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Each year, the light art installations seen at the Amsterdam Light Festival are exclusively made for the festival by artists from around the world.
Last year, I enjoyed these unique and colorful displays by booking one of the cruises that traverse the canals and pass the locations of these fantastical exhibits. Noticing that many were accessible from land, I vowed to enjoy them up close during the next year’s festivities.
After doing some research on the 2017-2018 Amsterdam Light Festival, I discovered that the land exhibition had been relocated to the Marineterrein area near the Maritime Museum, making it much more accessible to visitors arriving through Central Station.
Setting out during an extremely cold evening, I walked from Central Station along the water, following signs marking the way to the exhibit. Information booths were located at both ends of the exhibit, where you could obtain information about each of the light displays and purchase information guides.
Remembering the presentations that I had observed during the previous year, I was a bit confused as I came up to a recently constructed wooden building with a line of people waiting to get in. Asking if this was part of the exhibition, I was instructed to wait in line and I would be admitted to see the lighting display inside, which was entitled The Wood Would.
After a short wait, I finally entered…and discovered…more of a wait inside.
Just what were we going to see? I was dying to know!
When it was my turn to enter a small room, I was instructed to step on a board which was sitting in water on the floor. The lights were situated in a way that when you stepped onto the board, the water shimmered, created a lighting effect on the walls which were pasted with pictures of birch trees.
Okayyyyy…
Interesting idea…I guess.
On to the next one.
Although a few of the displays, Squared Time, Miasma Fields, The Garden of Schrodinger’s Cats, were to be enjoyed while passing by on the walkways, sadly, many of the displays were set up like the first one, with a line to enter…while freezing outside on a cold night. Inside, there were weird light displays or demonstrations that I really did not understand.
The next display, Innersense had me waiting for at least twenty minutes. I was admitted into a small space where I was instructed to step onto a small round platform under a “shower head.” Two Dutch ladies looked over at me and asked if I was feeling anything. Anything? No, just a shower head with lights changing color, giving me a “light shower”. Hmmm.
Another confusing one…Fields of Frequencies. Ushered into a small room there were benches and a screen. The light on the screen changed color to different frequencies. Exciting.
One of my favorites, however, was the small tin building with millions of small holes drilled into it. Brocken 6 A. After entering, we were subject to a smokey interior which reflected the light entering from the outside, offering thousands of rays of light. Another, Save Our Souls, was a projection onto one of the buildings which showed a stormy sea with an SOS light in the distance. I think we were supposed to wonder who might need help? Still, the projection was pretty awesome.
My take on this years Amsterdam Light Festival? Underwhelming. Though I really enjoyed the convenient location, the beautiful manifestations in the canals that I saw last year was such a far cry from what was offered here.
Next year? I’m taking the boat!
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Amsterdam Light Festival
- https://amsterdamlightfestival.com/en
- Check out the website for next year’s dates and locations.