Jerusalem Festival of Light 2014: “Circus of Light”

“Jerusalem Circus of Light” (Nuno Maya and Carole Purnelle, OCUBO, Portugal) is a clever video-mapping of the old Rothschild building in Batei Mahsei Square, Jewish Quarter. The installation starts with the familiar skyline of Jerusalem at night and turns it into a circus. I love how the architectural elements and cypress trees  are incorporated into the video. The collages of people applauding reminded me of Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python animations.

I recorded a short video (bottom of posting) with a handheld camera.

Jerusalem Festival of Light 2014: “Control No Control” and “Don’t Give Up on the Light”

“Control No Control” (Daniel Iregui, Canada) is an interactive installation that reacts to touch. I found the heavy bass techno sound track a bit monotonous but the lighting effects were interesting.

The array of hands touching the surface caught my attention, like a strange, multi-dexterous octopus playing the piano.

“Don’t Give Up on the Light” (Shelly Bin Nun, Israel) is a clever sculpture constructed of trash, casting a shadow of Jerusalem landmarks.

The use of cut-outs to create the illusion of three dimensions is clever. For example, the highlight on the Dome of the Rock is created by cutting a piece out of a plastic disposable plate.

Jerusalem Festival of Light, 2011 (Part 1)

I originally intended to post my photos of the Jerusalem Festival of Light, but if I do that I might never get around to it. So they’re a bit out of order because my photos from the first night we went are on my computer at work. These photos were taken the second night. We covered the orange route.

The first photo (above) was a zoom photo of “Echinodermus and Pissenlit” (Tilt, France). Here’s a normal shot of the installation:

The photo below is a panorama of three photos stitched together of Jaffa Gate.

The flower below was also part of “Echinodermus and Pissenlit,” taken just after sundown when the sky turns a beautiful blue.

Below: “Blazing Agelux” (Pitaya, France), along Armenian Quarter Road.

Below: “The Art of Listening” (Bernardo Scolnik). My son guarded this for 11 hours during the day. We took him out for dinner just before we went out to the exhibit. Needless to say, he went home to sleep.

I’m not sure what these feathers were. They don’t seem to be in the brochure:

“When Light Meets Sound” (Lichtpiraten), which encourages audience participation. I’m the shadow on the right.

I don’t know who the girl is but I thought she was an interesting addition to the photo, so I left her in.

“Field of Light” (Imagine Light Design Studio). The pillars changed colour and were sometimes pink rods, green rods, or like blue rain. I knelt by the fence in order to get a low enough angle to photograph the Hurva Synagogue through the pillars.

“Night Train” (Malki Shem Tov and Yoav David). Video mapping project on Batei Machsei. This was a night watchman looking through the windows.

“Popping Candy – Fantasy” (Itzik Iluz).

“OVO” (ACT Lighting Design & Ode au bois, Belgium). You can walk into this egg, which constantly changes colour and is reflected in a pool of shallow water around the walkway.

Inside the egg, looking up:

“Light at the End of the Tunnel” (Ori Yardeni). I don’t recommend it. It’s a long walk from the City of David to Shiloah (Silwan, the entrance to Hezekiah’s Tunnel) in the dark, just to sit in a pitch-black sauna and listen to an archaeological melodrama in Hebrew. Not unlike trying to go to sleep in a sweltering Tel Aviv summer with the radio turned too loud. Those thirteen minutes seemed like forever. There is also a light show at the archaeological site of the City of David. If you saw the video projection last year, this year’s is very similar because it recycles the section at the beginning of the life cycle of the city and the middle section with the voice-over describing the archaeology. There are a couple new clips added, but not worth a special trip if you’re tired by the time you’ve finished the orange route.

More photos on my Flickr set: Jerusalem Festival of Light 2011