Wonderspaces, New Installations, Fashion District

Wonderspaces Philadelphia announces the debut of three new installations coming to the Philadelphia Fashion District just in time for summer. Starting Wednesday, June 30th, Wonderspaces welcomes Our Top 100 by Jody Servon, Erupture by Nicole Banowetz, and Micromonumental Mapping: The Essence of Creation by Limelight. The new exhibits join other recent additions and continuing installations, such as Submergence by Squidsoup, Body Paint by Memo Akten and Thank You Bags by Reed van Brunschot. Wonderspaces continues to be a unique, interactive and socially distanced activity for locals, neighbors and visitors in the heart of Center City. Wonderspaces is currently operating at reduced capacity, making the experience even more personal and intimate. Timed with the launch of these new installations, Wonderspaces will expand capacity to 20 people per every fifteen minutes. Masks are required for all visitors who are not fully vaccinated. Hours are Wednesdays to Fridays from 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Saturdays from 10:00am to 10:00pm, and Sundays from 10:00am to 9:00pm. Wonderspaces is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Tickets for timed slots are on sale now at philadelphia.wonderspaces.com/. Wonderspaces Philadelphia is located at 27 N 11th St, with entrances located both inside the Fashion District and outside on 11th Street.

“Wonderspaces Philadelphia continues to bring extraordinary work by international artists to the city of Philadelphia,” said General Manager Jenn McCreary. “Our goal is to continuously evolve our experience and gallery. What the evolution looks like is shaped by our local Philadelphia team and it is based on the feedback we get from the community members who are attending the show each and every day. We plan to continue the evolution as we move through our second year, with additional new pieces coming later this summer and fall.”

After a members-only preview, Wonderspaces officially launches the three new installations starting on Wednesday, June 30th. The additions come just as Center City Philadelphia continues to fully open after the easing of restrictions. This is the third time Wonderspaces has introduced several new works to its 24,000 square foot permanent Philadelphia home.

NEW INSTALLATIONS

Our Top 100 by Jody Servon is a community-built playlist consisting of songs and memories about songs shared by participants in specific cities and towns. People have shared stories of love, loss, travels, sadness, celebrations, families, and much more. In both physical places and through social media, Servon aims to provide opportunities for people to consider their memories, experiences, and surroundings and hopefully enhance their human experience.

Servon said, "My projects rely on the participation of others. Behind each image, object and handwritten notation is the voice of a person sharing something personal about themselves. Although inspired by my experiences, my works are collections of personal histories shared by others. In my socially engaged projects, I provide prompts for people to respond to in a variety of ways. Their responses range from recalling a memory attached to a song to sharing a photograph and text about an object that they have saved from a deceased loved one."

For Erupture, artist Nicole Banowetz created a giant inflatable sculpture that depicts a surreal landscape of microscopic lifeforms. Their enlarged presence makes the installation feel calm, comforting, yet disorienting. The arrangement of these inflatables recalls dioramas from biology class, with large groupings of these odd forms bursting at delicate seams. The artist, Nicole Banowetz sewed the work entirely by hand, sharing the vulnerability between the artist, viewer, and the installation as a whole.

"We are thrilled to add Erupture to our current lineup of work currently on view in Philadelphia,” said McCreay. “Erupture is part of a series of massive inflatable sculptures which represent microscopic lifeforms in a macroscopic way. Denver-based artist Nicole Banowetz sewed the work entirely by hand while navigating through a breakup, and has created an unexpectedly intimate environment for visitors to experience through sight and touch.”

Micromonumetal Mapping: The Essence of Creation by Limelight was originally created to be displayed on the Opéra de Lille in France for the Lille Video Mapping Festival that was set to take place in April 2020. Due to COVID 19, the festival had to be postponed so the artists decided to downscale and project it onto a 1:40 3D model of the building. Inspired by the national divinity of the Greeks’ Apollo, who has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, war and death, the artwork conveys this complexity by using the symbolic and physical elements of the building.

Limelight said, “If we can’t make it big, we’ll go micro. We were commissioned to create an artwork for the Lille Video Mapping Festival. Despite the event being cancelled, we are determined to show the world our artwork, so we decided to downscale and project it onto a 1:40 3D model of the building. We believe in the transformative power of art, and that our souls need it now more than ever. We are here to stay.”

CONTINUING EXHIBITIONS

Wonderspaces Philadelphia also features continuing installations and guest favorites, including:

Akousmaflore by Scenocosme - Akousmaflore is a hanging garden of living plants that respond to human contact, each reacting in a different way to gentle touch by producing a unique sound, communicating their existence through interactive musicality.

Thank You Bags by Reed van Brunschot - Playing with scale as it invites visitors to consider the overuse of plastic and its environmental impact, Thank You Bags reclaims a generic yet iconic symbol of mass consumerism and the excesses of capitalism through two enormous fabric sculptures, filled to capacity with nothing but air.

Ferreflection Pool, Mesplé - This exhibit combines real-time video interpolation, microprocessors and 320 electromagnets to create reflective silhouettes of a viewer's moving body. The fluid is magnetically responsive and puckers into a spike when triggered. (opened before the second shut-down)

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...).

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.

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.

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.

Daydream v2 by NONOTAK Studio - Daydream v2 is an audiovisual installation that distorts space, blurring the lines between what is digital and what is real. The piece transports visitors into a new dimension, making them feel as if they are being teleported into another world.

Sweepers Clock by Maarten Baas - Sweepers Clock is a videotaped performance of two handymen sweeping trash for twelve hours, presenting time in the format of a physical, labor-intensive process. Sweepers Clock is a part of the series of films, Real Time, which are 12-hour performances indicating the time.

HOURS, MEMBERSHIPS AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS

Wonderspaces recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The unique gallery of global artwork continues to be the largest and most popular new cultural attraction in the region.

For the summer season, Wonderspaces is currently open at the Fashion District on Wednesdays from 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Thursdays 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Fridays 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Saturdays 10:00am to 10:00pm and Sundays 10:00am to 9:00pm.

In order to create a safe environment for visitors and team members, Wonderspaces Philadelphia has implemented updated health and cleanliness protocols consistent with government recommendations. Protocols may change over time as new guidance from health authorities becomes available. Protocols currently in place include masks required for non-vaccinated persons, suggested directional flow throughout the space, use of hand sanitizer stations, frequent cleaning for all surfaces touched by the team and the public, online ticket sales, virtual waivers, and use of plexiglass barriers. Starting July 4th weekend, Wonderspaces Philadelphia will increase capacity to 20 visitors per every fifteen minute time slot.

"Wonderspaces connects artists and new audiences by presenting extraordinary art in a way that makes everyone feel welcome," said Wonderspaces Co-founder Jason Shin. “Our show has always been about personal connections between families, small groups of friends, and loved ones. It’s never been about crowds.”

Tickets for time slots, memberships and health/safety information are available at Wonderspaces Philadelphia's website, at https://philadelphia.wonderspaces.com/.

For 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 can opt for an annual membership to Wonderspaces. Memberships can be purchased for individual use or as a gift at the Wonderspaces box office.

For any further questions, please email Wonderspaces at hello-phl@wonderspaces.com.

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 that collectively drew over 178,000 visitors, the company opened its first permanent location in Scottsdale, AZ. Wonderspaces now has locations in Philadelphia, San Diego, Scottsdale and Austin. To learn more, follow @wonderspacesphl on social or visit Wonderspaces.com.