1 of 4
Alexandria Living Magazine
Artist Michael Szivos led the creative team behind "Mirror Mirror," an interactive public art installation at Alexandria's new Waterfront Park.
2 of 4
Alexandria Living Magazine
3 of 4
Alexandria Living Magazine
4 of 4
Alexandria Living Magazine
Alexandria's new Waterfront Park will celebrate its grand opening this weekend in Old Town at the foot of King Street with festivities and a focus on the public, interactive art installation, "Mirror Mirror."
The public is welcome at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the interim Waterfront Park on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at 1 King St.
The new park combines the original King Street Park and Waterfront Park sites "to create a seamless transition between Old Town’s historic retail corridor and the water," according to the City. The interim park has an open plaza, waterfront walkway, shade structures and modular spaces that can be adapted for events throughout the year. This is an interim park space constructed while flood mitigation is planned and executed; a permanent park will open in the next decade that has additional features.
The City's Office of the Arts commissioned a public art installation and selected SOFTlab, a New York-based design studio, for this year's project. Led by artist and architect Michael Szivos, "Mirror Mirror" was inspired in part by the historic Fresnel lighthouse at Jones Point -- particularly how the lens reflects light, draws people in and connects land and sea. (You can see two original Fresnel lenses at Alexandria's History Museum at The Lyceum.)
Szivos, who has been on site directing construction and assembly of the art over the past 10 days, said he is honored that his team is part of this inaugural public art series. The art, made mostly of aluminum panels from Western Pennsylvania, reflects the outside world but shows diversity through color on the inside. Reflective road paint on the permeable concrete slab outside the art piece will reflect light to the outside.
“Mirror Mirror” is the first piece of art commissioned for Site/See: New Views in Old Town, an annual series of temporary public art installations. "Mirror Mirror" will remain on site until November, and a new public art installation will arrive in the spring of 2020.
The City has already chosen next year's artist and an announcement will come later this spring. While SOFTlab had to create art without being able to really see and access the final site (construction continued through last fall and this winter), the next artist will have a different experience creating art in the space.
The goal of Site/See is to draw in visitors and encourage interaction, and "Mirror Mirror" accomplishes that by reacting with LED lights to sound. Alexandria plans special programs and performances in and around the 2019 piece as part of the ongoing Portside in Old Town initiative.
The interim park was supposed to have its grand opening last year, but an unusually rainy summer and fall pushed back construction. While work on flood mitigation continues, the park is actually designed to allow for flooding, with permeable concrete, waterproof materials and a public art installation that is raised slightly off the ground.
