Wonderspaces Expands to East Coast with Grand Opening at Philadelphia Fashion District

Submergence by Squidsoup / Photo by Amir Abouriche

Wonderspaces, an experiential, interactive arts venue, announces the grand opening of its largest location to date, right here in Philadelphia at the Fashion District. Building on the success of annual pop-up shows in San Diego, and its first permanent location in Scottsdale, AZ, Wonderspaces will open a 24,000 square foot new gallery space in late-January. This inaugural lineup features fourteen experiential and participatory art installations from artists from around the world, with each work focusing on the theme of perspective. Wonderspaces unique art experiences will find a welcome home in the new shopping concept that blends together entertainment and art, and features an existing $1 million in commissioned artwork. Wonderspaces will be located in the Fashion District at 27 N 11th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Tickets for Wonderspaces are on sale now at philadelphia.wonderspaces.com/

“Wonderspaces is proud to open our first permanent location in a major metropolitan area right here in the City of Brotherly Love,” said Wonderspaces’ Co-Founder and President Jason Shin. “We believe taking art to unexpected places is a key part of creating the next generation of art lovers, and making art more accessible is a core part of our mission. Wonderspaces invites new audiences from the greater Philadelphia region to engage with extraordinary art in a fun, casual setting.”

Wonderspaces partners with artists from around the world to present art shows that everyone can enjoy as a place to connect with friends and family in a setting welcoming to all.  After welcoming 300,000 visitors in its previous shows in San Diego and Scottsdale, Wonderspaces will open in Philadelphia January 24, 2020.

Wonderspaces will present fourteen art installations that all play with the idea of perspective.  The artwork ranges from award-winning virtual reality short film about a dinner party-turned-alien abduction, to a room where visitors digitally paint the walls with the movement of their bodies.  

Black Balloons by Tadao Cern / Photo by Brian Bautista

The first line-up of artwork at Wonderspaces includes:

Submergence by Squidsoup - Submergence is an immersive installation comprised of 8,064 individual points of light visitors walk through. The lights continually change colors in correspondence to music. Submergence creates awe-inspiring feelings of movement within physical space.

Blooms by John Edmark - Blooms are 3D-printed sculptures designed to animate when spun under a strobe light. The rotational speed and the strobe light frequency are synchronized so that one flash occurs every time the bloom turns 137.5 degrees--the angular version of the golden ratio (0.618...).

Sun by Phillip Schutte - SUN is an interactive installation which empowers visitors to control the movement of the rise and setting of the sun. As the visitor moves the ball, the position of the sun changes the way the light interacts with the atmosphere.

Transition by Mike von Rotz and Joost Jordens - Transition is a virtual reality experience based on the music of Kettel & Secede. A metaphor for death, Transition takes visitors on a journey from one world into the next.

Black Balloons by Tadao Cern - Black Balloons is comprised of balloons with opposing weights. The artwork explores contradictions; lightness and heaviness, attraction and repulsion, materiality and immateriality.

Body Paint by Memo Akten - Playing on our natural instinct to express ourselves through movement and dance, Body Paint interprets our physical gestures into evolving compositions. Body Paint is about interaction experience, captured through this motion and the energy of the body.

Come Together by Michael Murphy - Come Together is a symbol of the power of collectivity. The artwork depicts the raised fist of Michael Murphy’s girlfriend at the Women’s March in early 2017.

The Last Word by Illegal Art - The Last Word is an invitation to share thoughts left unsaid. Thousands of tightly rolled pieces of paper, dyed red on one end and left untouched on the other offer an opportunity to anonymously complete your conversations or explore the unexpressed sentiments of others.

Stories of Mechanical Music by Myriam Bleau - Stories of Mechanical Music is an installation series that proposes an anachronistic take on the music box. Each box is made out of a large number of CDs collected from different cities, Montreal, Mexico and Stockholm. A side crank activates the rotation of the box, creating an algorithm based composition of musical samples. As most music is now stored in digital format, music and the medium that used to house it are becoming increasingly removed. The correlation between music and form in Stories of Mechanical Music aims to anchor the music to the physical world, in the form of an augmented object.

