Critic’s Notebook: A phoenix rises in O4W Park

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On Friday night, the Historic Fourth Ward Park will have a two-story, 20-foot-wingspan phoenix made of projectable fabric at its basin. The free public art event, titled Resurgens, will feature a giant phoenix-shaped puppet/screen designed by Atlanta artist Julia Hill accompanied by an original score by Atlanta composer Haddon Kime. As the event’s website explains:

“Using projection mapping and video design, the puppet will tell the story of the rebirth of Atlanta across time, particularly celebrating the present. This may include images of the history of The Old Fourth Ward, from Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood home, to Ebenezer Baptist Church, The King Center and Auburn Avenue in its heyday, to fire and urban blight, to O4W today, with the Beltline Eastside Trail, the Streetcar, Ponce City Market and thriving nightlife on Edgewood. At the end, the arial drone footage taken at the beginning of the event will cover the Phoenix once it has taken flight.”
The event, which is being created by Atlanta’s own Out of Hand Theater, is free and open to the public, and begins this Fri., April 17, at 7:15 p.m.