Flowers with Tendrils by Don Relyea at Dallas Aurora 2011

Flowers with Tendrils by Don Relyea at Dallas Aurora 2011

Dallas Aurora 2011 was a huge success! “Flowers and Tendrils” as well as “Bombshell” were installed on the roof of the parking garage across from the Winspear on Friday 10/28/2011 as part of the Aurora Dallas 2011 video and art festival. I have been to several similar festivals at this point and Aurora Dallas was the best overall experience I have had so far both from an artist perspective as well as from a spectator perspective!

Bombshell by Don Relyea at Dallas Aurora 2011

Bombshell by Don Relyea at Dallas Aurora 2011

The expansive outdoor art experience sprawled across several city blocks along Flora Street in the Downtown Arts district. It featured a hundred artists with a diverse body of work. Everything from simple video projections to highly interactive and sensory immersive experiences. I was very impressed with the thought that went into many of the interactive pieces and the consideration given to kids and their participation in the art. Aurora Dallas was the most fun my family and kids have had at an art festival by far!

Kids interacting with art on Flora St.

Kids interacting with art on Flora St.

Aurora Dallas 2011 was very well organized and came together well mostly due to the hard work and planning of the organizers. Everything down to the power requirements were figured out ahead of time. The Crowds were pleasant and well behaved and the art installations were both thought provoking and family friendly. One of the organizers who put a lot of time in on this event was Joshua King, his installation Transition of Life, was also one of my favorites as well as my kids favorites.


Long line across the lawn of the Winspear to enter Joshua Kings installation, “Transition of Life”.

Scott Horn & Nicole Cullum Horn’s Evolvoscope was very popular with our gaggle of kids that pillaged the event. The Horns write, “Evolvoscope Mixed Media Sculpture 2011 9’x50″ he Evolvoscope animates the evolution of our species through a modern interpretation of the original GIF, the zoetrope. Give it a spin and be mesmerized as eons of our development from monkey to man march before your eyes. Watch as your own reflection is drawn into the endless loop of evolution and devolution in The Evolvoscope.”


Scott Horn & Nicole Cullum Horn’s Evolvoscope

One of my former students was at the festival working Brittany Ransom’s “HOST (Version II) Video Installation”. Ransom’s installation incorporated insects as part of the installation. Passers by were sucked into trying to see the small beetles in the jar on the podium that was part of her piece.


Brittany Ransom’s “HOST (Version II) Video Installation”

I took a lot of pictures and video but it was dark and not all of them turned out very well, however some did turn out and I have put them in a Flickr set you can access below.

Dallas Aurora 2011 Flickr Set

Dallas Aurora 2011 Flickr Set