Hello and welcome to Weekend Coffee Share #56! I’m glad you’re here. Please come on in, help yourself to a cup of coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate at my coffee station and let’s chat.
Week 6/ 52 – Two Announcements
First, I’ve created the Weekend Coffee Share badge for 2022 and added it to the sidebar of my blog. Weekend Coffee Share participants and supporters are welcome to display this badge on their blog.
Second, Dan Antion, the blogger behind No Facilities blog and the host of the Thursday Doors photography challenge, has kindly invited me to meet him virtually on Saturday February 12th at the Island View Café. Feel free to follow our lively conversation about blog challenges and more here.
Nordic Lights Festival
My family and I went out one evening to see the outdoor Nordic Lights festival at Harbourfront Centre. It was a dazzling display of Canadian and Nordic light art installations, some with accompanying sounds.
Here are the 6 light art displays with excerpts from Harbourfront Centre information boards.
1. Control No Control by Iregular Media Art Studio, Canada
Control No Control is a big LED cube that reacts to everything that touches it and every movement performed on its surface. Streamlined patterns and generative sound emerge as interaction occurs. Allowing 48 people to participate at the same time, the experience is extremely intuitive, leading to quick audience engagement and prolonged interactions.
2. Equinox by Anastasia Isachsen, Norway
Equinox asks questions about the nature of light and darkness and about the unique moment of equinox when they are in balance. Equinox combines elements of contemporary dance, nu-jazz and graphics to invite the audience into a dynamic, poetic and contemplative experience.
3. Gorži by Outi Pieski, Finland
In Gorži, waterfalls cascade from the Power Plant building’s windows. The installation by Outi Pieski is inspired by the Sámi spiritual tradition, in which we live in a reciprocal relationship with all living entities. Gorži creates a poetic sight in which clean water flows freely. The voice of Sámi yoik singer Hildá Länsman brings out the feminine power and the spiritual meaning of water.
4. Great Minds by Aleksandra Stratimirovic, Sweden
Great Minds is a dynamic monument that praises the birth of ideas and relates to all creative people. Light work appears in the form of two monumental brains in dialogue, performing active, luminous brainstorming – the unavoidable phase of each creative process – and figuratively using light to emphasize births of unique ideas and sparkling activities of all great minds.
5. Pressure by Hans E. Madsen and Frederik D. Hougs, Denmark
Pressure is a piece consisting of a 300-metre long RGB-LED hose shaped like a doodle wrapped in the construction. Flashes of impulses whip around in the LED doodle and run towards each other while shifting colour and giving the expression of a digitally-stressed doodle.
6. Sense Light Swing by Alexander Lervik, Sweden
Sense Light Swing is a light fixture that is also a moving, eye-catching work of art. The shape of the fixture comes from a hanging swing for children that creates a spectacular light show as it swings back and forth on its long hanging cords.
One More…
Neon hearts are on display at Brookfield Toronto properties from November 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022. Each glowing neon light was hand made in Ontario, Canada by Our Glowing Hearts. Here’s how it all started and how to make a neon heart. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Which light art installation is your favourite?
Shared with #PPAC35.
Copyright © 2023 natalietheexplorer.home.blog – All rights reserved.
Natalie the Explorer 
These are incredible, Natalie! I love the swings! Thanks for sharing. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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The swings are quite fun, Jill. The seats are made of clear acrylic with LED lights. Happy weekend and Valentine’s Day!
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For some reason I read ‘Northern Lights’ and expected to see the Aurora Borealis….but these were just as pretty and quite interesting to see the different interpretations of light – the interactive ones would have been fun to play with.
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Leanne, It was fun to play with the big cube and the swings. These Nordic Lights are much easier to photograph than Northern Lights 🙂
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The falling water is my favourite, Natalie. Wishing you a great week!
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Jo, The waterfall exhibit is quite interesting. It came with soothing music and vocal. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!
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What a great display, Natalie! You always find interesting places and experiences to visit. I like the waterfalls and the hearts(for Valentine’s Day of course.) Thanks for hosting ##weekendcoffee share. This week I’m sharing a recipe for Banana Muffins using 3 ingredients. Enjoy your weekend. x
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Hi Sue, I love exploring as reflected in my blog name 🙂 I’m glad you like the waterfalls and the hearts. They’re both beautiful and meaningful. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Have a great weekend!
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Beautiful displays! I’m looking forward to reading your discussion with Dan tomorrow.
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Janis, The light festival adds more fun to winter. I’m looking forward to reading comments on Dan’s blog tomorrow. Happy weekend!
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I love the waterfall and of course eat swings. Another great set of outdoor exhibits!
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the swings….!!!!!!
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Barbara, The waterfall and the swings are both beautiful. The waterfalls are accompanied by soft sounds and the swing seats are made of clear acrylic with LED lights. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Natalie, these are all fabulous. I couldn’t pick a favorite! Love them all.
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Marsha, The festival organizers did a great job selecting these displays. I’m glad you love them all.
