#DLECTRICITY is excited to announce that this year’s festival will be happening the same weekend as the #FreepFilmFestival. The Freep Film Festival will feature 35+ virtual and in-person film screenings from September 22nd through the 26th. DLECTRICITY is free fun for all ages and will take place September 24th and 25th from 7pm-midnight in Detroit’s Cultural Center and at DTE’s Beacon Park. Join us for a weekend full of arts and culture!
DLECTRICITY Presented by DTE Energy Foundation Unveils Over 40 Artists and Stunning Outdoor Art, Light and Technology Installations
Produced by Midtown Detroit, Inc., nighttime outdoor festival to illuminate the Cultural Center and Beacon Park, September 24-25, 2021
DETROIT (26 August 2021) – Midtown Detroit, Inc. (MDI) announced today over 40 artists from Detroit and across the globe who have been commissioned to create stunning art, light and technology installations for the highly-anticipated return of DLECTRICITY. Produced by MDI and presented by DTE Energy Foundation, the nighttime outdoor festival of art and light will take place in open, public spaces throughout the Cultural Center and Beacon Park, Sept. 24 and 25, 2021. DLECTRICITY is free to the public and will awe attendees with cutting-edge installations of light, video, performance, and other unexpected works of art.
The event is inspired by other international festivals known for bringing the best of contemporary light and technology-based arts to the streets of major cities from all over the world. DLECTRICITY features artists from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Detroit.
“DLECTRICITY celebrates the immense power of art and culture in bringing us together,” said Susan Mosey, executive director, Midtown Detroit, Inc. “We are grateful to our incredible partners whose support makes it possible to bring these world-class artists and projects to Detroit and produce a beautiful outdoor event that allows us to safely connect with art and one another.”
DLECTRICITY 2021 marks the fourth edition and includes the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Public Library, Michigan Science Center, Scarab Club and the University of Michigan’s Rackham Building. DLECTRICITY has presented major light-based festivals in 2012, 2014 and 2017.
DLECTRICITY will host internationally acclaimed artists including Yann Nguema, Amanda Parer, among others to show a range of high-quality light-based projects. Artists include:
Joo Won Park | Electronic Music Ensembles| Interactive audiovisual installation using networked computers featuring ensemble performances and audience participation
Farah Al Qasimi | General Behavior | Video installation that depicts snatches of life drawn from the artist’s archive and occasionally, her own voice
Takayuki Mori | View Tracing #3 | Installation of “traced” sculptural objects activated by UV light
Tiff Massey | Get Big | Interactive audiovisual installation that immerses visitors in a real-time music video
42 Levels (Blair Adams) |The Interactive Magic Mirror | Step in front of the camera, wave your arms, do a dance and jump around in this interactive video installation with sound
Joana Stillwell | every day | Illuminated LED neon poetry
Won Ju Lim | Magic Lantern, Live | Live shadow play performance and installation based on Proust’s literary work, “In Search of Lost Time”
CMAP | Lantern Landscapes: The Past Spreads Out Before Us | 1/20th scale illuminated “neighborhood” based on the DLECTRICITY footprint as it looked decades ago, and video projection of an oral history about Detroit’s lights in the 1930s-40s | Presented in partnership with the Detroit Historical Society
Amanda Parer | Man | Giant illuminated inflatable sculpture of a contemplative figure
Yann Nguema | Parallels | Mapped video projection with sound and lasers featuring elaborate animations based on art objects from the Detroit Institute of Arts collection | Presented in partnership with the Detroit Institute of Arts
Abhishek Narula | All the light we cannot see | Interactive light installation using Bluetooth, wifi and cellular signals from nearby devices
Matt Sandbank’s Shadow Factory | Still Life | Series of classic shadow puppet performances with live projection
Steven Gutierrez | Creatures are LIT | Interactive video projection that animates creatures designed online by visitors
Dumbworld Ltd. | Street Art Opera double bill | A double bill of two 10-minute animated opera video projections – “He Did What” & “Two Angels Play I Spy”
