Review Rundown: Bright Lites, Big Cities

Look, we may not universally love projection installations here, but that’s because few of them understand what’s actually cool about them.

I took one look at the picture for the Lite-Brite Worlds of Wonder pop-up that’s in Santa Monica and said “Oh [redacted] that looks cool!”

Read our new correspondent Cindy White’s take, then take a gander at the latest from NYC and London.

Let’s keep it weird, people.

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Lite-Brite Worlds of Wonder — Secret Location
$25–35; Santa Monica, CA; Through January, 2025

If you’re like me, Lite-Brite conjures fond memories of digging through the carpet for those little colored plastic pegs or the magical moment when you’d turn out the lights and your glowing masterpiece would come alive. The toy has come a long way since its introduction in 1967, yet even the modern versions are based on the same simple concept — a canvas for creating pixelated pictures with light. The digital artists at Toronto-based Secret Location took that idea and expanded it into the walk-through exhibition Lite-Brite Worlds of Wonder. After successfully opening in Toronto, Las Vegas, and Sydney, a more extensive iteration has just arrived in Santa Monica.

Housed in an unassuming storefront on the lower level of the Santa Monica Place outdoor mall, the family-friendly experience features 11 rooms showcasing different ways to play with Lite-Brite. There are three childhood-inspired themes woven throughout — dinosaurs, aliens, and sea life. Those themes are prominently featured in the game zone, with its large-scale projected mini games that involve stomping on the floor to release bubbles. dinosaurs, or spaceships. Other rooms include an art gallery, a light tunnel, and a kinetic display that allows you to add your own portrait or customized creature. There’s also a sensory play area with actual Lite-Brites for guests to use and a supersized Lite-Zilla where you can make your mark with pegs the size of rolls of quarters. Your visit comes to a climax in a 360-degree theater, where every surface becomes a canvas for imaginative Lite-Brite worlds, accompanied by mood-setting original music.

Timed tickets are available online, but once inside you can leisurely wander through the rooms at your own pace (the mall’s free parking policy does have a 90-minute limit, though). At the end I received a personal Lite-Brite photo portrait, a fun little souvenir to take home. As impressive as it is, make no mistake, this is an explicitly branded experience. If you walk out with the urge to dig out your old Lite-Brite set or, even better (at least as far sponsor Hasbro is concerned), purchase a brand new one — that’s exactly the point. And they’ve got you covered with a fully stocked gift shop. If you can set aside the feeling that you’re basically paying to walk through an elaborate advertisement — albeit one for a fondly remembered toy — it’s not hard to find the promised sense of wonder within these illuminated walls.

— Cindy White, Los Angeles Correspondent

Ministry of Lost Things: Lint Condition — PostCurious
$29 (Pre-Order); At Home; Ongoing

Ministry of Lost Things: Lint Condition is a tabletop puzzle adventure that invites players into a whimsical hidden world, where lost objects find new purpose. As a scout for the Ministry of Lost Things, your mission is to piece together clues, solve puzzles, and reunite a missing item with its owner. It’s an intriguing setup with plenty of charm, and the game’s production quality lives up to that promise. Still, this wasn’t my favorite at-home experience.

Here’s what worked for me: the game’s visuals are cozy and intricate, packed with small details that make the world feel alive. Each component is beautifully printed on thick, high-quality materials that feel substantial in your hands. PostCurious’ attention to detail is clear, from the illustrations to the clever use of tactile elements that elevate the experience. It’s the kind of game you want to spread out on the table and explore — a strong first impression that’s hard to beat.

Unfortunately, while the game looks and feels great, its actual gameplay didn’t feel as immersive as I would have liked. Here’s why: Lint Condition’s storyline is cohesive and structured, guiding you through chapters as you attempt to reunite a lost item with its owner. But I found it hard to connect with the story in a meaningful way. Each puzzle felt isolated, more like a series of tasks than a journey. There’s plenty of puzzle variety, from cyphers and riddles to jigsaws and tangrams, but most of them dragged on longer than my companion or I would have liked. We found ourselves grinding to get through each chapter, instead of losing ourselves in the story.

This last part is a minor (but important) quibble for at-home immersive: I found the instructions super wordy and hard to scan. For a game with such a charming, inviting style, this was a letdown — it made the experience feel more like work than play.