Myrkviðr by Yasuhiro Chida - An illuminated aluminum ring suspended by countless pieces of fishing line. The light from the ring reflects off of the fishing line in an infinite variety of ways depending on the viewer’s position. The artwork has no intended meaning and is instead meant to be experienced in an immediate, purely visual way.

“We’ve been dreaming of presenting shows in Philadelphia since day one because of the city’s burgeoning creative community and its vibrant art scene,” said Shin. “Wonderspaces is excited to be in the heart of a major metropolitan city with a thriving arts community. We are also thrilled to join the Fashion District and find a new home in Philadelphia; it’s an added bonus that we will help make Philadelphia Fashion District a true destination for art lovers from all walks of life.”

“The addition of Wonderspaces, combined with our unique art installations, further establishes Fashion District’s art and culture pillar while delivering an engaging atmosphere for our visitors,” said PREIT CEO Joseph F. Coradino. “As seen in our entertainment and art offerings, non-traditional concepts are a cornerstone of The District, complementing our great retail and dining brands, and we continue to take pride in curating unique social experiences that everyone can enjoy.”

While visitors will experience the best of art from around the globe, Wonderspaces is also excited to meet locally-baseds world-class artists. “We’re really looking forward to learning more about artists currently working in our new home in Philadelphia,” said Shin. “Artists we first featured  in San Diego are currently having their work shown in Scottsdale, and soon we will be bringing it to Philadelphia. As Wonderspaces continues to grow, wherever we go, we want to partner with whomever is creating exceptional art that could be enjoyed by larger audiences. We are already talking to some local artists about showing their work everywhere we present art.”

Tickets for Wonderspaces are now on sale in early January for up to $24 each. An average tour of a Wonderspaces show lasts 80-90 minutes, though visitors are welcome to stay as long as they want. Tickets are tied to a specific date and time. The number of visitors allowed to enter every fifteen minutes is limited to ensure the space never becomes too crowded.  Before, during, and after the show visitors are welcome to enjoy the Wonderspaces bar, which offers a curated selection of lite bites and beverages, including specialty cocktails.

In addition, art lovers looking to have unlimited visits to Wonderspaces, receive early access to new shows and installations, obtain discounts for their guests, and complementary and discounted items at the gift shop and bar can opt for an annual membership to Wonderspaces. Memberships can be purchased for individual use or as a gift at the Wonderspaces box office or online closer to the opening date.

To learn more about Wonderspaces, sign-up for the email list, and to purchase tickets and vouchers, visit https://philadelphia.wonderspaces.com/

In addition to individual tickets and annual memberships, Wonderspaces is available for special events, holiday parties and large corporate gatherings up to 500. Look for information about group event rentals and ticket packages when Wonderspaces opens in 2020.

After the first few months, the artwork at Wonderspaces will begin to rotate out.  The evolving lineup will continue to deliver extraordinary works from artists around the world.

ABOUT WONDERSPACES

Based in California, Wonderspaces launched in 2016 to bridge the gap between artists and new audiences.  With each show, Wonderspaces creates a place where people can connect with art and with each other. Their mission is to create shared understanding through shared experiences. After shows in San Diego and that collectively drew over 178,000 visitors, the company opened its first permanent location in Scottsdale, AZ. Following the opening of Philadelphia, Austin, TX is its next destinations.  To learn more, follow @wonderspacesphl on social or visit Wonderspaces.com

ABOUT FASHION DISTRICT PHILADELPHIA

Fashion District Philadelphia is the first robust retail and entertainment offering of its kind in Downtown Philadelphia. Spanning three city blocks, The District will feature over 800,000 square feet of dynamic offerings including flagship, traditional full price, off-price and branded outlet retail, experiential dining and entertainment, along with public art and evolving cultural events. With a prime location in Center City, The District is just steps away from Philadelphia’s historic district and connected to Reading Terminal, the Pennsylvania Convention Center and SEPTA’s Jefferson station – a convenient, transit-oriented location offering accessibility for millions of Philadelphia residents, commuters and visitors. Additional information is available at www.fashiondistrictphiladelphia.com or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.