BLINK, said to be the nation’s largest light and art event, returned to Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky over three nights in October to illuminate the night with artistic spectacle. The gathering, organized by the group ArtsWave, spanned over 30 city blocks, including Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati, the Banks, Newport, and Covington.
Artworks include projections on buildings, costumes, drone formations, interactive displays, and more.
Entrepreneurs, local artists, and around two million art enthusiasts come together to build a brilliant art experience. Each year, there’s an open call for light artists and curators to select local, national, and international works. Local artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs The event was launched in 2017 and has the support of local businesses, government, and non-profit communities.
BLINK’s Opening Parade
It all starts with a parade on Thursday night, with visitors filling the streets to see all the groups and floats participating in the official kickoff. Throughout the weekend, visitors from all over the Midwest participated in the self-guided adventure through the light and sound experience.
Light & Sound Projections
Light projections on buildings and murals are a huge part of the exhibition. Artists are assigned a building or mural and use digital animation software to create motion-based art, often imposed on existing murals and sometimes synchronized with music.
“Light projections are created with a type of software that allows you to align video content through a projector exactly where you want it,” explains Lynn Godfrey, a professor of industrial design and lighting at Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “I can do a layer on this plane of the architecture and another layer on another plane of the architecture. You can wrap it around three-dimensional objects, and then drop videos in there…it can contort the building and make the facade look like it’s moving.” It’s a way to enhance the beauty of the architecture and art that’s already there and create something new that can only be appreciated in the dark.
Cincinnati Music Hall in Washington Park is one of the most popular and spectacular light shows of the BLINK experience. Four different shows ran each evening at Music Hall.
Interactive Light Art Pieces at BLINK
Many interactive pieces encouraged festivalgoers to participate in the illuminated art. Whether playing piano and lighting up the trees or posing inside for selfies, the installations were fun for the whole family.
The Drone Show
The Mystic Eye Drone show lit up the banks of the Ohio River sky each night. Watching the lights flutter from the Kentucky side with the Cincinnati skyline in the background was beautiful. The illuminated drones soared through the sky in intricate patterns, changing colors and forming shapes and designs in the darkness.
© Amy Harris
© Amy Harris
At its core, BLINK is by and for Cincinnati and a wonderful experience for the community to come together to enjoy the art.
You may also enjoy reading:
- Concord, California: Food, Culture, and Street Art
- Concord, California’s Murals: A Mosaic of Art and Community
Read more from Amy at The Travel Addict.
