Artists from around the world bring their imaginations to life in light, color and movement at Canal Convergence in Scottsdale. Wochit

(Photo: Melissa Fossum, Melissa Fossum)

Scottsdale Public Art commissioned artists both local and worldwide to set the Scottsdale Waterfront ablaze with color and whimsy.

Now in its fifth year, Canal Convergence: Water + Light + Art invites the public to a spectacle of large-scale light installations over, in or near the water surrounded by a frenzy of activity for the senses, including live music, make-and-take crafts and a beer and wine garden, on Thursday, Feb. 23-Sunday, Feb. 26.

The majority of the events are free, while a handful of individual workshops or talks with artists cost $10- $20.

There are close to three dozen individual attractions that take place from late morning to 10 p.m. But the main reason to go: the glowing, floating, curious structures on the Scottsdale Waterfront at night.

Here are the big four:

1. ‘Les Luminéoles’ and ‘Lentille d’eau’

31 PhotosPhotos: Canal Convergence 2017 art installation in Scottsdale

“Les Luminéoles” is a parade of five “helium light kites” that rise in the evening to an aerial ballet. The kites resemble carps and dragonflies and are piloted by a person set in a huge, blooming, glowing flower on the ground. “Lentille d’eau” is made up of 50 luminous spheres in the canal, from Marshall Way Bridge to Goldwater Boulevard, that radiate different color sequences. The installation was created by kite and paragliding enthusiast Christophe Martine and the French artist association Porté par le vent.

2.  ‘Polygonum 2.0’

More than 13,000 feet of rope and reflective triangles lit with multicolor LEDs come together in a rhizome construction. The work is above the Arizona Canal between Soleri Bridge and Marshall Way Bridge, and extends to wrap the Marshall Way Bridge. The piece was created by Belgian artist Tom Dekyvere.

3.  ‘HYBYCOZO’

Find “HYBYCOZO” by Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu at Scottsdale’s Canal Convergence Feb. 23-26. These three sculptures are 7-foot tall polyhedrons, inspired by natural forms, ancient Islamic tiles, mathematics and geometry that are lit with LEDs from the inside. (Photo: Lukasz Szczepans)

Three 7-foot tall polyhedron sculptures lit with LEDs will cast colorful, intricate shadows. The work highlights “the inherent beauty of universal geometric form, symmetry and pattern,” according to artists Yelena Filipchuk, an environmental scientist, and Serge Beaulieu, an industrial designer. Both are from the San Francisco area.

4. ‘Moonflower’

These iridescent flower sculptures have petals overlaid with netting of glow-in-the-dark paint and are lit from within by solar-powered LED. The artist is Lee Yun Qin of Singapore.

More to see

“Lentille” is one of the art installations at Canal Convergence Scottsdale 2017. (Photo: Provided by the artist)

The four-day event offers more art, live shows and activities. Other key attractions include:

• “Blumen Lumen” is a grouping of origami flowers that bloom and glow. As people activate the flowers with movement, the flowers emit multiple colors. The Foldhaus Artist Collective of San Francisco designed the work, which premiered at Burning Man in 2013.
• “IMPULSE,” consists of 15 illuminated see-saws that activate with light and sound when people use them. The see-saws ere created by designers from Toronto-based Lateral Office, Montreal-based CS Design in collaboration with EGP and Group Mitchell Akiyama.
• A live performance by modern dance company RIOULT Dance NY, near the “Blumen Lumen” installation at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb.25
• Night Lights Bike Ride of the attractions beginning at Soleri Plaza at 6:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26.

Canal Convergence: Water + Art + Light

When: 4-10 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23-Sunday, Feb. 26.

Where: Scottsdale Waterfront, southwest of Scottsdale and Camelback roads from Soleri Bridge and Plaza to the Marshall Way Bridge.

Admission: Free

Details: canalconvergence.com.

Article by AZ Central