On Friday October 18, we made our way over to the Over-The-Rhine zone at Washington Park to see the light projections on Cincinnati Music Hall for Day 2 of BLINK 2024. The weather was a bit chillier than the previous night, but made for a great opportunity to get ready for winter by bundling up and enjoying the lights. Tons of families and their children were out to interact with installations all around Washington Park.
There are four different 30-minute projection shows at the Music Hall that play throughout the evening, all by different artists. Lighting up the front of the historic building are designs by artists Chase Haverkos (Cincinnati, OH), Lightborne (Cincinnati, OH), Susan Kosti (Sydney, Australia), and AVextended (Beaugency, France).
After watching a bit of the projection shows, we stopped by the Pete Rose Memorial Mural titled “14 Forever” nearby. The mural can be found on the northwest corner of Elm and Magnolia streets in Over-The-Rhine and depicts Rose’s iconic head-first slide he performed often as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. The mural was completed just in time for visitors attending BLINK to check it out.
In Washington Park, “inCANdescent” by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is constructed from hundreds of recycled gallon paint cans collected over the past decade through work in the community. The cans are stacked on top of each other to create a cylindrical structure housing a looped light and sound show. Each can is lit up by the unique paint color that was once housed inside of it.
The installation “Emergence” by This is Loop is made up of 75 large mirror squares arranged into a cylindrical structure that is 10 ft. high and 30 ft. in diameter. The hundreds of thousands of LED lights that snake through the mirrored boxes create complex patterns of light that change depending on the perspective they are viewed from. The structure emits a blue and purple glow as visitors peer inside each section.
A highlight from the projections was at The Cincinnati Toy Heritage mural by local artist Jonathan Queen in downtown Cincinnati. The legacy of Kenner Toys was brought to life by lights and colors thanks to the artist GraffMapping. The giant Care Bear seemed to be blinking its eyes as the starship above it shot lasers. For adults who had these toys as children, it was cool to see them come to life.
We went through the Findlay Market where a DJ was set up for the Midwest Block Party as guests admired the lit yarn installation by Daniel Shields above the walkway where vendors were serving snacks and hot drinks to passersby. Each night of DJ’d music will have a new sound and light show that draws attention to Midwestern music.
At the Court Street Plaza, the Asianati Night Market lights up the evening with the electric tastes, sounds, and smells of Asia’s culture. A variety of Asian cuisine, entertainment, and activities are provided under the colorful glow of lantern lights and Asian inspired art installations. This year’s night market has expanded from recent years, adding more vendors, Asian artists, and Asian owned businesses. Nightly, the market hosts different events including a cosplay contest and meet-and-greets with food blogger Kristina Cho and visual artist Tom Tsuchiya.
Paying homage to Cincinnati’s history as the previous pork-packaging capital of the U.S., artist Alan Marrero created the “When Pigs Fly” installation. The pigs cast in translucent resin with feather wings are illuminated from inside as they migrate over Piatt Park. Each of these adorable pigs will be up for adoption as a light display for your own home. They can be purchased at BLINK or on the artist’s website.
Words by Emily Cigan @emily.cigan and Amy Harris @thetraveladdictig