WONDERSPACES: MAKING EXTRAORDINARY ACCESSIBLE

by Patricia Frischer 

Wonderspace is a new model to help artist who do installation and virtual reality art. It is setting up its tent in San Diego from June 2 to July 30. Tickets are $16 to $24 and this is a blast.  Two marines came up with this idea Jason Shin and Patrick Charles and they were able to raise the money and had no trouble getting the artists from all over the world to join in. This project is planned to go on tour and will generate income from tickets sales for the artists included. 

We are happy to report that Adam Belt (a SD Art Prize recipient) is one of the artists included.  You will see interactive, multi-media astonishments that will thrill the whole family.  Please note: event is at Civita Park, Mission Valley at Russell Parkway near the Art Institute of California. Aren't we lucky in San Diego to be the first stop on this innovative tour. 

Pulse Portal - DAVIS MCCARTY 

An Arc de Triomphe for Wonderspaces so let all that enter know the they are entering a memorable experience of sights and sounds.   This dichroic acrylic sculputure was shown at Burning Man in 2016

Not Myself Today – PARTNERS FOR MENTAL HEALTH

A doctor says, “Take two and call me in the morning.” A Wonderspace syou take one of these mood buttons, see all the displays, then hopefully discuss how you feel. Looking at Not Myself Today, you can also judge the general mood of those who have seen this interactive art work. This is an initiative of Partners for Mental Health, a Canadian charity that’s catalyzing a social movement to transform the way we think, act  and support mental health and people with mental illness.  

Sweet Spot -SHAWN CAUSEY AND MARK DANIELL 

Cross that thin red line and let these lines in space draw you in. You need to come up close and get personal with this work. It appears a blur from a distance, and in photos it looks static. But it is the spaces between these chromatic lines that make the magic as you eyes see through and merge together was is right in front of you. It is one of those impressive visual experiences that you can not have unless you come to Wonderspaces and see it in person. This is 3700 thin multicolor nylon cords, in a total of 19 miles of material the took 80 volunteers 1000 hours to construct.

The Last Word - ILLEGAL ART 

Literally, they are asking you to write down the last word that you might have spoken to someone, but were never able to utter. Get it off your chest.  Before or after you share your inner most thoughts, you can read some of the intimate things that others have deposited into this public confessional. This is truly interactive community based art. The Last Word was already installed at four different locations throughout the fall of 2009 in New York City.

ADA - Analog interactive installation - KARINA SMIGLA-BOBINSKI
Become child-like and enjoy the sheer pleasure of bouncing a huge ball and seeing it recoil off the walls. The difference is that this clear ball is spiked with charcoal markers that leave scuffs marks on the walls. So not only do you have the pleasure of playing but also you get the forbidden sense of making the pristine walls of an art gallery very dirty. Karina Smigla-Bobinski fromMunich, Germany was inspired by Ada Lovelace, a pioneer of computer science.

A Religious Experience - ADAM BELT

From the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
AWAKE ! for Morning in the Bowl of Night

Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:

San Diego artist, Adam Belt, had re-created in an enlarged form his constellation filled ceiling which has been enhanced by a haze machine and a bright light from above to create shafts of everlasting light. For you it might be sacred or supernatural, infinite or illuminating. He has added two reliquaries, both brought to light by natural light stored in batteries. In the first, Cloudbreak, a light shines through condensation that changes every day depending on temperature and air pressure. The second, Light Rays, contains individual rays of light.

Blooms: Strobe Animated Sculptures Invented by John Edmark from John Edmark on Vimeo.

Blooms - JOHN EDMARK

We all like to see things where we can’t believe our own eyes. This certainly is one of those displays. Is it done with mirrors and strobe lighting?  I am not exactly sure, but that is the mystery of this work which constantly changes structure. The artist states his goals to, “… amplify our awareness of the sometimes tenuous relationship between facts and perception.” I guess I call that magic, and what a pleasure to the eye.  

Come Together – Michael Murphy

A set of miscellaneous color cylinders that almost look like bobbins of thread hanging from thin rods are in a pleasant enough grouping as you approach this work. But when you stand in just the right place these three dimensional pixels become a human fist.

raw OAHS from Matthew Matthew on Vimeo.

On a Human Scale – MATTHEW MATTHEW 

Every key on the piano at the front of the exhibit energizes a picture of a human face singing a note. The artist states that this is, “a fully playable instrument of humanity. “ If you are a talented musician you might produce a recognizable sound. We just banged happily away trying to match the key to which image was lighting up and  moving.

Sonar - PHILIPP MAAS

This virtual reality experience comes complete with eye and ear gear and takes you on a space journey through caves and caverns with a pretty scary ending. But the most impressive part was how this filmmaker gives subtle hints of where to look, north, east, south and west to take in the experience. Although each journey would be the same, you get to choose what to see so you might want to allow time to view this more than once.

NONOTAK STUDIO - DAYDREAM V.2 from NONOTAK STUDIO on Vimeo.

Daydream v2 - NONOTAK STUDIO

I have to admit that this one made me dizzy and so I could not stay long in this moving op art  black and white hypnotic trance making environment

Neon Tunnel - KITSCH NITSCH

Make sure you see this when the black curtain in front and back is installed. Being in total darkness would expand the topsy turvey tunnel affect.

Rainbow Museum – DANIELLE STRLE

A set of moving and stationary lights cast colorful shadows on the wall which are especially vivid if you stand up close to the wall. 

Other works that will be in the exhibition but not ready for this preview include: Silhouettes - GENE KOGAN, Connnected Heartbeats -PANN V, Show It 2 Me – TITMOUSE,  Transition - JOOST JORDENS AND MIKE VON ROTZ and Sweepers Clock - MAARTEN BAAS where the hour and minute hands are formed by two men sweeping garbage, clockwise, filmed in real time.