Anxiety Reliever
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In the waning days of 2020, Golden Gate Park’s Peacock Meadow will transform into an Avatar-like forest of changing LEDs and abstract shapes when the public artwork installation Entwined debuts in December.
Amid a year of hellacious dystopias and exceedingly dark times, the 2,000-plus LED lights that will soon sparkle near the McLaren Lodge and Conservatory of Flowers will offer some levity and illumination to this taxing, gloom-soaked year.
The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Parks Alliance recently announced that Entwined, an installation by Bay Area artist Charles Gadeken, will soon grace Golden Gate Park to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the iconic urban green space.
Entwined is expected to present a certain “whimsical wonderland” component to the park, where visitors can explore neon-lit paths, rest under a grove of three tall (and illuminated) canopies, and, even if just for a moment, forget about the societal murk of the past 10 or so months.
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The “trees,” which range from 12 to 20 feet high, are illuminated by cube-shaped light structures that are meant to simulate leaves. The LED clusters in the trees vary in size and ebb between different shades of pink and purple. Clusters on the ground — meant to imitate grass shoots — shine in blue-hued greens. No matter which light element your gaze decides to rest on, each one is meant to mimic an aspect of nature, like raindrops hitting the ground, waves rippling through a still body of water, and the wind blowing through a grassy pasture.
“As the days get darker, this dazzling installation will light the way for park lovers to experience Golden Gate Park in a new and creative way as we close out its 150th Anniversary,” said San Francisco Recreation and Parks General Manager Phil Ginsburg in a press release. “A twilight stroll through the park’s east will be truly magical this winter. People can visit the City’s official holiday tree in front of McLaren Lodge before exploring Entwined, marveling at the Conservatory’s sesquicentennial anniversary.”
Gadeken’s installation is very much in line with his creative ethos: making interactive public artworks that “reimagine the world ‘post-nature.’” Having worked in the Bay Area for more than 25 years, the mixed-media artist — who is responsible for other notable local public art installations, like SquaredSF in Hayes Valley (2018–2019) and Crash at Hotel Zephyr, and is also an electrical engineer by trade — uses an array of LEDs and hydraulics to bring his works to life in jaw-dropping forms. Gadeken has also shown his works at past Burning Man and Coachella festivals.
As if that wasn’t impressive and inspiring enough, Gadeken currently works at Stanford University in the Electrical Engineering Department. (Literally, I’m still in my sweatpants writing this piece, so, yeah.)
Although elements of Entwined have been used in past installations, including the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Canada’s Toronto Light Festival, Gadeken notes that his newest public artwork will be organized in a way that’s completely unique to celebrate Golden Gate Park’s sesquicentennial celebration.
The installation will be free to explore — albeit while practicing proper social distancing and donning a (maybe envious) mask. It will be on display from December 1 through February 29 (and might be extended as far as June 1). Peacock Meadow, where the installation will be assembled, is in the park’s east end between McLaren Lodge and the Conservatory of Flowers, across from the new pop-up Welcome Center on JFK Drive.
