All words: Rachel Eisley

All photos: Tim Snyder, Chris Chen, Blink of an Eye

The Lumen8 art festival opened last Saturday in Anacostia, filling the former DCPD Evidence Control Division building–now recreated as a multimedia installation and performance venue called the Lightbox, brought to Lumen8 by the Pinkline Project. Among other art and performances, on Saturday the Lightbox featured a fab pop-up shop by Pleatherette.com, a soundscape/video projection from Bluebrain placed in a gritty elevator shaft and a pop-up restaurant by Busboys and Poets.

In case you missed Saturday’s performance-packed opening, many of the exhibitions will be on display until mid-June. Absolutely make sure your journey to the top floor of the Lightbox for Home Mender–a fantastic interactive sculptural interior and roof buildout by whimsical Oakland artist Monica Canilao. Canilao worked with a team of artist-builder-DIY adventurers from around the country to amass a collection of architectural debris in New Orleans with which they created the engagingly complex installation, commissioned by the DC-wide 5×5 project.Canilao and friends are part of a larger artist community united through street artist Swoon’s Swimming Cities projects,a series of collectively made sculptural “junk boats” created from found materials, sailed in several voyages stateside and abroad in 2006-9. Home Mender lends the haunting industrial caverns of the Lightbox an intimate and eclectic environment where the visitor is invited in to stay a spell, only to be transported to a surreal world of both ethereal and rough juxtapositions.

Other Lumen8 festival-wide participants and venues include: Honfluer Gallery, The Gallery at Vivid Solutions, Blank Space SE, The HIVE, and The ARCH Artist in Residency Program. All venues are free and open to the public, and people of all ages are welcomed and encouraged to celebrate the vibrant spirit of DC’s emerging creative arts community! Check out  http://www.lumen8anacostia.com for more information including an interactive map and further details on contributing artists, organizations and sponsors.

UPDATE: Here’s a great video by Dakota Fine to really give you an idea of Saturday’s soiree…

Lumin8 Anacostia from Dakota Fine on Vimeo.

Tim Snyder:

Chris Chen:

Blink of an Eye: