their eternal walk in the darkness, light shining from other people's homes. 

Loneliness is tangible also in Pas encore mon histoire by Vincent Olinet, but even the hue of solitude changed according to the level of darkness. The first time I passed the artwork it was still quite bright and the floating bed looked forgotten and misplaced. The next time, in dusk, it was romantically dwelling in its own dreamworld, as the light inside it glowed delicately and the setting daylight gently revealed the bed's pastel tones. According to a lady I had a discussion with about light art on the bank – as one does – who walks pass the bed every evening, it becomes most haunting, even hostile, in the darkness. 

I've seen these guys in so many cities,
hope they'll get to their destination one day

The bed in its romantic phase

Then there was the peeing... fishing Darth Vader, that totally gained from full daylight, which made the dark character well recognisable, even seen through a rain-beaten boat window. It's clever from Streetart Frankey to name the piece Darth Fisher, just to make some things clear.

The glowing rod of Darth

Just no

In case we will be meeting regulations again, which I fear is not too whimsical a prediction, I'd like to remind that not all the light-artworks are suitable for diurnal use. Some are, conversely, ultimately not. See for yourself, and if you are the one making decisions about the regulations, think again.

Drawn in Light, just without the light
Ralf Westerhof

Starry Sky, just without the stars
Ivana Jelić & Pavle Petrović

Meisje met het zwavelstokje,
stokje not shining like a beacon
Studio Aldo Brinkhoff - Stichting Nieuwe Helden

Other people writing about Amsterdam Light Festival

• Shirshendu Sengupta: Amsterdam Light Festival 2021-2022

• Lemons and Luggage: An Evening at the Amsterdam Light festival

• Me, about the 2019 edition: Amsterdam Light Festival: White Crispy Lines and a Spoiled Dystopia

Touristy Tip

The place I stayed in Amsterdam is worth a mention. Sweets Hotel provides bridge houses to stay in, all different, scattered around the town. I stayed in the Meeuwenpleinbrug house, in Amsterdam North. Most spectacular! I could have watched the scenery for hours. And did. It was like a grown up version of the huts I made while a kid. A very own house, hovering above the water. Just wonderful! And with some lucky timing, also almost affordable.

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Spectacular thanks to Niilo Helander Foundation, that has made possible my Grand Tour of Light Art, including the visit to Amsterdam Light Festival.

Light Art by Yards in Lumiere Durham

Durham is a city straight out of a nostalgic TV series. Tiny brick houses gather around the towering cathedral, out of proportions for a village this small. The streets in the old part of the town are appropriately serpentine, swirling around the many kinds of yards of the town. Those beautiful yards are what I remember the most from my visit to Lumiere Durham 2021. There were all kinds of yards, the hidden backyards and gardens, the public front yards, the posh courtyards and even a gloomy graveyard. And a meta yard. Even the venues that were not actual yards, often felt like playgrounds, with people climbing on, doodling with and sitting on lights, having a good time together. 

A local contribution

Peaceful backyards

The one thing not familiar to light festivals was the calmness of some of the venues, most of them backyards hidden from the bustle. The festival managed to create intimate experiences in spite of its magnitude, especially in the spots further away from the center.

"Well, that doesn't seem like much" was my Mom's response as I showed her a photo of Kaleidoscope by the Northern Butterflies, and that's true, kind of. What really made the difference, was the soundtrack, where people told what the garden means for them. After being told this, my Mom, an avid gardener, approved. So did I. The warmth and humanity of this piece of art went way further than a light show.

The Lines by Pekka Niittyvirta and Timo Aho, with white bright line marking the expected level of water in the future, was meant to be seen from a distance, from the other side of river Wear. Luckily, I got lost, and got to see it more up close. Being alone by the artwork was an intense experience, for artistic reasons, mostly. Also, I was afraid I would slip and fall down the hill and the crowd on the other side of the river would laugh at me. Anyway, this was one of my favourite works: simple, beautiful and political. I've seen other editions of this piece in flesh and photos and I have to say it is demanding of its environment. The darkness and closeness to water were a huge plus, but distance from the (non-lost) audience didn't quite serve the piece. There's a web based art project by Niittyvirta and Aho, called Coastline Paradox, which has a connection to the Lines series. Go, check.

Vegetables, a thing to be taken personally

A tad more sinister garden

Scattered Light by Jim Campbell was another of my favourites. A matrix of tiny bulbs, with a subtle flickering, glowed calmly in the dark like a specimen of starry sky. Every now and then a character made out of shadows fled stealthily through the artwork, but one had to focus to notice that. It was refreshing to see that kind of matrix of lights used to create vague and ambiguous forms instead the usual strict geometrical patterns. 

