Uncover San Diego’s immersive art scene Installations have to be seen, heard and touched to be believed!
an Diego’s immersive, Without Walls Festival hear the thoughts of certain lustrated as constellations in the interactive art scene Bursting through traditional passers-by and follow them into night sky, highlighting our uni - puts visitors in the cen - theater walls, the Tony Award- the unknown, and Boats, adven - versal interconnectedness; ter of the action with winning La Jolla Playhouse turous voyages on the urban • Rainbow Rooms, a multicol - unforgettable visual, dance and uses the story-telling form in ocean propelled by children’s ored fabric and yarn- covered Sdramatic spectacles found exciting and unexpected ways imagination and energy. home scene that reflects the nowhere else. during its fourth biennial artist’s experience growing up From climbing a massive Without Walls (WOW) Festival, Wonderspaces as a gay man in conservative crocheted hammock sculpture October 17-20, at Arts District Creating eclectic, wonderous South Africa; and and exploring a vertigo-induc - Liberty Station. This ground - spaces where people can con - • Confessions, a participatory ing crooked house to site-spe - breaking, site-specific theater nect with art and each other, installation that explores public cific dances and mini plays – series takes advantage of San Wonderspaces has been wowing rituals for catharsis and compas - including a hallucinogenic jour - Diego’s sunny climate to show - visitors and locals since 2017. sion, in which visitors submit a ney into quinceañera celebra - case multiple outdoor perform - From now to September 1, the confession on a wooden plaque tions – San Diego’s fantastical ances by local, national and B Street Pier Cruise Ship in the privacy of a confession art experiences engage and international artists, along with Terminal become blank canvas booth. transport audiences. Visitors a selection of family friendly where guests of all ages can don’t just look at art; they be - offerings, occurring simultane - enjoy 13 mesmerizing artworks Whammock! come a part of it, activating and ously over four days. by artists from around the world Unique in the world of chil - heightening their senses along A few standouts include Las that play on the senses, ranging dren’s museums for its practice the way. Quinceañeras, a surreal, multi - from room-sized installations of commissioning contempo - The following five Instagram- sensory exploration of the of light, sound and texture to rary artists, the New Children’s worthy art experiences and famed Latina rite of passage; virtual reality films. Three awe - Museum in downtown San installations have to be seen, Hidden Stories, an invisible per - some examples are: Diego presents Whammock! , its heard and touched to be truly formance in which audiences • We Are All Made of Light, newest art commission by believed. are endowed with the power to where guests see themselves il - renowned textile artist Toshiko
50 • Houston Woman Magazine • Summer 2019 Horiuchi MacAdam. Now open public spaces (the San to the public, this one-of-a-kind, Diego Public Library interactive three-dimensional near the 12th & Imperial textile environment resembles a station), as well as the giant hammock of colorful cro - play of light and shadow cheted circles, open pockets and throughout the day. dangling pendulums. Acclaimed choreogra - Whammock! welcomes chil - pher Jean Isaacs created dren and adults alike to climb, the dances in 1999 as an swing, crawl or simply lay in exciting alternative to the the cradle of its handwoven em - artificial formality of brace. Guests are sure to be conventional stages and transfixed by how the move - the hierarchy of space ments and vibrations caused by imposed on dancers
garden by integrating some of first outdoor commission in the projects with university America); the meandering, 560- architecture. foot long mosaic Snake Path by Free and open to the public Alexis Smith, and Fallen Star, a year-round, visitors are wel - small blue cottage by Do Ho come to explore the collection Suh that sits crookedly atop the via a self-guided walking tour. corner of a seven-story building Highlights include Richard – seemingly dropped from the Fleischner’s Stonehenge-like La sky. Inside, the floor and house Jolla Project; Tim Hawkinson’s itself are at different angles, cre - gigantic, not-so-soft and cozy ating a sense of dislocation, granite Bear; Bruce Nauman’s inviting the question, “What is blinking neon Vices and Virtues home?” (best viewed in the evening); For more information on San Niki de Saint Phalle’s colorful Diego’s unique offerings, please and towering Sun God (her visit www.sandiego.org/.
play activate this soaring three- when viewed straight dimensional installation. on.
Trolley Dances Stuart Collection There will be live music and A unique collection dancing in the streets and on the of 20 site-specific city’s iconic red San Diego sculptures by leading Trolley during the 21st Annual contemporary artists, San Diego Trolley Dances, the Stuart Collection during the autumn weekends of at the University of September 28 and 29 and California, San Diego October 4 and 6. Entertainment (UCSD), has enriched will be presented by Jean Isaacs the cultural life of the San Diego Dance Theater and UCSD campus and the San Diego Metropolitan San Diego community Transit System. Guests riding since the 1980s. A the San Diego Trolley will be jewel in the crown of treated to site-specific choreo - La Jolla ’s world-class graphed dance performances array of arts and along the trolley lines, taking culture offerings, the inspiration from the trolley Stuart Collection sets stations, their architectural itself apart from a elements and environs and traditional sculpture
Summer 2019 • Houston Woman Magazine • 51