CINCINNATI — With five zones and more than 100 installations, there was a lot to see at Blink this year. There was one performance you could only see on the final day of the festival, though.
Acts of Holding Dance
It went with the Acts of Holding Dance installation on the Federal Building at Fourth and Main. The installation used projection mapping to show the dancers performing on the building.
"It feels like we're on a billboard, but it's better than a billboard," Camille Jones, one of the dancers from Elementz Hip Hop Cultural Arts Center said.
The person who made it all possible is Wendy Yu, an artist from Australia. She came to Cincinnati just for BLINK and spent the last five months helping the Cincinnati dancers showcase their art.
"In the segment, there are people who are breakdancing on rollerblades and I have never seen that before and that's just an example of embracing your own practice through urban media art," Yu said.
Sunday, the dancing went beyond urban media art, bringing street dancing right to Main St.
Anaya Ni'Kole described the performance as, energetic and fun. It was definitely a type of performance that was new for these dancers.
"I've never done anything like it and I wanna do so many things like this from now on," Ni'Kole said.
The performance wasn't the only new thing about the whole experience for her. Seeing herself on the side of the Federal Building wasn't an every day encounter.
"I almost cried because I came and when I came around the corner the other night it was me," she said.
Camille had a similar reaction when she first saw the installation.
"I was jumping and screaming with my dance teammate Anaya, it was really incredible," she said.
Asianati Night Market
For one Cincinnatian at BLINK, this was their favorite part of the festival.
Arian Byram just moved back to town and was excited for BLINK to celebrate her favorite city.
She didn't do any research before showing up, but was expecting the lights, murals and projection mapping.
"I've always been one for the neon lights and music and stuff," Byram said.
The Asianati Night Market was a pleasant surprise, quickly turning into her favorite aspect.
"I didn't expect the Night Market and I think that is absolute coolest thing. I love that Asianati was able to set that up and it's just a really immersive experience over there," she said.
Hughes STEM School
There were some businesses and organizations that lit up their buildings to coincide with BLINK or had installations you wouldn't find on BLINK's interactive map.
One was a collaboration between the Hughes STEM School and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Theatre Design and Production.
They had a projection mapping installation they showed in April of 2021.
Now, they revamped it, choosing photographs taken by Hughes students for the UC students to incorporate in projections on the building.
"My students created artwork and then sent it over the the University of Cincinnati and Sharon Huizinga's theater lighting students animated it and projected it on the tower," said Hughes art teacher, Mary Greene. "It was just such a cool and such a surreal experience, you know who does that at their age?"
Some of the cast and crew members of Hamilton also worked with the school to create music to go with the installation, as well as working with a Hughes student who read a poem that will be featured as part of the installation.
If you missed BLINK, you can find a gallery of some of the installation by clicking here.
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