All Lit Up

Location, location, location.

Tonight's InLight had what might have been the best location for this yearly evening of light-based art installations yet - the canal walk.

Yes, it was all-of-a-sudden cold and yes, crossing 14th Street was a bear, but the beauty of artists working off of water and bridges and the flood wall more than made up for it.

Hands down favorite: Ross Fish's "A Breath of Fresh Air," which required people to touch others (you know, strangers) and touch the metal cone in the center and one of the six pools of water to make music.

As someone noted, "That music is the soundtrack of the evening."

I stopped to meet Ross and introduce myself and he said he was thrilled beyond words with the outcome of his installation.

Translation: his master plan was working with strangers touching strangers and music the result, truly a wondrous experience.

There was so much to see: Amie Oliver's "Ladders" strung across the flood wall, the old school projections of Sonne, Ashley and Cohn telling stories of blue herons and Shockoe Bottom, the bridge's roof covered in ever-shifting light.

Call me a discophile, but I loved the lighted dance pavilion where people danced from behind and their images transmitted to the sparkly screen in front.

Best use of the site went to the Water Nymphs' Circus where images of dancers appeared on the canal, but only if you were on the south side.

The watery images of dancers were a thing of beauty (although a girl walked by and screamed, "I thought it was a dead body in the water!"), positively mesmerizing as they morphed in the water.

Despite the late hour, there were scads of people out and about and I'm willing to bet many of them were on the canal walk for the first time.

Thanks, 1708 Gallery. Your annual gift to the city was, as usual, the most illuminating night in November.