Roland Graf/Assocreation; Michael Rodemer; Nick Tobier/EverydayPlaces | All-Nite Tetherball | Three LED-illuminated tetherball games installed on city light poles
Mentalgassi | Illuminated Balloon Heads – Detroit | Portraits of notable Detroiters on large, illuminated inflatable spheres
Yazmin Dababneh | YayaLand Takeover | Light installation of colorful dichroic lenses in partnership with Detroit Month of Design produced by Design Core Detroit
Corktown Studios | The Sidewalk Ballet AKA The Arkestral Procession | Interactive audiovisual mechanisms that turns visitors into walking instruments
Nature as Data (James McGrath & Gary Sinclair) | Ghost Trees | Video projection with sound created with LIDAR data from a eucalyptus tree that survived Australia’s wildfires
Scenocosme: Gregory Lasserre & Anais met den Ancxt | Distances | Visitors virtually “touch” using interactive cameras and video projection
Mariana Carranza | ephemeral angels | Visitors see themselves waving glittering white wings in this interactive video installation with sound
Patrick Ethen | Pulsar | Circular data-driven generative light sculpture using thousands of animated LEDs
New D Media | Bird in Paradise | Mapped video projection of a historical and dreamlike journey inside the mind of Jazz legend Charlie “The Bird” Parker | Presented in partnership with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
Facing Change: Documenting America, Inc. | In Our Image | Video presentation of FCDA Documenting Detroit’s 2019 Photography Fellows
Logan Dandridge | Men Who Devour Themselves in Mirrors | Single-channel video installation with sound critiquing the intersection of athletics and race in the American south
Mike Gould | Lasers: Make Light Play| Interactive laser “lunchboxes” let visitors to control the laser displays
Jake Fried | Brain Wave, Mind Frame and Night Vision | Three video projections of mesmerizing hand-drawn stop-motion animations
Angela Fraleigh and Josh Miller | Sound the Deep Waters | Interactive video projection that translates visitors’ secret messages into images using Victorian Flower Language
Orkhan Mammadov | OMA | The Idea of Saving Aesthetics | AI-generated animated rugs inspired by historical patterns, projected on the ground
Layne Hinton | Shadow Machines | Analog mechanical light sculptures with light projection
Allison Janae Hamilton | Waters of a Lower Register | Immersive 5-channel film installation using the material of land as a metaphor to reflect the range of emotions that the year 2020 manifested locally and globally | Presented in partnership with Creative Time
Stephanie Dinkins | On Love & Data and Holding Space | Video projection that illuminates the power and resilience in black women’s stories, reminding us that sharing and receiving stories is an act of resistance | Presented by Stamps Gallery, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, University of Michigan
Studio Erin Taylor | Eye of Detroit | Interactive light sculpture where visitors’ shadows form shapes in the “eye”
Tom Harman of LaserNet | Project Dali | Geometric-patterned overhead laser installation inspired by the artwork of Salvador Dali
Pneuhaus & Bike Powered Events | Canopy | Visitors ride bicycles to activate large inflatable canopy sculptures
Bradley Scherzer | POOF! | Kid-friendly interactive geodesic dome experience: feed the POOF!
Ralph Taylor | Time to Celebrate! | Processional parade and performance of illuminated Caribbean costumes
“The Scene” with Nat Morris and friends | Programmed music stage and dance floor based on “The Scene,” Detroit’s popular televised dance show from the 1970s-80s
Beacon Park Stage:
MDI announced the Light Bike parade is returning on September 25. Starting at Traffic Jam & Snug Restaurant, the electrifying 3-mile route will include Midtown and Beacon Park. The public is invited to participate, and registration is now open here.
In partnership with the Freep Film Festival, DLECTRICITY attendees will be able to view “Awaken” at the Michigan Science Center.
With focus on a safe visitor experience, MDI is working closely with health and safety experts, including the global public health organization NSF International, to develop public health and safety protocols for DLECTRICITY. Face masks are encouraged for festival attendees with mask-required zones for specific experiences; hand sanitizing stations will be found throughout the festival footprint; and open spaces will encourage social distancing.
