THE SANDS
August 12th - August 20, 2017Opening reception: August 12, 6-9 pm
Essex Flowers is pleased to present a virtual installation: The Sands
The original Sands Casino was an amalgamation of American dreams, a place in the middle of nowhere where everything was possible, where you could go from rich to poor within the space of a heartbeat, where stars from the silver screen came to sing and perform, putting on shows that transcended the moment they lived in, and that became part of our cultural memory. It was a place both physical and imaginary, where fantasies came true and where realities transformed into myth.
The Sands is not quite a mirage, not quite a mirror, and not quite the thing itself. Combining the work of numerous artists, The Sands becomes a new kind of venue for a group show, one where the works are able to take turns occupying the gallery space, and where different pieces, paired together through chance, interact in unexpected ways. The works in this show are neither acting in concert with one another nor competing for your attention, they simply share the same space and time in ways that are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and occasionally even discordant.
The show is a 1:1 recreation of the gallery in VR and viewers inside the virtual installation will be able to walk in and around the physical space of the gallery, able to touch the walls and navigate around a pedestal in the center of the room.
Artists in the show include:
Valentina Zamfirescu
Banggeul Han
Alex M. Lee
Ilana Savdie
Antonia Kuo
Young Joo Lee
William Wheeler
Ellis von Sternberg
Dan Swindel
Justin Berry
Jonathan Ehrenberg
Philip Vanderhyden
Johannes DeYoung
Federico Solmi
Nicholas O'Brien
Organized by Justin Berry, Valentina Zamfirescu, Ilana Savdie, and the rest of the Blended Reality Crew.
Smithsonian Magazine
Hyperallergic