In Common at Wonderspaces

By Patricia Frischer

Wonderspaces in the last two year has drawn 178,000 visitors to their two shows in San Diego and has now opened their first permanent location in Arizona utilizing some of the works from these shows. The is a relatively new concept in visual art presentation, where there is a fee to enter(much like theater) to see large installation works.

Wonderspaces is at B Street Pier 1140 N Harbor Drive, SD 92101 and continues until September 1st. 2019
Tickets 
Adult  $24  but $27 on the weekend
Senior (65+)/Student/Military $20
Children (3-12) $15

The title of this year In Common is loose and vague enough to include almost anything and did not help to tie these works together for me.  I am thus focusing on the works that are very visual which is my own preference and the following five actually do move and are even interactive with the audience. 

In Experiments 2, you can actually dip you hand into the miss and see it swirls. The colors do change as you look into the distance, but the red seemed the most effective to me. 



Anima, below, is an actual large globe and the surface design changes colors as you noise is made in the room and changes patterns as you move. 

In Les Cent Viages the image of faces are back projected on a soft round screen which can be touch and pressed to distort the image. Across from screen is a large mirror which more clearly shows the distortions from a distance. 

Floor is a  stable walkway but with a moving bump that affects those walking or laying or sitting on it. With a very shiny surface, the peoples shadows are affected by this bump.

We Are All Made of Light does just that. Light reflective strings become the background and light is cast on bodies so there merge and only show up with moving or at certain angles. A mirror on the back wall enhances this affect. 

There was is a very large contingent of audio art with minimal visual content. I happened to be sound challenged. I can't take a variety of different sounds like bird calls, traffic noise, party conversations like those in the piece Space Here Becomes Sound (below) where each of the center square controls a different recording,  and combine them to make something special. It is just a jumble of noise to my ears. The same was true of Drift by Margaret Nobel, where one was blind folded and had to feel your way around a small space with rope restrictions while listening to random sounds or Harmony of Spheres by Foo/Skou where you found suspended balls in a darkened room. The lit up when raised  and each had a different sound. In intersection by Don Ritter, you walked (again) through a darkened room and car sound came rushing at you...stop and you could cause a crash. 

S PA C E  H E R E  B E C O M E S  S O U N D 

Studio LONK & Mark IJzerman

But I am including this one image of a colorful room full of colored strings and tied up furniture. It was just so vibrant after all that darkness. 

R A I N B O W  R O O M S  Pierre le Riche