Urban Light Playground

Mason Schara
Oct 26, 2016
2 min read

As most of you know, I am a huge momma's boy, so I obviously randomly have art date nights with her! This last weekend we were so lucky to have attended Prelude at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. This event was used to spark interest in the every other year event, Aurora, which showcases local, national and international artist's works. As this is an off year, the Prelude consisted of a few artists, giving the community a taste of what was to come next year.

The art was almost all light based and some even interactive, really allowing the audience and patrons to be a part of the art experience. From turning the side of a building in a moving canvas (seen in the first image), giving patrons each a white balloon with the phrase "I Want to Live With No Fear" hand written on it by the artist (Shilpa Gupta), and even more.

One of the most unique portions of the show was the Waterlight Graffiti by Antonin Fourneau. It was one, giant, long board made of water power LED lights. How it worked was that each patron was given a water soaked paintbrush and were told to draw on this board. As water was applied, single lights would turn on, allowing guests to "paint" or "write" on the board. As the board dried, the lights dimmed and turned off, allowing the next artist to partake. It was so awe-inspiring to see all walks of life and age paint on the board and see what their minds came up with.

Talking to my mother about how much Dallas has changed since she was my age, really made me realize how thankful I am that I was able to experience a show like this. This was an experience that had so many deep and powerful pieces of art that took such talent and hard work to complete, and I will most likely never witness something like this again. Make sure to look out for Aurora this next year on their social media!