OAKLAND’S PREMIER WINTER LIGHT FESTIVAL: GLOWLAND
GLOWLAND is an annual, month-long winter festival beginning the week before Thanksgiving, featuring art installations, live music events and illuminations throughout Oakland.
GLOWLAND 2022 included a playable and interactive art installation, Impulse, in Schenley Plaza, as well as music, entertainment, vendors, games, and more! Impulse in Schenley Plaza was free and open to the public daily where students, families, and Pittsburgh leaders all took the opportunity to enjoy the fresh winter air on glowing seesaws!
GLOWLAND will transform the traditionally cold and dark days of early winter into an inspirational and fun experience for all. Special events in that past have included an illuminated kick-off party, Small Business Saturday celebration, and a family-friendly closing weekend. Additionally, buildings, public spaces, and unexpected corners of Oakland were brought to life by variations of light-based art.
View GLOWLAND 2022's full event program here!
Impulse in Pittsburgh (2022)
GLOWLAND 2022 was anchored by Impulse, a playable art installation that has drawn thousands of visitors in each of its international host cities, including New York City, London, Sydney, Toronto, and Montreal. Fifteen sound and light producing seesaws transformed Schenley Plaza into a playground for visitors of all ages to experience and enjoy. Impulse was free and open to the public daily between November 18th and December 17th, 2022.
Impulse is an interactive work comprising a series of 30 seesaws with light and sound that changes when in motion. The seesaws form units of light and sound that can be activated by the public to create an ever-changing composition. By playing on the seesaws, users create a dynamic light and sound wave giving a pulse of warmth to the winter’s short days and dark nights. Impulse was first presented as part of the 6th edition of Luminothérapie, in 2015-2016, at the Place des Festivals in the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal.
Creation and execution: Lateral Office and CS Design
Production: Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, Montreal, Canada
Sound design: Mitchell Akiyama
Fabrication: Generique Design
GLOWLAND 2022 ILLUMINATIONS
Living Lights on Forbes Avenue at the entrance of Oakland
The Living Lights have returned to the trees along the side of Magee Women's Hospital and react to the movement of traffic on Forbes Avenue, expressing the active motion and bustling energy of the Oakland Business District
Glowing Schenley Plaza Tent
Custom new media light installation that brightens up the Big Tent!
Dippy the Dinosaur
Dippy is lit up with an LED light installation including sunglasses and a necklace! Found in front of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Shift Change
A site-specific installation based on the artist's father's account of growing up in the shadow of Bethlehem Steel in the Lehigh Valley. It features images of the steel plant, its ore cranes and railroads, and the Minsi Trail Bridge once used by commuting steel workers.
Retreat
Bright illuminations in the second floor windows of 115 Atwood Street.
Resort
Moving lights encapsulating the windows of the Former Pittsburgh Athletic Association Building on 4215 Fifth Ave.
GLOWLAND 2022 EVENTS
Small Business Saturday:
Shop local! The Big Tent in Schenley Plaza featured a pop-up by Argyle Studio and treats from the Hilton Garden Inn - Pittsburgh University Place. Shop over 3,000 products from local-to-Pittsburgh makers, including clothing, jewelry, art, prints, pet products, home decor, and more!
SeeSaw Saturdays:
Live music (Pittsburgh Tuba Christmas, Aerie Cole) accompanying the installation, Seesaw Saturdays brought a weekend groove to see sawing.
UPMC Health Plan Presents: Winter Play Day
Ice carvings and sculptures, accordion players roaming, and music from Kelsey Friday filled the Schenley Plaza tent. Face painters and glow sticks added flare to kids and parents. Family day brought young ones to watch a neon light puppet show with Siggi Puppetworks Puppet Show and families sang holiday tunes with Billy Mancini. Carnegie Library helped families design their own scarves and UPMC Health Plan shared healthcare tips while offering coloring for kids. WQED and the United Way supplied books for kids!
GLOWLAND 2022 ARTISTS
Cornelius Henke III (ProjectileObjects), is a writer, VJ, and creative technologist. Versed in areas of video production and performance art; he has explored the visual mediums of film, music videos, motion graphics, live events, and interactive installations. You can see more of his work at ProjectileObjects.com. Cornelius created Living Lights, the Glowing Schenley Plaza Tent, and Dippy's illuminations for GLOWLAND.
Joshua Kerry is a multidisciplinary artist making work about passing down stories and possessions between family members. Through this work, he explores how we write family history and how it is shaped by outside events. Joshua created Shift Change.
Ian Brill's work focuses on the accumulation of form through process. Through the creation of interactive, performative, and multi-sensorial environments, he considers boundaries of becoming (versus being) and our immersive relationship with technology. His installations, performances and writing have been presented internationally, at conferences, festivals museums and galleries. Currently, he teaches at Penn State University. Ian's work for GLOWLAND can be found at 115 Atwood and at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.
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