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| The Happenings Feature - December 2006 |
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DUMBO LIGHT CAPADES
Dumbo Improvement District Unveils
First Annual "Dumbo Light Capades" In Brooklyn Bridge Park
"It's holiday lights - Brooklyn style!" said Borough President Markowitz. "Where else but in Dumbo can you find such an illuminated mix of creativity, originality and holiday spirit? These beautiful light sculptures will brighten up Brooklyn for residents of all ages, and make Brooklyn Bridge Park even more festive this holiday season."
Lights on Empire Stores will run for 80 seconds every hour on the half hour and six sculptures grace the field beneath the Manhattan Bridge.
"Dumbo is in many ways the creative capital of New York City and you can't celebrate the holidays down here without a bunch of quirky artists going around trying to one-up each other with over-the-top decorations, so we thought we should take advantage of that imagination," said Tucker Reed. "Sure, it's eccentric, but it works. These sculptures really capture what we all love about the holidays in a new and provoking way, and they add a playful element to the park-giving people a reason to come out and enjoy the view at a time of year when they might otherwise not. It's my hope that this is the start of something that will become a new holiday tradition for Brooklyn."
The six sculptures emerged from a contest, sponsored by the Dumbo Improvement District, which solicited proposals from artists, designers and architects to create and install imaginative temporary lighting installations along the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Winning proposals were selected by a panel of judges from representatives of the Brooklyn Arts Council, the d.u.m.b.o. Arts Center, Jan Larsen Art Gallery, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Parks & Recreation. The six selected designers were each given a $1,000 budget to build and install their sculptures.
The sculptures on display include the following:
• "A Holiday Marriage," by 29-year-old Brooklyn-based artist Nathan turner, embodies what happens when light, quantity and holiday memories come together at once. Consisting of 450 cans and a custom-made light box that "remake" an illuminated version of the traditional Christmas tree, no element of this light sculpture is without meaning.
• "Rudolph's Rack," by Lisa Hein, is a wordless cartoon about the shifting guises of the holiday spirit. Simple lights that look like a flag conceal two faces of the red-nosed reindeer on a billboard rack. One face hides behind a Christmas tree, while the other lurks behind menorah candles lit on his antlers. Rudolph lies on his side to pretend he's hibernating. He changes religion with every wink. His glow encapsulates an ancient craving for light at the darkest season.
• "Two Trees in Love," by Lauren Was and Adam Eckstrom, depicts two trees standing in the park, caught in a flurry of love and light. Arrows are sparks of joyous energy that fly back in forth between the trees. This sculpture illuminates the joy of relationships and companionship during the holiday season.
• "Light Field," by Nathan Rich and Stephen Nielsen, portrays an undulating grid of glowing tubes emerging from the banks of the East River beneath the Manhattan Bridge, softly reinforcing the tides and meditative calm of the waterfront and providing visitors with a place of peaceful reflection during the bustling New York holiday season. The innovative glow in the dark paint used for this installation is supplied by Maryland based company, Glow, Inc.
• "La Fantastica," by Juan Manuel Mansylla, readapts everyday industrial objects-bottle shipping cartons-and re-appropriates them to create a playful, radiant image.
Doors to You
©Mark D Phillips |
The cartons, recalling Dumbo's gritty industrial past, are filled with light, a symbol of the community's bright re-emergence, and tied together to form an installation that invites children to climb atop it and redefine the object into one of jovial festivity.
• "Doors to You," by Atom Cianfarani, is a light sculpture of re-purposed doors, each resembling a piece of architecture but collectively depicting an illuminated skyline. The doors symbolize the many entrances and exits of the winter season, and the warm light emanating through and above them beckons the weary traveler. The colored lights behind each door will change colors throughout the season to commemorate specific holidays and cultural celebrations. This installation is being sponsored in part by the Build It Green Center NYC, New York City's only non-profit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials: sponsored by the Community Environmental Center (CEC) |
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The Happenings Feature - Story Archive
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JANE'S CAROUSEL
Nestled in a tight space on Water Street, the lights flicker through the glass front of its home.
As you approach the entrance, Jane's Carousel is a sight to behold.
Built in 1922 by The Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC#61) for Idora Park in Ohio, the historic carved wood carousel found its way to DUMBO in a twenty year labor of love by Jane Walentas.
"We purchased the carousel on October 21, 1984 at the auction of Idora Park. We bought the carousel for the Fulton Ferry Park for which my husband David was the designated developer,"
said Jane Walentas.
A hidden gem opens in DUMBO.... Continued |
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Through a Lens Darkly
Annie Leibovitz at Brooklyn Museum
©Mark D Phillips View Larger |
Annie Leibovitz has photographed celebrities, presidents, and a very naked, extremely pregnant Demi Moore.
Now her surprisingly personal, searingly raw exhibition - "Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990 - 2005" - will be showcased at the Brooklyn Museum through January 21.
It features pictures of not only Hollywood celebs and heads-of-state, but fetchingly candid shots of ordinary folks and people dear to the photographer.
In advance of the show's opening on October 20, Leibovitz, who is gracious and unassuming away from the lens, provided a rare, behind-the-scenes peek into her work and her life -- leading a walking tour through the museum.
Through a Lens Darkly .... Continued |
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Produced by
SouthBrooklynInternet. All material ©2006. No reuse without permission.
All photographs ©Mark D Phillips - southbrooklyninternet.com |
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