The equinox passed a few weeks ago. Ever-hungry nights bite off bigger and bigger chunks of daylight. Some days, you hardly see a single sunray鈥攋ust the pall of rain clouds hangs over Prague, and however cozy our coffeehouses and bars are, you feel like it鈥檚 about time to get a Yule log. Or rather a dozen, just in case.
Still, it鈥檚 not cold-cold yet鈥攋ust chilly. Frisky, perhaps. Not all life is hibernating yet. Even people still roam the streets鈥攏ot just scurrying from one warm, safe spot to another. Just the time to bring some light to brighten up the lives of city dwellers. Signal, a festival of digital arts, has been the brightener for over a decade.
Kr谩lovsk茅 Vinohrady, the Royal Vineyards from the days when Prague was the capital of a kingdom. Oh, Praga Mater Urbium, Prague, the mother of cities. Gone with the wind. The mother鈥檚 all wrinkly and barren now. Vinohrady, my childhood neighborhood. Once prominent estates just outside the New Town walls. Flats of grandeur, built for high society, with high enough ceilings to contain it all, then divided by their own iron鈥攐r rather, brick鈥攃urtains. Split into small studios for workers, as they were the new prominent class. And then revived, reconstructed, refurbished, and beautified to host the barons of another new age. A Babel of languages, a mosaic of origins...
Like a shy backwards smoker, who barely dares to sneak a peek at the street below his balcony, avoiding eye contact, or perhaps the Sun (as if there was any this season), lest his pale Slavic skin get sunburned, we tackled the route from the last installation to the first. Against the stream, against the crowd.
Accord. A few notes, and loads of joy not only for kids, volleying the objects on the large screen that reacts to how you move.
Grill Flame. Lots of flame鈥攍ittle meaning, though. A post-apocalyptic Mad Max style grotesque, allegedly. The weakest one that night, to me.
Echo Circle. A symphony of lights, sounds, and smoke, likely as a nod to the brand that sponsored this 360掳 installation. You wish you had more than one pair of eyes as Prague whirls by you.
Save the Confluence. A poor relative to the bombastic light shows. A massive, yet fragile object accompanied by a subtle, melancholic movie loop.
Constellation. Reach the stars, or perhaps move them. Watched over by the Prague Castle, all lit up, this unobtrusive installation smoothly blended with my favorite city park.
The Infinite Rhythm of the City. Of course, there was video mapping. We鈥檝e all seen dozens of these, haven鈥檛 we? Also, this church is a rather common screen for them. Still, we ended at the beginning, refreshed ourselves, and hopped on the metro back home.
What a Prague night!