Detroit’s Cultural Center is an 83-acre site in the Midtown district. The space has some of the most preeminent institutions of Detroit, which together represent the highest density of cultural institutions per acre in the country outside of the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Prior to COVID, the Cultural Center attracted 2 million visitors per year.
DLECTRICITY is presented by DTE Energy Foundation. Sponsors include the William Davidson Foundation, Knight Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation, also key funders of the Cultural Center Planning Initiative. Additional sponsors include Midtown Detroit, Inc., Knight Arts Challenge, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Michigan Humanities Council, Marc Schwartz and Farbman Group. Media partners include FOX 2 Detroit and WDET 101.9 FM.
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Press Contacts:
Heather George, Lovio George, 248-417-5773, [email protected] Annmarie Borucki, Midtown Detroit, Inc., 313-420-6003, [email protected]
About Midtown Detroit, Inc.
Midtown Detroit, Inc. (MDI) is a nonprofit planning and development agency charged with revitalization of Detroit’s Woodward Corridor. Representing over 150 area stakeholders, including Detroit’s anchor educational, medical and cultural institutions, MDI provides public space maintenance and security services; marketing support; technical assistance; infrastructure and real estate development; small business support; grant administration; and arts programming for the district. Visit midtowndetroitinc.org for more info.
About the DTE Energy Foundation
The DTE Foundation is the philanthropic arm of DTE Energy, continuing the legacy of community support and involvement of its electric and natural gas utilities, which serve 2.2 million electric customers in Southeast Michigan and 1.3 million natural gas customers in Michigan. In 2020, the DTE Energy Foundation provided more than $16 million in grant support and approximately $21 million in COVID relief to nonprofits where the company has a business presence. As one of Michigan’s leading corporate citizens, DTE Energy is a force for growth and prosperity in communities across Michigan in a variety of ways, including philanthropy, volunteerism and economic progress. Visit DTEFoundation.com to learn more.
About the Cultural Center Planning Initiative (CCPI)
The Cultural Center Planning Initiative (CCPI) is a bold reimagining of the City of Detroit’s 83-acre anchor cultural district. Unifying landscape, architecture and technology, the CCPI design draws upon the strengths of Detroit’s cultural institutions to create a signature public destination. By developing a more sustainable physical environment and coordinating programmatic opportunities, we will be able to serve a much broader set of residents, artists and visitors.
The Cultural Center Planning Initiative (CCPI) design team, Agence Ter-Akoaki LLC, is an international collaborative of designers led jointly by Paris, France-based Agence Ter and Detroit-based Akoaki. Their project, Detroit Square, highlights the importance of shared cultural infrastructure for Detroit’s Cultural Center. rootoftwo is leading the masterplan for the creative/civic technology aspects of the initiative as part of the larger design team. A distinguished jury of national and local practitioners selected the design team in 2018 through an international competition that attracted 44 submissions from 10 countries and 22 cities.
By fall 2021 the design team will complete the conceptual design for Detroit Square – the culmination of CCPI’s initial 18-month planning phase. CCPI is guided by a steering committee comprised of cultural district leaders, and project management support is provided by Midtown Detroit, Inc.
Visit culturalcenterplanninginitiative.com for more info.
#DLECTRICITY would not be possible without support from the William Davidson Foundation, also lead funder for the Cultural Center Planning Initiative. DLECTRICITY will shine a spotlight on the Cultural Center and enforce Detroit’s reputation as a destination for the arts this September! #CCPI #detroitculture
DLECTRICITY would not be possible without the support of returning sponsor, DTE Energy Foundation. Thanks to DTE, we will be able to deliver art, energy and light to the City of Detroit as we continue to lift each other up and try to move past this pandemic together. We’re super excited to launch DLECTRICITY this September 24-25, 2021, in partnership with DTE and include Beacon Park in our festival footprint!
