{"id":6854,"date":"2018-04-22T15:18:43","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T19:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6854"},"modified":"2018-04-22T15:18:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T19:18:43","slug":"lighting-up-washingtons-museum-scene-at-artechouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=6854","title":{"rendered":"Lighting Up Washington\u2019s Museum Scene at Artechouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artechouse photo courtesy of Kerry Hannon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A couple waltzed across the floor in a darkened art gallery while Tchaikovsky\u2019s music played.<\/p>\n

As they danced, evanescent colors swirled around their legs and beneath their feet in shimmering shades of purple, blue and crimson. The patterns twirled across the surrounding 24-foot-high black walls in shapes spawned by the movement of their bodies.<\/p>\n

In another crook, a toddler stomped his feet, creating a one-of-a-kind gyrating design. His older sister, clad in sparkling silver heels, had lain on the floor beside him, moving her arms up and down, and her legs from side to side, making a multicolored angel shape. \u201cLook, Mommy, I made a rainbow,\u201d she shouted with glee.<\/p>\n

The ever-changing images are digital.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the\u00a0Artechouse<\/a>, a 15,000-square-foot, three-level digital art immersion space situated along the southwest waterfront in Washington. Its mission: to display large-scale installations produced by artists who are merging arts and technology, such as this recent wall and floor projection, called \u201cIceNeon,\u201d which was created by\u00a0Noirflux<\/a>, an experience design company near Syracuse.<\/p>\n

Read article on The New York Times<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Artists have been using technology for decades, but until now there were few, if any, spaces dedicated to their work. Artechouse, founded by Sandro Kereselidze, 41, and Tatiana Pastukhova, 30, consists of four distinct digital display spaces that have been viewed by more than 100,000 visitors since it opened in June.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNinety-nine percent of the people who came through our door have never experienced this type of art form,\u201d Mr. Kereselidze said. \u201cThe emotions that we see throughout the installations are fascinating. I see people cry. I see people laugh. I see 4-year-olds, and I see people who are 80 years old acting the same. It\u2019s hard to describe unless you are experiencing it \u2014 kind of like love.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It is a hot ticket. Admission costs $15 and there is timed entry to control the influx to 60 people per session and not exceed the gallery\u2019s 400-person capacity. Sessions are typically sold out with a waiting list. An immersive-interactive installation featuring Noirflux celebrating traditional Japanese themes, such as cherry blossoms and Koi, will be presented at the museum starting on March 15 to coincide with the\u00a0National Cherry Blossom Festival<\/a>\u00a0in the city.<\/p>\n

Artechouse is open during installations until 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 p.m. on weekends. The after-hours appeal is a bar area overlooking the exhibits that teems with millennials taking selfies and posting to Instagram, often holding an augmented reality cocktail \u2014 one that superimposes a computer-generated image above the rim of the glass \u2014 using their smartphones and the Artechouse app.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of museums close up at 5, but we wanted to create an evening environment where you can come on a date, like you would performing arts, or the theater,\u201d Mr. Kereselidze said. \u201cMuseums are there to preserve. We are here to present. The exhibit is exactly the same in the evening, only you see the adults acting like kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Artechouse, art has \u201cno limits and takes all forms,\u201d Ms. Pastukhova said. \u201cWe wanted to create an environment where artists can push the limits and are inspired to create new artworks.\u201d This year, there will be a revolving stream of eight major immersive, multimedia installations exhibited for one to two months each, in addition to side-gallery ones.<\/p>\n

Artechouse\u2019s space is designed and configured to make it easy for artists to help pull the visitor in. \u201cThe magic is what the person experiences interacting with the art,\u201d said Lorne Covington, Noirflux\u2019s creative director and principal. \u201cMost art is an object or a thing. We work with something that is intangible \u2014 that direct experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cliff Hackel and Kerry Hannon and Artechouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Visitors to Artechouse become part of the display. \u201cIf it\u2019s working right, it\u2019s working like a good dance partner,\u201d Mr. Covington said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want someone just mimicking your moves, but to respond to you and surprise you back, so you wind up in a give-and-take dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

This kind of activity demands a big space like Artechouse, which provides lighting systems and 17 hanging projectors hidden carefully from the public eye.<\/p>\n

The elusive combination of art and technology is enticing in this era of the selfie. \u201cThese big, bold, immersive installations are ones that have a sense of wonderment about them and that notion of spectacle, that sense of being overwhelmed by the work, is very conducive to a social media presence,\u201d said Edward Saywell, chief of exhibitions strategy and gallery displays at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.<\/p>\n

As museums around the world are grappling with what their role is and how to attract new audiences, it comes down to making connections with visitors, he said. \u201cThe power of art is to wake us up \u2014 it is to change us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent years, art schools have exploded with a new group of artists who are doing interactive art of a digital nature, said George Fifield, director of\u00a0Boston Cyberarts<\/a>, a gallery that regularly includes interactive art in its exhibitions. \u201cAt its best, with this art form, the audience never knows about the computer,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not about the computer. The art is interacting with your own body and making magic happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Museums should be \u201ccreating a sense of wonder not just conveying information,\u201d Mr. Covington said. \u201cWe think that is the future of all museums \u2014 not just Artechouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0By\u00a0KERRY HANNON<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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