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Longwood Gardens' beloved, trippy 'Nightscape' returns

In Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, a young boy hides in the forest, spying on foxes during their wedding procession in the sunlit rain. He was not invited to the ceremony, and his unwelcome attendance may have lethal implications. But in the moment, he enters into this unknown, mystical scenario as a voyeur in awe of nature.

"Nightscape," a two-hour Longwood Gardens experience.
"Nightscape," a two-hour Longwood Gardens experience.Read moreKlip Collective 2015

In Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, a young boy hides in the forest, spying on foxes during their wedding procession in the sunlit rain. He was not invited to the ceremony, and his unwelcome attendance may have lethal implications. But in the moment, he enters into this unknown, mystical scenario as a voyeur in awe of nature.

Such was the feeling that Klip Collective's Ricardo Rivera tried to emulate when "Nightscape" opened last July at Longwood Gardens. Now, the exhibit returns for a second act Wednesday to Oct. 29.

"I wanted to immerse people in a world and for them to get lost in it," Rivera said. "Isn't that the kind of escapism that people pay for?"

Longwood's executive director Paul Redman invited "Nightscape" back to Longwood because of its popularity. After it closed, visitors kept pushing to see it again.

"Nightscape" is part of Longwood's continued effort to engage with the gardens' nighttime ambience. (Tickets include all-day admission to "Nightscape," but the best August viewing doesn't start until 9 p.m.). Light projections cover the grounds; some of the installations are "heavy and abstract," said Rivera, while others are more like "a show." As plants become canvases, a fantasyland emerges from the shadows.

"It's mysterious already," Rivera said. "Why fight it? I wanted to add to it."

A hair-raising soundtrack (now available for download on Bandcamp and Amazon) orchestrates the lights as they dance around towering trees and shrunken shrubbery. "No one wanted me to create Disney World," Rivera said.

The two-hour experience is meant to be haunting. Rivera originally planned to name it "Nocturne" for its play on darkness. After it opened last year, he received complaints from parents who thought the music was too sullen and ominous for families. Perhaps as a response, he has added Bach, Brahms, and Debussy to the mix - interpreted by Julian Grefe from Philly's Pink Skull, the fractured disco crew. "Like remixes, if you will," Rivera said, joking.

In addition to new takes on classical scores, Rivera has created a scene for Peirce's Woods, Longwood's seven-acre forest that Rivera calls a "shady retreat" because the narrow path is overgrown and foreboding. He has also lighted up Love Temple, a romantic enclave along the water. Rivera and Redman seem most excited about the water lily display that places bulbs underwater to illuminate the garden's pond of Victorias.

Still, when asked what has changed this time around, Rivera said, "Not a lot." He has already spent a year pulling vampire hours in the garden, and "Nightscape" was no small feat to complete. "Honestly, projecting on trees and organic materials, it's not easy," he said. "There's a lot of chaos. There's a lot of give and take."

Out of deference to time and money, he has mainly tweaked what already existed. The Large Lake, Topiary, Palm House, and Silver Garden, all of which Rivera considered perfect as they were, have remained essentially untouched.

"Nightscape" elicits a strong reaction. Two couples got engaged last year at the Large Lake; one of the men was actually inspired to propose while visiting "Nightscape." He returned to pop the question.

An 80-year-old woman approached Rivera to tell him how much she liked his projections, even though she had no idea what they were in a literal sense. She had been seven times, despite not fitting into electronic music's target demographic.

Of course, not all feedback was positive. In one Q&A, a woman - whom Rivera described as a hippie with a crazy look in her eyes - told him she wanted to know how he felt about what his work was doing to the region's birds. With his punchy wit, he replied, "I don't know about the birds, but I know the bats are enjoying the exhibit."

Despite the vast spectrum of responses, "Nightscape" does have a unifying thread. Whether it's a young couple, a senior citizen, or an aviary activist, its visuals tend to be trippy for everyone.

"It's a very psychedelic experience, I'm not going to lie," he said. "I mean, I'm projecting patterns onto plants. What do you think is going to happen?"

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Nightscape Wednesday-Oct. 29, Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Rd., Kennett Square. Tickets: $27, for 19 and older; $17 for 5-18; free, children under 5.

All tickets include all-day admission to Longwood Gardens. 610-388-1000, longwoodgardens.org.EndText