Wonderspaces

Come to the Dinner Table. We’re Serving VR Goggles.

By Casey Alfstad

Finally having a permanent art template in ATX (home of SXSW) dedicated to digital mediums seemed worthy of celebration. Using technology to push the capacity of ideation, Wonderspaces offers a joyful reminder of the complete boundlessness that exists around what humans can physically realize. Though there has been a sudden increase of digitally immersive spaces in various cities within the past few years, and like everything that enters mainstream consumerism, I wondered if Wonderspaces had remained about the art. After getting my temperature taken at the door, my question was quickly addressed when I was greeted by Michelle Bierbower, General Manager, and Crystal, a guide on staff. We walked through the space and Crystal pored over every work we passed. I also wondered if there is a common alphabet between New Media spaces during a period of ‘being introduced to the public’. Perhaps, but these new interactive platforms may also be creating a more welcoming and accessible alternative to traditional museums. From social commentary via interactive video instruments to perception-skipping sculptures in motion, Wonderspaces has a little of everything for your senses and appetite for engaging experiences.

Casey Alfstad (CA): What would you say about New Media art being frequently looped into the culture of ‘the selfie museum’? 

Michelle Bierbower (MB): We really want people to experience the work, and if you have art that is strong, that experience is going to last longer than a selfie and the message behind the art is going to last longer than a selfie. We are particular about the kind of work we put in here, because we want work that has content, and can stand alone on its own. Not that selfie-worthy art isn’t valid in its own right, we’re living in the Selfie Era, I myself am guilty of taking way to many selfies (laughs).

CA: Haha, I think we all have a folder on our phones. Especially since there’s portrait mode now.

MB:  I’ve definitely tried portrait mode, and too many selfie-enhancing apps out there to mention (laughs), but when I go somewhere I never remember the selfie I take, I remember the people I’m with, and the experiences that I had, the feelings that I had.

CA: Maybe the image is in ways a relic, but not actually the impression we hold with us.

MB: Yes, it’s an artifact of the experience but the experience is what people take home with them. 

CA: What piece in Wonderspaces is most effectively experiential? 

MB: I’d say it’s Submergence. I’ve seen so many different reactions to it: utter shock, an overwhelming sense of being in another place. I also see it bring out the childlike wonder in other people—sometimes one person will lay on the floor then the entire audience is laying on the floor just staring up having this experience together.

It’s nice to see that even though we are socially distanced due to Covid, there is something that can bring people together and make people feel like they are a part of a larger community in society. I’ve seen the most stellar interactions with that piece, with people really just taking a break from everything going on outside.

CA: Speaking of ‘childlike wonder’, is the mission of Wonderspaces to incite wonder?

MB: I think that is a part of why we call it Wonderspaces. We want people to feel a sense of amazement for the larger world that we’re in, and a sense of amazement from the artists that we work with. It’s sad to me that so many installation artists only get to see their work shown at art fairs, which are fantastic places to show art, but they spend all this time making this piece and it winds up often in a storage facility. We know that not everyone is able to go to art fairs, so we’re able to connect the audience with the artists and do that in a fair way where the artist is making revenue off of it. The result is increased accessibility and people really having a sense of wonder, that is what we really love about this place. 

CA: Do you think the past six months are going to impact what people are making?

MB: I absolutely 100% agree it’s going to impact what people are making.

CA: …less touch-art?

MB: Less touch-art for sure, and I think the content is going to be driven by what people are feeling right now. Conceptually art is going to see a very dynamic shift from pre- and post-Covid. People are all (kind of) feeling the same thing: a lot of anxiety and disconnected from the world. I am very interested to see what comes out of this a year from now and what that says about who we are as people.

Wonderspaces is open Wednesday-Sunday.

Book your ticket, at Wonderspaces.com or get a sneak peak by following @wonderspacesaustin.