Everything Immersive This Week (8/9/20)
A week of big moves from some big players
What’s that on the horizon?
Is it some green shoots of hope?
Look: I won’t lie to you, the Pandemic Age is still real bad and to say that things are politically uncertain would be an incredible understatement.
But there are some long-gestating projects that are starting to step into the light, I’m talking physical stuff here, and they point towards a post-vaccine future that is one we’d actually enjoy living in.
You’ll find that in the news section below, and between here and there our latest reviews and show announcements. Then stick around for some grant and development opportunities that the community turned up in the past few days.
Office facilities for No Proscenium are provided by…
No Proscenium is made possible by our generous Patreon supporters.
[We’re on the march to 1000 backers. Every $1 and $5/month pledge makes all the difference in the world.]
FROM THE WIRE: SHOWS, EVENTS, & EXPERIENCES
We’re still running the Newswire here at NoPro while the public beta of Everything Immersive shakes out. To get your work on the Newswire, submit at EverythingImmersive.com
Brooklyn: CAIRNS
A soundwalk for Green-Wood Cemetery that leads the listener on a solitary poetic journey.
Denver: What Distracts You?
A two-performer, outdoor show dissecting the nature of distraction in an experimental manner.
Denver: SYPHERLOT drive-in radio bath
Itchy-O’s drive-in concert series, presented by Denver Film
Forever Has Fallen
A brutal murder. A global fortune in ruins. Humanity’s hope for immortality is on the run.
What You Will
A Virtual Site-specific Promenade
REVIEWS
Two reviews this week on ye olde website. First up is the online adaptation of Annie Lesser’s C(ovell) dubbed C(ovell) in the C(loud). It’s been a hot minute since the original production (and its remount) were put together, but it seems like the collection of characters have lost none of their charm, even if NoPro’s Patrick found that some of the technical challenges of putting on a one-on-one heavy show via Zoom caused friction in the fiction.
Bonus points for Annie: part of the point was to act as a fundraiser for Covell, the show’s venue, which like so many LA restaurants is having a rough time with the pandemic. Way to keep it in the community, Ms. Lesser.
Meanwhile, our executive editor Kathryn Yu enjoyed her time in the casino themed The House Never Wins, in spite of some muddled messaging about the impact of climate change.
We’re not the only ones out here writing reviews of immersive stuff.
New York Times critic Alexis Soloski takes another dive into our world this week, including serving on two different juries in England.
News From around the Immersiverse
Let’s start with some long expected news: a first public glimpse at what Meow Wolf Vegas will look like, courtesy of Todd Martens over at the LA Times. It’s a deep dive into the upcoming Omega Mart opening, now set for 2021, and the bumpy road that 2020 had been for the rising star of the themed entertainment world.
Get No Proscenium’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
SubscribeSubscribe
Even knowing that we’re months away from the opening, and knowing just how difficult the journey has been to get to this point, with the pandemic really twisting the knife at points, it’s still thrilling to see the first images of the space and see the ambition of the founding team on display.
Area 15, which will house Omega Mart and the whole of Meow Wolf Vegas, looks to have a soft opening before long.
Meow Wolf Vegas isn’t the only large scale immersive art project in the news this week.
Experiential art space Superbloom is set to open in Miami this December, with a 50,000-square-foot space that will feature such artists as James Turrell, Risa Puno, and teamLab. The company behind it all has roots in the Pace Gallery, whose president and CEO Marc Glimcher is one of the co-founders and has an investment partner in the form of Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective.
In short: this is a big deal.
If you own a PSVR we hope to heck that you’ve downloaded Dreams, the make-your-own-game, uh, game that recently added VR support. There’s a whole universe of user generated content in Dreams and some of it is getting downright ridiculous.
VR Scout has a roundup of can’t-miss VR experiences in Dreams, but we’ll tell you right off the bat: we’re partial to the one where someone recreated the whole of Indiana Jones Adventure: The Temple of the Forbidden Eye ride at Disneyland.
For those of you who are just getting your hands on an Oculus Quest, our friend Scott Stein over at CNET has a roundup of his picks for the best games on that platform. There’s a big overlap between our taste and Scott’s so you can’t really go wrong with this list.
Fans of In Another Room, and those who have always been curious about just what is happening in another room, have a fresh reason to rejoice: E3W Productions’ theatrical immersive series is being adapted into a serialized podcast. The first episodes drop this Monday, the 10th.
Finally, originally planned as a hybrid TV-series and one-off immersive experience, The Third Day represents Punchdrunk’s first foray into television with a limited series co-created by writer Dennis Kelly and Felix Barrett. The middle chapter was originally said to be a full on interactive-immersive , but like all good things COVID-19 has put a hell of a lot of wrenches into the works on this one. At present the middle chapter is being described as “an innovative live broadcast.” The series premieres September 14 at 9PM on HBO in the United States, and Tuesday 15th September on Sky and NOW TV in the UK.
The limited series stars Jude Law, Naomie Harris, Katherine Waterston, Emily Watson, and Paddy Considine, and the new HBO trailer is right here:
Now Funding
Resilience2032 (Kickstarter)
A social media theater experience that invites you to play an active role in an alternate reality set in the year 2032!
Opportunities: Professional & Educational
Santa Monica Art of Recovery Pilot: Call for Letters of Intent
For projects commencing by Dec. 1, 2020
First round deadline: Sep. 1, 2020
Open to: LA County-based artist collectives and artists at all stages of their career are eligible to apply. Business Improvement Districts, business associations, neighborhood associations, community groups, nonprofit organizations and non-arts businesses whose official address is within Santa Monica city limits are eligible to apply.
As part of the City of Santa Monica’s Economic Recovery Task Force, Cultural Affairs is pleased to announce the launch of Art of Recovery, a grant program to support arts-based projects that contribute to our City’s recovery efforts.
UK-Canada Immersive Exchange
Deadline: Thursday 17th September 2020 at 12pm EDT / 5pm BST.
Open to: UK and Canadian creatives and producers.
The UK-Canada Immersive Exchange is a new talent development and co-production programme for UK and Canadian creatives and producers, who wish to work with immersive technology. The programme is supported by an international partnership between StoryFutures Academy, the National Centre for Immersive Storytelling (run by the National Film and Television School and Royal Holloway, University of London) and Arts Council England in the UK, and the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts in Canada.
NoPro is a labor of love made possible by our generous Patreon backers. Join them today!
In addition to the No Proscenium web site, our podcast, and our newsletters, you can find NoPro on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, in the Facebook community Everything Immersive, and on our Slack forum.
Office facilities provided by Thymele Arts, in Los Angeles, CA.