Photo by Gabe Castro-Root
A vibrant and colorful light show debuted in Golden Gate Park last Thursday, adding a bright spot to the holiday season at the end of a year that has been anything but merry.
The display, in Peacock Meadow next to the Conservatory of Flowers, is titled “Entwined” and was designed by Bay Area industrial artist Charles Gadeken.
“Entwined” will be open through February 29 with a possible extension to June 1. Admission is free. Its opening marks the end of what was intended to be a big year of celebrations for Golden Gate Park’s 150th anniversary, most notably with the addition of the 150-foot tall SkyStar ferris wheel in the Music Concourse. Though the pandemic forced celebrations to be scaled down or canceled and the Ferris wheel, after a long-delayed opening, is now closed again, “Entwined” opened last week to a city eager for pandemic-safe entertainment and a semblance of normal life.
Photos by Gabe Castro-Root
Photos by Gabe Castro-Root
Photos by Gabe Castro-Root
The installation consists of three metallic trees ranging from 12 to 20 feet tall; on the ground, more than a dozen bundles of about 2,000 LED lights give the meadow a dazzling glow. Gadeken, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, has previously said the display was meant to symbolize a “post-nature” tree of life.
Luke Spray, the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships at San Francisco Parks Alliance, a nonprofit that worked with the Recreation and Parks Department to bring “Entwined” to Golden Gate Park, said the installation “seemed to be a perfect fit for this season in the city.”
“How can we really celebrate the park in a time where our traditional gatherings, such as movie nights and festivals, aren’t available to us?” Spray said. “This is public space — you own it, I own it. It’s our responsibility as a city to decide what is the highest and best use of these spaces. In this season when so many of us are cooped up indoors and when the reasons for joy are fewer and farther between, creating something that’s full of whimsy and wonder is, to me, the highest and best use we can ask for of our public spaces.”
Photo by Gabe Castro-Root
Versions of “Entwined” have previously been displayed in Las Vegas, Toronto and San Bernardino, California. For now, in the shorter days around the Winter Solstice, the lights come on around 5 p.m. and go dark at 8:30 p.m. Soon, though, the city plans to keep the lights on throughout the day, from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. It was not immediately clear when that transition will take place.
Spray pointed out that unlike most artwork, which is meant to be only observed, “Entwined is something you can walk through and wander and experience at different perspectives, and that’s really unique.”
The interactive display is drawing a diverse crowd. Last Friday, the second night that the lights were open to the public, couples picnicked among the trees while photographers bent over their tripods and runners and cyclists took a break from their evening exercise to meander through the meadow. The installation also appears to be a big hit with toddlers, many of whom spent the early evening climbing — and falling — across the metallic legs of the trees.
Photo by Gabe Castro-Root
If you visit “Entwined” over winter break, it may be worth another trip in the new year. “The lights are programmed to do a thousand and one things,” Spray said. “We can change them to be a little more red and pink during Valentine’s Day, maybe something that’s more green and bright during spring. Charles Gadeken is really a master in terms of creating these environments, so I’m excited to see what he comes up with over the next couple of months.”
