Nightforms on Boxing Day

Grounds for Sculpture

27 December 2021

We did a Covid-safe, non-biking, social thing last night! We went with two local friends to Grounds for Sculpture's Nightforms event. Running at night until the end of February, the exhibit is lights superimposed on existing sculptures, timed with electronic music. 

The displays changed so quickly, and sometimes subtly, that it was difficult to capture with a camera.

This one was called "Three Phased Monster."

I took video with my phone. Unfortunately, the microphone picked up much of our conversation and the chatter around us; I removed the audio at this display. Imagine droning electronic dance music and me saying some stupid shit about how the sculpture isn't the sculpture anymore.

This one, called "Frog Head Rainbow," was my favorite.

This is the best I could get of the frog heads:

The rainbow was my favorite:

Standing in front of the circle, the observer sees the lit metal sculpture as two three-dimensional geometric shapes that change color:

From the side, though, it looks like this:

Even though it's ten minutes away, we rarely go to Grounds for Sculpture. I'm not a big fan of Seward Johnson's work, which is much of what's scattered about the grounds. However, when we do go, I seek out the ring of whimsical creatures I call the "tail-y guys." On this night, they were purple.

We had dinner reservations, so I didn't have time to go around circle to photograph them all.

I could have stayed at the metal sculpture in the pool a little longer, waiting for the beat to drop. The beat never dropped.

This one reminded me of an over-boobed fertility doll.

The restaurant, Rats, reflected on the water:

Although our reservations were for outside, under heaters, we had to walk through the restaurant to get to the host desk. The place was packed and I did not feel safe at all. None of us did. 

The temperature dropped noticeably as we were finishing up. The slight discomfort was worth it though. We hadn't seen these folks since September, and we probably won't again until spring. That's the way the virus rolls.