Following in the footsteps of hugely popular digital art centers everywhere from Tokyo to Paris (and soon, Indianapolis), Miami is getting a permanent immersive art museum of its own. Superblue, a new experiential art enterprise, will launch the exciting digital art center in Miami during early spring 2021, though an exact date hasn’t been confirmed. (The venue was originally scheduled to open in December 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Housed in a former industrial building across from Miami’s contemporary Rubell Museum in the Allapattah neighborhood, Superblue Miami will feature more than 30,000 square feet of installation space, plus separate event areas for talks, performances, and workshops. The new digital art museum will also include a shop featuring artist-inspired items, plus an outdoor café.
The debut showcase at Superblue Miami, dubbed Every Wall Is a Door, will display a collection of dazzling three-dimensional works by renowned creators already known for their contributions to experiential art. Esteemed Japanese collective teamLab, recognized for their mindblowing digital art exhibits inspired by light and nature, contributed an installation titled Between Life and Non-Life, which includes three large-scale renderings of natural scenes, such as flowers blossoming throughout different seasons and a continuum of waterfalls.
An immersive installation created by esteemed Japanese art collective teamLab will be part of Superblue Miami’s inaugural exhibition.
Courtesy of Superblue
Es Devlin, the mastermind behind impressive stage designs for major stars such as Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and the Weeknd, also created a captivating immersive environment for Superblue Miami’s opening showcase. Dubbed Forest of Us, Devlin’s installation comprises a massive mirrored maze that simultaneously represents the human respiration process and the inner structure of trees.
The significance of Devlin’s complex installation is poignant: Superblue Miami organizers say the work “emphasizes the inextricable connection between human existence and deforestation—a primary contributor to climate change, which is a pressing issue in Miami.” According to a press release, a tree-planting project is being developed in addition to the installation “to support reforestation in the Amazon,” although no further details about the project have been released.
The “Forest of Us” installation by stage designer Es Devlin features a mirrored maze that depicts the human respiratory system, as well as the inner structure of trees.
Courtesy of Superblue
A well-known artwork by prominent light and space artist James Turrell will also be part of Superblue Miami’s debut exhibition. The Ganzfeld installation immerses visitors in a room of monochrome lighting that distorts spatial dimensions, causing visitors to experience a change in depth perception.
The mind-bending installations that make up Superblue Miami’s Every Wall Is a Door showcase will be on display through at least 2022, organizers say. Of course, when Superblue Miami opens this spring, the experience will come with plenty of COVID-19 health and safety requirements, including timed ticketing, controlled visitor capacity, and a single-direction flow through the installations.
You can sign up on Superblue Miami’s website to be informed about ticket prices and opening hours as soon as new details are released. And if a trip to Florida for this immersive art experience doesn’t quite feel in the cards for you, don’t fret: Superblue plans to set up shop in multiple locations across the United States, Europe, and Asia—so the next venue might come to a city near you.
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