I suddenly feel like the COOL kid in class, having just experienced the most ground-breakingly phenomenal museum ever!
Seismique (seis • mick) – a 40,000-square-foot art-fueled experiential museum, comes to Houston’s west side beginning December 26 and will capture the attention and imagination of wide-ranging audiences who won't be able to resist the gravitational pull of 40-plus unique exhibits overflowing with dazzling displays of light generated by 9 million LEDs, color, sound, and natural elements.
We visited the first-to-market arts and entertainment space, and it was like having an out-of-body experience. The museum features works by over two dozen established and emerging artists – many of whom are Texas-based – along with advanced technological elements like projection mapping from 111 projectors, holograms, augmented reality, light mapping, motion tracking, gamification and more. Though visitors can expect to see and experience multiple art forms in a playful setting, each of Seismique’s installations shares the common denominator of being a dynamic expression of visual art brought to life by a bevy of serious artists. “I am really looking forward to seeing the expressions on peoples’ faces when they experience Seismique for the first time; I liken it to the equivalent of walking through a portal and into an alternative universe that is a feast for the senses,” said Seismique creator Steve Kopelman, a seasoned veteran of the immersive experience and escape game industries. He added, “This year has been exceedingly difficult for the whole world, and we want Seismique to serve as something of a pandemic panacea – a place where visitors can transport themselves to another realm and find creative inspiration through the artistic manifestation of 40 different exhibits. That is a long way of saying we just want people to forget their worries and have fun, albeit in a responsible and safe environment.”
To that end, Seismique will follow the templates of other Houston museums and open at limited capacity, accordingly. Masks will be required, hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the facility, and all of the interactive elements will be frequently and thoroughly sanitized with a state-of-the-art misting system. For a completely touchless experience, guests can also utilize an integrated Seismique mobile app created for the space to avoid touching dials and knobs.
Just some of the out-of-this-world experiences that await include an Avatar-inspired exhibit dubbed Eden – a large gallery conceived of and constructed by New Orleans artist David Carry in collaboration with Brian Val Habisreitinger that will provide the perfect respite amid the hustle and bustle of Seismique’s other spaces. Featuring oversized carved trees, custom lighting and ultra-violet, blacklight reactive painting, the visually stimulating garden astounds with three large holograms throughout the room that come complete with alien visitors.
Another gallery – the room called Venus – is a multi-dimensional playground emulating the surface of the planet Venus that has been hand-crocheted by the aforementioned Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam as one of her previously described AirPocket concepts. One of only three pieces of its kind in the entire country, the exhibit’s structure utilizes a specially constructed net that is resilient and responsive to the slightest movement. This innovative design allows tension to be maintained as the fiber stretches – thereby enabling safe interaction with Venus. This piece is surrounded by Chicago artist C.J.
Hungerman’s mural dubbed “Ocular Existence”. As a display of kinetic energy, Hungerman’s art installation creates movement through a dynamic splash of color. The circular cloud shape – or Oculus – is a colorful focal point on the wall that gazes upon the sculpture and those enjoying it. The installation’s other shapes create movement and support for the negative, or white, spaces around them – drawing from the energy of people inside the room at any given moment. These shapes and colors abstractly represent the diverse nature of humankind, which is collectively comprised of a vast array of different colors and shapes.
Guests can expect long lines in the eagerly awaited Acid Rain room, an optical illusion marvel by Smooth Technology that has been designed and constructed by Mark Roberts, within which visitors walk through water raining from the ground up without getting wet as eerily illuminated green water walls fall from an exterior circular structure. A path forms as guests explore the space while magically not getting wet from rainwater that shockingly appears to rise from the ground. Once inside the glowing center, the rain lets up and eventually stops in midair. In another instant, the rain begins falling downward in an Earthly fashion as if nothing ever happened.
Social media enthusiasts will no doubt revel in The Color Portal, a vibrant pathway that guides each guest from the two-tone aesthetic of the black and white Lobby into the majestic world of colorful galleries that populate Seismique. Created and installed by the above-named David Carry, The Color Portal provides a thoroughfare to many of Seismique’s expansive spaces like The Hub – a 70-foot spaceship also constructed by Carry that boasts over 1,000,000 LEDs.
Tickets to Seismique are now available and are priced at $35 for adults and $28 for children 12 and under for General Admission. A VIP ticket option is also available at $45 for adults and $38 for children. The VIP experience grants guests walk-in entry at any time on the selected date of their ticket without having to wait in line, allows them to visit the Acid Rain Room without waiting in line, and includes discounted pricing on food at the in-house Cosmique Café and merchandise at Seismique’s Gift Shop.
Seismique is located at 2306 South Highway 6, Houston, TX 77077 and will be open to the public on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from noon to 9:00 PM; Friday from noon to 11:00 PM; Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM; Sunday from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM; and closed on Tuesdays. For more information, please visit www.seismique.com.
