Was really trying to avoid getting into the shot. All those mirrors made it little challenging.
— Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
Waterfront at King Street. Nice temps...slight cooling breeze off the water...folks out and about enjoying the atmosphere鈥攁nd art! And a little dancing made head bobbing to go around.
— Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
Alexandria wants to solidify its reputation as a Virginia arts destination, and a new installation hopes to do just that.
Saturday鈥檚 warm temperatures had people enjoying the outdoors, and where the waterfront meets King Street, visitors can find a display aptly named 鈥淢irror, Mirror鈥� 鈥� the inaugural work for the series called Site/See: New Views in Old Town.
The piece, created by Michael Szivos of the New York-based design studio SoftLab, takes inspiration from the , located south of the installation.
The historic lighthouse used a , technology widely used in 19th century lighthouses and . It uses prisms to concentrate a source of light, which is then narrowed and projected over the open sea.
The circle-shaped mirrored installation reflects the environment. There鈥檚 an opening for visitors to step inside and behold the reflections and color spectrum.
As a DJ spun hits, children ran and frolicked about, dogs panted with wagging tongues and tails, others dug in on their ice cream cones, and others yet bopped their heads to the beat. 草莓传媒 caught up with two visitors, Nereida Gonzalez and Louis Pinckney, enjoying a quick dance before stepping inside the piece.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible, it really is. It鈥檚 beautiful. It鈥檚 innovative for a very traditional area,鈥� Gonzalez said.
鈥淚 also think it鈥檚 a great location. It鈥檚 outdoors, it鈥檚 airy. And at the same time, being that this is one of the first weekends where we actually had good weather, it really makes it a centerpiece for conversation, and as you can see, a whole bunch of people are taking pictures and just kind of, sort of, celebrating it,鈥� Pinckney said.
Gonzalez and Pinckney are from New York, but they now call the D.C. area home. Gonzalez said she thought of New York when she first saw the installation. 鈥淚t looks like something you鈥檇 see in a modern museum of art,鈥� she said.
Another visitor John Nguyen enjoyed the installation with his grandson Grant Cox. They were out and about for a little grandpa-grandson quality time. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e seeing yourself in a different perspective. You have to be here in person to appreciate it,鈥� Nguyen said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really cool how you can, like, see yourself in the mirror and there鈥檚 different colors inside,鈥� Cox said.
The installation will end in November.
