BLINK, Cincinnati’s ultimate immersive art and light festival, returns this week, and a locally developed app is making sure you’ll get the most out of your experience.
This year, BLINK is back and bigger than ever, with over 80 projects that span more than 30 city blocks from Over-the-Rhine to Covington and Newport. With so much to see and do, planning your experience at the festival could be overwhelming, which is where the newly updated BLONK app comes in. Created by local artists and software engineers Nathan Bolender and Jason Alghussein, BLONK is an unofficial, but extensive guide on navigating BLINK.
Related
BLINK Returns this Fall with More Artists and Artworks than Ever Before
“BLONK began as a passion project just two weeks before BLINK 2022 when we realized festival-goers needed a better way to navigate the experience,” Bolender said in a press release. “In just two weeks, we built a prototype that enhanced the experience for over 8,000 attendees, and we’re excited to bring this year’s app to an even broader audience.”
The app provides users with an interactive map that features all the official BLINK artwork and activations, as well as “rogue” art installations and events happening throughout the city. Its developers say BLONK isn’t just about BLINK, but it also serves as a way to highlight local artists and communities that are often overlooked by mainstream channels. Users can submit their own rogue installations and events to the app by emailing them to info@blonkcincinnati.com.
One rogue installation includes developer Alghussein’s in-progress mural, Focus on Love. The mural features a girl from Gaza and is being painted on Rothenberg Preparatory Academy on Clifton Avenue in Over-the-Rhine. Alghussein says his mural provides valuable perspective and offers BLINK-goers the chance to see artworks that critique relevant geopolitical and social issues.
“Art should elevate the voices of the oppressed, enlighten the world, and challenge entrenched violent systems of oppression, apartheid and genocide, and BLONK is a way to ensure that the voices often overlooked by corporate-sponsored events are still heard,” Alghussein said in the release.
Alghussein is currently crowd-funding the project on GoFundMe and has raised over $15,000 of his $55,000 goal.
During BLINK in 2022, Alghussein also illuminated his mural, Welcome to Jaffa, without any BLINK funding after applying for the festival and being rejected.
Related
Cincinnati Artist Creates Mural in Over-the-Rhine to Pay Tribute to His Palestinian Heritage
Beyond the installations, BLONK also offers up-to-date music and event schedules, offline capabilities to help you navigate without using cell service, filters to sort installations by type and status and walking directions. Users can also mark off the installations they’ve visited and star those they want to see.
BLINK runs from Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 17-20. Learn more about the BLONK app or download it at blonkcincinnati.com.
Related Stories
BLINK Drops Lineup of Musical Performances and Live Entertainment
Asianati Releases List of Food Vendors for BLINK Night Market
BLINK Releases Map of Festival’s Official Footprint
BLINK Returns this Fall with More Artists and Artworks than Ever Before
Cincinnati Artist Creates Mural in Over-the-Rhine to Pay Tribute to His Palestinian Heritage
Mural Paying Homage to Pete Rose Completed Just in Time for BLINK
New Over-the-Rhine Brewery to Open for Sneak Peek During BLINK
This article appears in Oct 2, 2024 – Oct 15, 2043.