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They would all be fun. The interactive box, the swing. So much fun for people. Do people take advantage of the wonderful opportunities Toronto provides for them. Someone works very hard. Thanks for bringing us all of this to enjoy vicariously. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Valentine’s Day. Any special plans?
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Yes, people do take advantage of these wonderful opportunities. I probably see more than average because I enjoy exploring and live downtown with easy access to many popular sites. I usually stay home and dine in on Valentine’s Day. How about you? Any special plans?
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I’ll update you in the post I’m still working on at almost 1:00 am. LOL.
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I hope you get to sleep in, LOL. I’m off to read your post.
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Thanks, Natalie. I forgot the word “it!” LOL.
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I think they’re all brilliant Natalie but at the moment the great minds one hits a spot for me. Also the swing one is very clever too. What a fun way of seeing the Nordic Lights :).
Thanks also for the badge, I’ll be adding that to my sidebar as asap.
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Debbie, The Great Minds art exhibit changes colours so it’s really neat to see IRL. The swings are fun to play with. Thank you in advance for adding my badge to your sidebar. Happy weekend!
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Hi Natalie, “Dazzling” is certainly the word for this display. The two giant neon brains were wild.
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Hi Gary, The Great Minds change colours and the brightness IRL. It’s a very interesting art installation.
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Awesome photos. I especially love the swings. I look forward to your discussion with Dan tomorrow!
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The swings are quite fun, Donna. The seats are clear acrylic with LED lights. I look forward to a nice conversation at Dan’s blog tomorrow, too.
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You and your family must have had a great night Natalia. These are all fabulous displays. It’s hard to pick a favourite but if I had to, I’d say the large cube and the swings.
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Jennifer, We had a great evening. Your picks are excellent. The giant cube and the swings are so much fun to play with.
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Interesting displays. I found it hard to pick too, but like Pressure and Gorzi.
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Excellent picks, Deborah. Pressure is fascinating as it changes colours and intensity. We watched it for a long time. Gorzi came with soft music and a rainbow. It’s beautiful and meaningful.
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Where’s the code for the badge? Happy to add. Also we had those swings here. So fun – got some great photos of them in action!
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The badge is an image. If you could add it to your blog sidebar or post, that would be great. The swings are quite fun to play with. Glad you have them, too.
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The installations are so eclectic and dynamic – I love them!
I am particularly taken by Gorži (Outi Pieski); how they used the wall, the philosophy behind the work ….
Thank you for bringing yet another stunning art show to us.
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Ju-Lyn, Eclectic and dynamic are great descriptions for this festival. Gorži is a beautiful and meaningful exhibit. I’m glad you enjoyed what I shared today. Have a wonderful weekend!
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These light fixtures are absolutely beautiful! And what a greta idea to create a badge for the weekend coffee share, I will add one to my sidebar for sure. Have a fabulous weekend!
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Thank you, Maria, for your support for the Weekend Coffee Share linkup. I’m glad you liked these light art installations. They’re something fun for the winter. Have a great weekend!
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Thank you! I once lived in a small city outside Gothenburg Sweden that had a lovely light art installation every year, during the whole month of October. It was absolutely marvellous, different artists competed against each other for the honor of making an installation there. Enjoy your weekend!
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Maria, That sounds amazing and what a win-win situation. The artists get to show their best creative works and the town get to see amazing light art installations for the whole month.
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What a fun installation! I bet I would have loved interacting with the cube and I’m always up for a turn on the swings.
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Joanne, The cube and the swings are quite fun to play with and best of all there was no queue when we were there.
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I was happy to meet you over at Dan Antion’s bar interview. Things look like fun over here.
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Welcome, GP, to my blog and thank you for your visit. I hope you find my blog interesting enough for more visits in the future. You’re welcome to join the weekly Weekend Coffee Share linkup any week.
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Thank you.
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Beautiful and magical, Natalie! Thanks for sharing. 😊
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Welcome, Gwen, to my blog and thank you for your comment. I hope you find my blog interesting enough for more visits in the future. You’re welcome to join the weekly Weekend Coffee Share linkup any week.
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Very cool! Looks like a great display. And you mentioned sounds and/or music several times – that would take these installations to an even higher level. Hope you have a great weekend and a wonderful week ahead 🙂
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Trent, Yes, I think the festival organizers did a great job selecting and presenting these art installations as wonderful sensory experiences. Have a great weekend and the week ahead!
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Wow that was quite the exhibit! Not, what I was expecting at all! My favorite was the waterfalls coming out of the windows! I’ll add the new LOGO to my blog after I leave here! It looks great! Here is my post for today! Cady
https://thecadyluckleedy.com/2022/02/12/weekendcoffeeshare-henna-hands/
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Cady, The waterfalls were meaningful and beautiful. Thank you for your support for the Weekend Coffee Share linkup. If you like, please use the InLinkz button at the end of my post to add your link so all participants can see your post and vice versa. I look forward to reading your Henna Hands coffee share post.
