It’s hard to miss and yet still easy to ignore the giant LED screens that hang over the streets around Denver’s theater district. Their glossy glow usually flashes promotions soliciting your attention.
On Saturday you’ll actually want to look up at some of those screens. That’s because instead of ads they will broadcast art.
The second annual Supernova Outdoor Digital Animation Festival screens around 140 shorts from all over the world. Most of the action will happen on two screens: One at 14th and Champa streets and another temporary one in the galleria at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
“I liken it to a drive-in movie theater right in the heart of downtown,” Supernova director Ivar Zeile says. “There’s so much traffic going through there, we really like the idea that the exposure comes to those that are not suspecting it to be there.”
The festival includes music videos, abstract works and even a block of kid-friendly films. Artists range from New York City artist Jeremy Couillard to Argentina’s Blirp Studio to Colorado’s Kendra Fleischman.
From here, Zeile hopes one day his festival leads to a permanent LED screen dedicated solely to digital animation in the city.
“This is the future of public art, not just something that should be taken in at home,” he says.
