Brooklyn Botanic Garden's third Lightscape season turned a one-mile path into a shifting landscape of color and sound from November 17, 2023, through January 1, 2024. More than one million lights moved across trees, lawns, ponds, fountains, and major installations. TheNakedNYC photographed and recorded the route, and this guide revisits its strongest visual and musical moments.
TheNakedNYC Coverage
YouTube: Lightscape After Dark
Photo Gallery: Light Across the Garden
What to Know
The Third Brooklyn Season
Lightscape returned to Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a third winter. Select-night scheduling spread the experience across the holiday season without turning the Garden into a daytime attraction.
More Than One Million Lights
The outdoor trail stretched for about one mile and included 18 installations. Light reached beyond freestanding works and traveled across trees, water, paths, and open lawns.
Three Creative Partners
Brooklyn Botanic Garden presented the event with Sony Music, while Culture Creative shaped the route. Artists and studios from several countries supplied the individual works.
Walking Through Submergence
Squidsoup's Submergence suspended thousands of blue and white points overhead and around the path. Visitors moved through the light field, watching its color and density change from inside.
A Sea of Light
ITHACA Studio covered the Cherry Esplanade with waves of blue, purple, and white. The installation spread across nearly 100,000 square feet and made the lawn feel in constant motion.
Botanical Projections
Novak projected illustrations from Brooklyn Botanic Garden's archive across three century-old horse chestnut trees. Each image rose roughly 22 feet, joining historic plant drawings with living trunks.
A Twenty-Four-Foot Star
Studio Vertigo's Supernova formed a towering Moravian star surrounded by theatrical mist. At 24 feet high, it became one of the route's clearest landmarks.
The Garden as a Canvas
Bare branches caught ribbons of color, fountains reflected magenta and amber, and ponds doubled the light around them. Familiar Garden features became active parts of the artwork.
A Wide-Ranging Soundtrack
Music shifted with each zone, moving through Taylor Swift, Elton John, Philip Glass, and the Viter Ukrainian Folk Choir. A section marking 50 years of hip-hop featured Brooklyn artists including Mos Def, MC Lyte, and Digable Planets.
Warm Food on a Cold Trail
Pop-up stands served hot drinks and winter snacks between installations. The 2023 menu included hot buttered rum, doughnuts, and a layered s'mores dessert in a jar.