Virtual exhibit answers the call of the wild

Kelly Rathbun

The Signal Staff

Take a walk on the wild side captures a whole new meaning when visiting the Allison Hunter: Zoosphere installation.  This new virtual zoo can be seen at the DiverseWorks art space in Houston.

Hunter introduces viewers to a new and innovative way of looking at wild animals in their zoo habitats by using a site-specific, immersive video to enhance the experience. This audio-visual installation draws audiences into a subdivided exhibit hall lit only by the video projections of the life-size zoo animals that have been digitally manipulated to be free from their background habitats.

This zoo offers no designated paths or fenced-in enclosures. It allows viewers an opportunity to roam around and meet the animals that unexpectedly appear and disappear throughout the art space. To further enhance this experience, Hunter infuses the exhibit with high definition recordings of natural animal sounds: trumpeting elephants, birds in flight, herding zebras and barking sea lions can all be heard in this technological experience.  

When creating this installation, Hunter was inspired by her husband’s work on animals and other artists like Diana Thater.  She hopes this experience will encourage viewers to “think about how we treat animals and each other.”

The DiverseWorks art center is known as one of the premiere contemporary arts centers in the United States and, with 28 years of experience, this non-profit center brings presentations of daring and innovative work to the art scene.  It has provided an avenue for major artistic projects in all disciplines and is an advocate for artists worldwide.  This is an art center founded by artists for artists and is known for its commitment to bold artistic explorations, creative risk-taking and building audiences for contemporary art.

“Our programming at DiverseWorks defines us from other galleries,” said Shawna Forney, public relations and marketing manager for DiverseWorks.  “We present art with teeth.  We don’t shy away from difficult subject matter, politics or social issues.  We present work that is timely and relevant.  Although some of the work can be hard-hitting and may contain difficult subject matter, we present work as part of the step towards a solution.”

Following up and closing the season June 16 is Vault 6o: Blau & Baptism.  This event is the production of two Houston dance companies, Amy Eli’s Vault and Toni Valle’s 6o coming together for an amazing night of dance.

Recognition and support from its many regional and national funders, as well as prestigious grants from organizations like National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Houston Endowment Inc. and the Rockefeller Foundation, are of great significance and importance to DiverseWorks, but for their patrons it is the significance of their offerings that are the most memorable and will keep them coming back for more.

“I went to an installation last year called House of Mind that took over the entire space of DiverseWorks,” said Lillian Warren, visitor to the art center.  “The artist and choreographer Pat Graney switched the rooms and made the theater an installation and made the gallery into a performance space and installation.  It was one of the most amazing and immersive experiences.”

Offering a variety of installations and events for the remaining season, DiverseWorks will offer in Catastrophic Theater a presentation of Wallace Shawn’s “Our Late Night,” a cocktail party where no thought or topic is taboo; “Keep it Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men,” featuring Andy Bichilbaum and Mike Bobano as a group of culture-jamming activists who practice what they call “identity correction.”  Premiering alongside “The Yes Men” is a “Selection of Short Films by Dara Greenwald” in the flickerlounge.  The Zoosphere installation opens alongside the film “Twilight Avenger,” a flickerlounge episode that brings a sci-fi, fairy tale to the screen.

Zoosphere will be on exhibit March 12 through April 17 in the DiverseWorks main gallery located at 1117 East Freeway, Houston, TX in the warehouse district.