Amsterdam Light Festival...

On Jim’s last evening with us, he joined me and Jimmy for a walk around the Amsterdam Light Festival. The weather was mild, allowing us to enjoy the Illuminade, a walking route past 21 works of art. This first piece, flashing different colors and flags, was called 178 Bottles, 1 Message representing the 178 nationalities living in Amsterdam.

The colorful Light Bridge was an ode to Amsterdam’s bridges.

The Gatekeepers were positioned in front of the entrance of the Hermitage Museum. On the other side they were round and on this they were hollow giving them the appearance of holograms.

Not actually part of the official route, there was a school that set up trees made out of recycled materials.

Re(bi)cycle Dome was my favorite installation. It consisted of 300 rims from discarded bicycles. The light source got its energy from an old-fashioned water pump controlled by passersby.

A Bright City Patch was amazingly realistic; at first glance, it really did look like a group of workers examining a hole in the sidewalk.

Lastly, we saw House of Cards, consisting of 125 light boxes in the form of playing cards, as we approached Amsterdam Centraal Station and bid farewell to Jim.

It was great having him visit and we hope to see more of him in 2015.