Tim Etchells's Shifting Ground joins the well-established tradition of neon letter artworks. The text in question is the title of the work, installed on top of the majestic (in Finnish scale) Miners' Hall. The artwork is simple, to the extent that there was a person exclaiming to the audience that what we see is all there is, just the text, no flashing to be expected. I have to disagree, though. It was not just the text, but the environment together with it, that made the eerie and impressive piece complete. Especially the building, of course, but also other objects close by. Like the statues, that were quite out of ordinary, basking in the red light.

It was too difficult to have a proper photo of the shadow person,
so here' s a fleeting flesh and blood person instead

"Miners' hall" is a give-away of the themes of the artwork

Insert a red-light-district pun of your choice

Meet And Greet in the Front Yards

Front yards are the place to say hello to passers-by and share the latests gossips, err... news with one's neighbours. There was a bunch of artworks that either handled this theme or made people practise it. The most obvious example being Dominik Lejman's When Today Makes Yesterday Tomorrow, nonchalantly projected on the library's wall, depicting people walking by, shaking hands. In addition to being quite a relieving image in the age of no touching, it also reflected the real people walking by in a most interesting way, becoming a thought bubble or a meta level of a kind for the crowds.

Lightbenches by Bernd Spiecker have some history behind them, as well. One example being Stefan Sous's UVA-UVB, benches installed in a park in Düsseldorf, made of fluorescent tubes (with some extra structure, I believe) in the beginning of the millennium. Also Spiecker's benches have become permanent items, in Durham as well as in London, that I know of. I've been using these benches in my light art lectures as an example of a very simple interaction, meaning basically just sitting on art, but as I monitored people I saw it was more than that. The bench was an item that brought people closer to each other in a concrete way, even if it was just to cluster for a group photo. And sometimes smooching. It was so nice that I forgave the use of the ever-awful rainbow effect in the chancing colour of the bench.

Liz West's Drop Scene shows how light can really make a difference, by a simple gesture of colouring the light pouring from outside of the garage-like tunnel. Now, that's a real magic of light: making people gladly hang out in a gloomy underway!

A town meeting on two levels

A basic interaction about to happen

Respectable people hanging out in a tunnel

Courtyards 

Courtyards are places to put on one's best face. To show how culturally sophisticated one is, how well read, and how poised to be charitable and benefit society. The styles in the courtyards of Durham were quite different from each other, though. The Castle was adorned with lines of poetry in Anthology - Into the Light by Amelia Kosminsky and several poets, commenting the current world in a subtle and simple way. In Our Hearts a Blind Hope by Palma Studios, projected on the Cathedral, on the other hand, went full throttle with Covid sentimentality, including a sea of candles and a rising phoenix in the imagery. Chronos by Epsztein and Gross, projected on Ogden Center façade, was a cavalcade of all things scientific, from planets to beating hearts, with an expected soundtrack and lecture-like punctuality. 

Light writing on the wall

The spectacle on the Cathedral came as no surprise

University / Universe - can't be a coincidence!

City Center Playgrounds

The most colourful and interactive artworks were centred around the shopping and restaurant area of the town, and fitted the natural hullabaloo pretty well. It was nice to see people climbing objects, doodling on the ground and seeing colours, mostly sober. 

Halo by Illumaphonium, I later learned, had a sound element in it, but since people were climbing on the piece, squealing with joy, I totally missed it. Colour by Light by Floating Pictures was super simple: one could draw strikes of colourful light with one's flashlight. The end result wasn't exactly sophisticated work of fine art, but it was super fun to do! The most eager artists were lying on the ground to get a closer touch. A friend told me.

Imminence by Novak is familiar to me from its London run, where it appeared more serious, in spite of colourful and cartoon-like imagery. Reason being less people per square meter, meaning better visibility for the image to be seen, I guess. In Durham, the message of nature getting ruined was somewhat transformed into a colour-bathing experience, which is not a bad thing, either.

A Jetson family playground

DIY abstract expressionism

Paint it anything but black

Finally, I found myself standing in line at a graveyard. This is not a gloomy metaphore, I was waiting to enter a church with an artwork in it. It tells a lot about the festival, that even this felt cosy. But even cosier was City of Light, City of Stories, a project lead by Po Jocock. Local communities had built lanterns in shapes of buildings and created a whole new city. Well, almost new: even though the buildings were described as imaginary, I could recognise some of them. This yard in a yard was, in my opinion, the one piece that best represents the warmth of the festival.

A metayard

Other people writing about Lumiere Durham 2021

Mark Brown / The Guardian: ‘A chariot in the sky’: Lumiere festival of light in Durham honours Covid dead

Katy Wheeler / Sunderland Echo: First look at spectacular Durham Lumiere 2021

Hello Freckles: Durham Lumiere 2021

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Spectacular thanks to Niilo Helander Foundation, that has made possible my Grand Tour of Light Art, including the visit to Lumiere Durham.