That said, this is a great game for people who love (and I mean LOVE) solving puzzles. If you were the kid who asked for extra homework or enjoyed breaking down complex problems just for the fun of it, Lint Condition has a lot to offer. The varied challenges and high production quality make it a strong choice for dedicated puzzle enthusiasts who love immersive set dressing but aren’t bothered by character or motivation.

In the end, Lint Condition is a game that looks fantastic and offers clever mechanics, but it never fully pulls you into its world. If you’re after puzzles for the sake of puzzles, this will keep you busy. But if you’re looking for an immersive story, you might feel like something’s missing.

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— Leah Davis, New England Correspondent

The Postpoetic Machine — Theatre Lab
Free; New York, NY; Run concluded

Artist Mafe Izaguirre’s “The Postpoetic Machine” is an interactive installation piece activated by a series of immersive performances by Izaguirre and other associated artists to explore the shape and aesthetics of language through technology.

In the cozy white box studio, Izaguirre created a series of machines that analyze and interpret language and sound visually, whether that’s through methods like pulsing lights that react to electromagnetic energy or a projection of rings that alter in size depending on the amplitude of noise in the room.

She describes these creations as part of a larger laboratory, a world of experiments she’s devising to better understand and think through “pre-linguistic expressions.” In using the machines to mediate this journey, Izaguirre also examined human-machine relationships.

Over the course of the installation’s one week period on-view, four different performance artists brought the machines to life. I attended Izaguirre’s opening night performance, in which she silently and almost ritualistically took us through a handful of them.

Her persona interacting with the pieces was mysterious, well-meaning, fussy, strange, and ultimately very human. We watched as she frustratingly but determinedly uncoiled and recoiled a mess of metal wires and fashioned herself an outfit out of the bushel and then walked up to the other machines to activate them.

In one particularly meaningful moment, Izaguirre motioned for groups of audience members to grab onto her and each other, making an interconnected ring that affected the blinking lights on a small hand-held contraption she had devised.

While her movements and interactions may initially seem foreign and experimental in this laboratory she’s devised, ultimately anyone who interfaces with technology daily — and that’s just about everybody at this point — might relate to her frustrations and elations when things go wrong and right.

Her post-performance talkback was particularly insightful and can be found here for anybody interested in the creative process and inspirations of Mafe Izaguirre.

If her space is a laboratory, then she’s the perfect scientist at its clearly brilliant and charmingly mad helm.

— Alec Zbornak, NYC Correspondent

WHERE WE MET- Unwired Dance Theatre
From £10, London, UK; Current Run Concluded

Where We Meet by Unwired Dance Theatre takes place in an empty black box theatre. A spotlight marks the spot for each of the three dancers. Wearing headphones, attached to a tracking device, connects you to the three different narrative strands, depending on your proximity to the performer and their circle of light.

You can walk around the space, able to hear the ‘thoughts’ of each performer concerning their mental health. One might be in a panic about work, another worrying about their body and the third reveling in the joy of dancing in a club. You can float in and out of these narratives or just stand by a single spotlight and hear the whole monologue. Sometimes, thanks to your positioning, you can hear two voices at once.

There are moments when the set recordings can be diverted by the dancers, controlled by wrist-mounted devices which help control interactions. We are given instructions, such as to breathe deeply or sway back and forth. It’s intimate and a bit mystical, almost feeling like we are communicating telepathically. It is a strange delight to know your scene has ended because they have physically pushed the button.

Ticketing gives the option to be an active participant or be seated. We were all active participants so I didn’t see what a ‘Seated’ ticket would offer an audience member. Subsequent research reveals a tablet would allow those seated to choose and switch which audio track they listened to. The cost is an extra £8 to be an active member of the show. You literally pay to play.

With a duration of half an hour there are plenty of opportunities for moments of personal connection. Wryly smiling while the pre-recorded dialogue of the dancer tells you, “Yes, you’re doing a good job”, as you both swirl and twirl around the space. There is a chance at the end to just be present with your fellow audience member participants.

The three monologues are interesting, especially with the slightly fractured nature as you float from dancer to dancer and the dancers, while seeming to have a range of inviting interactions, are very talented and energetic.

While this run has concluded, it will be restaged at the Cockpit Theatre in London from 28th February to 2nd March.

— Thomas Jancis, London Correspondent

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