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Natalie I don’t do social media, except for Word Press. Thanks though! Cady
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You’re welcome, Cady. I thought I’d mention it. I don’t do social media either, just my blog on WordPress and InLinkz for the linkup.
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The coffee share badge looks great. Thanks for hosting.
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Thank you, Shari, for your feedback and linking up.
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The coffee share badge looks so cute! The lights look stunning. “Pressure” made me think of a night club!
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Thank you, Julie, for your feedback on the badge. Pressure was a cool exhibit. The light colours and brightness change. We watched it for a long time. I’m glad you like these light displays.
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The swings especially look amazing
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They’re quite fun to see and play with. The seats are clear acrylic with LED lights.
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I do love a good wintry light festival. I also love a fun interview & this week you brought us both.
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Jo, It’s been a good week 🙂 Hope your weekend is going well.
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Those are all so very cool. I love the Neon Hearts. Very nice. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
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Thank you, Patrick, for sharing your thoughts. I’m glad you love the neon hearts. Have a great weekend!
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Hard to decide which is the best. I think swings must be so much fun when in use and the first one the same. I’m also drawn to Pressure. As far as the Weekend Coffee Share, where do we find the topic? Sorry, but I’m a bit confused. Is this weekend’s subject lights? I may not understand the challenge, but I regularly drink tea, so we’re good there. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
janet
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Hi Janet, The swings and the cube are a lot of fun. Pressure and Great Minds change colours and brightness so they were both mesmerizing to watch.
Weekend Coffee Share topic is open; imagine what you’d share with a friend over a cuppa. Coffee or tea drinkers are welcome any week and no obligation to join every week. Participants have been sharing about their week’s highlights/ lowlights, lifestyle musings, books, food, photos, etc. I usually share a place or something I’ve discovered, books I’ve read, my monthly review, etc.
If you click on the blue InLinkz button at the end of my post, you’ll see the participants. Some bloggers prefer to pingback or leave their coffee share post URL in my Comments section. I visit and read every Weekend Coffee Share participant’s blog. I hope you consider joining in any week. Have a great weekend!
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I love the badge, and how cool to meet virtually! I love all of those lights. Here in portland there is a winter light festival. I happened to see it on the news. It looked so neat, but I doubt I’ll get there to see it.
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Thank you, Kirstin, for your feedback on the badge. I don’t know how far you are from Portland so yeah, convenience and time are important when to plan an outing, especially in winter as weather is another factor.
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That’s a lovely badge.
And thanks for sharing these light installations–so hard to pick just one, but I love the swings!
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Welcome, Damyanti, to my blog and thank you for your comment. The swings are quite fun to play with. The seats are clear acrylic with LED lights. Have a great week ahead!
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Amazing displays! You do find the most interesting sights a nd experiences. Thank you.
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Thank you, Antoinette, for your positive feedback. I love sharing interesting sights and experiences on my blog. Have a great weekend!
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Your badge is adorable. Memorable and straight to the point. I like Gorži by Outi Pieski best. The image is unique and wonderful.
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Thank you, Ally, for sharing your thoughts on the badge. Gorži is a brilliant visual display that came with music and a meaningful message.
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That doodle is so cool! Thanks so much for sharing these!
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The doodle light colours and brightness change frequently. It was mesmerizing to watch.
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I was once a fairly prolific at handcoloring black and white photographs. My favorite subjects to handcolor were nighttime photos of neon. Your photos are beautifully captured.
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Maggie, Welcome to my blog and thank you for your comment. Handcolor B&W photographs? Wow! I took all my photos with my cellphone and they turned out OK for my hobby blog 🙂
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The photos look great, Natalie.
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I like the sense light swing – looks very inviting! But they are all phenomenal.
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Welcome, Jan, to my blog and thank you for your comment. The swings are fun to play with. The seats are clear acrylic with LED lights. You’re welcome to join the weekly Weekend Coffee Share any week. Happy Sunday and have a wonderful week ahead!
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Those neon lights are spectacular (and colorful). Nice badge by the way. Hope you had a great week.
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Tena, Thank you for your positive feedback about the badge. I’m glad you like it and the neon lights. Have a great week!
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Control No Control looks to be particularly. Love the concept. Best wishes to you for the coming week!
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Great choice, Lizl, The Control No Control cube is quite fun to play with. Have a great week ahead!
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Hi Natalie!
Thank you for creating the cool badge and I will try and get it on my site. I’m sometimes a little challenged with these things but I think I can figure it out. I enjoyed having coffee with you and I just love the lit swings. All the lights are so pretty! I finally posted my coffee share, I’m so late but really wanted to join in and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! 😀
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Hi Diana, Thank you for joining us for coffee shares. I’m glad you liked the light art installations. The swings are fun to play with. The seats are made of clear acrylic with LED lights. I’m off to read your post now. Have a great week!
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That looks like such a fun display! Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, Betty, for joining us. I’m glad you like the art displays. Have a great week!
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