local art // wonderspaces

A few weeks ago, a sponsored facebook post popped up in my feed about Wonderspaces, a pop-up art exhibit here in San Diego, so after taking a quick peek at their website, I thought, "Yep. I wanna check that out." Bonus: my sister-in-law was going to be visiting soon, so I wanted to take her and make a fun afternoon out of it. There she is above! And that cool archway is called the Pulse Portal by Davis McCarty.

This was one of my favorites, called Come Together by Michael Murphy. At first, it doesn't look like any distinguishable shape or object, although still very cool in an abstract way. But if you keep walking around it, and stand in a certain spot, it begins to take a new form, and looks like this:

So cool, right?

The Last Word by Illegal Art was pretty neat. We each wrote a note of our own, and added it to the wall.

ADA by Karina Smigla-Bobinski was really fun to interact with. By pushing it around the room, it "draws" on the walls with its charcoal tips. The attendant in the room told us this was inspired by Ada Lovelace, who was a pioneer in computer science.

The Neon Tunnel by Kitsch Nitsch reminded me of being in a funhouse.

The photos really don't do this piece justice. Thousands of multicolor nylon cords hanging from floor to ceiling make up Sweet Spot by Shawn Causey and Mark Daniell.

We had fun playing with our shadows, courtesy of Danielle Strle's You + Your Shadow installation.

Not Myself Today by Partners For Mental Health. We weren't exactly sure if we were supposed to remove a pin, but I can relate to that "Hangry" pin SO MUCH. If I'm frustrated/stressed/upset, there's a 90% chance I just need some fries.

A Religious Experience by Adam Belt was hands down our favorite installation at Wonderspaces, but because we were inside a near-completely dark space, my iPhone camera couldn't even come close to capturing what it really looked like in there. We had to wait about five minutes to let our eyes adjust, and that's when we could truly see the hundreds of light rays coming in through the tiny holes in the ceiling and walls. It was beautiful. Before my eyes adjusted, I got the sense of being out in the wilderness, where the lack of ambient and city lights allows you to see a gorgeous, star-filled night sky. But then after my eyes adjusted, the individual rays of light looked almost tangible. I kind of got some Interstellar vibes from being in it too (that scene in Murph's bedroom where the dust is falling down in perfect lines). You should really click here to see better (and more) photos of this incredible installation.

There were a few other exhibits that I saw, but didn't take photos of (Bonus video on my instagram though!). I'm really glad I went though. You can read more about Wonderspaces and its different installations here!