On August 26th and 27th, 2016, 27,000 people and over 2 dozen artists gathered along the banks of the canal in Downtown Indianapolis, IN, for IN Light IN, a two-night art festival in honor of the 100th anniversary of The Indianapolis Foundation. Northern Lights.mn co-presented the festival with the Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF).
Artists from Indiana, Minnesota, California, Kentucky, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Montreal presented projects in public spaces during the nighttime. Audience members were projected live onto water screens (Luke Savisky, ST/x) and their images danced across buildings (Daily tous les jours, McLarena). They basked in the glow of neon lights (Jamie Pawlus, HAPPINESS) and illuminated sculptures (Lauren Zoll, Kitsch’n Lights; Anila Quayyum Agha, Alhambra Nights; Owens + Crawley, 2058: the first September without ice; PROJECTiONE, PRISMAtique; Aphidoidea, Droplet’s Formation II) and interacted with enormous projections onto cathedrals, churches, and office buildings (YesYesNo, Night Lights / Funky Forms; Tiffany Carbonneau & Susanna Crum, A Place In Time), among numerous other live performances, music, and artworks.
Minneapolis-based artists and friends of Northern Spark were part of the action: Piotr Szyhalski presented the premier of Geophone, a project composed of live-mixed and archival recordings heard through 20 speakers buried under the ground. Robin Schwartzman and RADAR Collective presented Barter Boat, an artifact exchange point that grew from Minnesotan Ice, which premiered at Northern Spark 2016. The Illuminated Reef Collective was back with The Illuminated Reef, a great hit at this Northern Spark this year.
The night was sticky, and the crowds were awed by the energy of the IN Light IN experience. We are thankful to Joanna Nixon and CICF for allowing us to help create two great nights full of wonder.
Northern Lights.mn co-presented with the Central Indiana Community Foundation IN Light IN, a free, two-day interactive light festival in honor of the 100th anniversary of The Indianapolis Foundation.
Photos courtesy of Hadley Fruits Photography. 2016.