Northern Spark 2014 - Update #5

Luftwerk's Anamorphic Forest Will Illuminate the Minneapolis Gateway District

Seemingly fragmented video imagery of flora and fauna will be projected onto the slender columns of Minoru Yamasaki’s 1964 ‘new formalist’ structure that many Minneapolitans know as the former ING building at the corner of Washington and Hennepin Avenues.

Anamorphic Forest is an intervention that merges light with structure, nature with industry and the singular with the whole. Each of the 85-foot concrete columns will serve as a singular svelte video canvas that, when viewed at a specific perspective, will suggest an expanse of forest, with projections in the building's portico creating a sheltering sense of an illuminated canopy of leaves and branches.

Chicago-based duo Luftwerk creates multi-media art installations that merge visual elements of light and projected video with sculptural facets of architecture and design. Their interest lies within the perception of how the built environment and natural elements integrate, constructing a visual dialogue that transforms and creates new and temporal experiences.

West River Parkway Zone Hosts Art at the Riverfront

Northern Spark is again partnering with local organizations to bring art to the Mississippi riverfront in Minneapolis, this time focused on the west side of the river.

Large scale projections, performances and participatory projects by local and national artists will be installed along West River Parkway from Hennepin Avenue to the Guthrie Theater, turning the riverfront into a preeminent walking gallery for the night.

Audiences often comment on their delight at experiencing art along (and on) the Mississippi River at night as part of Northern Spark's magic. Historic buildings from the Mill District's past and new structures that point to the city's future are transformed into canvases, stages, and monumental counterpoints for the works of the dynamic group of artists and presenting partners we're gathering along the river this year.

These include Luke Savisky's E/x MN on the Gold Medal Silos, The Soap Factory's presentation of Benjamin Entner's monumental inflatable Ego Sum under the Guthrie Theater's Endless Bridge, Kelley Bell's Garden of Earthly Delights projected onto the Mill City Ruins, Kate Casanova/Daniel Dean/Ben Moren's Hotel Hotel insect installation and projection onto the North Star Blankets tower, HOTTEA's yarn installation La Maroma under 3rd Ave Bridge, and Sam Hoolihan and John Marks' City Symphony in 16mm: A New Work for Expanded Cinema projection onto the long-empty but oh-so-alluring former Fuji-Ya building. And many, many more. Look for complete maps of this and the other Northern Spark zones on our website in May.