Successively Unsilent

On Saturday, December 2, people will gather in the Greenville St. Park in Newnan, GA, to participate in Unsilent Night Newnan. This is one of many such promenades all over the world — check it out, there may be one near you!

Quick summary: Folk gather at the starting point, having downloaded one of four new age tracks by composer Phil Kline. On the signal to start, everyone presses play and begins their promenade in the predetermined area. As they wander here and fro, their track mingles with the other tracks, creating a marvelous sensurround experience. It’s pretty magical.

You will have noticed in the poster above that many of our participants carry paper lanterns. Backstreet Arts hosts free-to-all-ages lantern decorating workshops the month before the event, and it’s always great fun.

People take white paper lanterns and apply tissue paper (using matte medium as an adhesive) or watercolor to create translucent designs of their choice. Many do “holiday” decor, but just as many do other motifs/abstractions.

We light them with little LED lights and suspend them from bamboo poles that I cut from my back yard and drill little holes in the ends.

It’s fun to watch people work on these. Some have a definite idea of what they want; others are hesitant to start because they’re afraid of “messing up.”

No one fails. I’ve never seen anyone mess up a lantern so badly that we recoil in horror. As I said, it’s great fun.

Have a look at some of this year’s efforts:

If you’re not in an area hosting an Unsilent Night, consider hosting one yourself. You don’t need to make lanterns a part of it — that was our addition — just do it. Your community will thank you.