“RGB3D” (Ido Scherf and Shai Shtarker, Israel) was a clever installation. At first glance it looked like a pretty but meaningless display of coloured lightbulbs behind a fence. In front of the fence were three steps, coloured red, blue, and green. When viewed from the top of each step, the lights spelled the name of the colour. I took this photo from the RED step.
“Moon Haze” (Feng Jiacheng and Huang Yuanbei, PR China), or the far side of the moon, literally. I walked around it to the other side to photograph the inflated moon at a reasonable distance, away from the crowds. I included the guy with the phonecam to show scale. The moon is sitting on the 3,000-year-old Broad Wall, one of the ancient city walls of Jerusalem.
I’ve seen some weird things in the Muristan but “Oasis” (Gil Teichman, in collaboration with Nitzan Refaeli and Ronen Nadjar, Israel) tops them all. The installation “includes a special performance of favorite elephants from previous festivals.” Previous festivals? Does that mean previous Jerusalem Festivals of Light? Did anyone see the elephants performing? I saw inflated elephants with a soundtrack of elephants trumpeting. If someone managed to get elephants into the cramped streets of the Christian Quarter, that would have been quite a logistcal feat.
Batei Mahsei has had some stunning video-mapping installations projected onto its distinctive arched facade in the past. This was not one of them. “Dream Machine,” by Liron Gavish, Shootzi, Tal Heuberger, and Ido Ramon, Israel. It was pleasant but not stunning.
“Drawn in Light,” by Ralf Westerhof, The Netherlands, was simple but surprisingly effective. The three-dimensional wire house, trees, and other elements, suspended as a giant mobile, comprised a constantly changing landscape. The house’s rotation revealed new details and perspectives. It’s difficult to show scale in a photo. According to the description, the installation was 13 meters wide.
“Cathedral of Mirrors” (Mads Christensen, Denmark) was an interactive installation with motion sensors. The colours shifted and pulsated when people walked between the columns or touched them.
“Fly,” by Itzik Ilus, Israel. Clear plastic birds lit by coloured lights. This year the route was marked by orange arrow signs. They were much more difficult to locate and follow than the strings of LED lights usedat past festivals. Please bring back the light strings! You have no idea how many people missed the sharp right turn down the stairs to Batei Mahsei, walking from the Cardo to the Hurva by accident.
This and That 