My friend’s birthday was coming and I wanted to gift her an experience. Artechouse in Miami had COVID-19 restrictions that made me feel safe enough to visit—so I bought tickets to take her there for their current exhibit.
Aqueous is a cool, blue, ocean-inspired multi-media art experience at Artechouse. Far from art hanging on a wall, Aqueous is video production and atmospheric audio. This art makes you feel it emotionally and interact with it in a physical way!
I loved this exhibit and feel lucky to live in a city like Miami with access to art like this. Sometimes, you don’t have to go far to experience something new and creative!
Artechouse Miami
Artechouse is an innovative art space that focuses on installations that are technology driven and include live audio-visual experiences. Their mission is one I can get behind: to “inspire, educate, and empower” new art forms that weave together science, technology, and art.
Located near South Beach, the location for Artechouse Miami is very touristy. Parking is difficult and expensive so its worth it to take an Uber from a lot further away. Alternatively, schedule your ticket for entry on a weekday or early in the day.
I decided to take my friend Victoria for her birthday. I love gifting experiences over material items when I can!
Our ticket was scheduled for the afternoon on a Sunday. This was peak Spring Break time for Miami—lots of out of towners were in the area to enjoy South Beach. Even with COVID-19 in full swing, the area was busy.
Artechouse required timed entry tickets to reduce the number of people inside. They also required masks, temperature check, and included hand sanitizer all over the exhibit. We felt comfortable being there!
Aqueous Exhibit Main Floor
The Aqueous exhibit was open from November 14 to May 2. Inspired by the calming qualities of the color blue, Aqueous focused on experiencing the ocean in a new way. Textures of liquid, the way light reflects off water, and other elements of water-inspired design were laced into the various videos and live, interactive installations all over the space.
The music throughout the space also emulated the way water sounds and the peaceful experience that flowing water brings.
The main room on the first floor of the exhibit includes an over 10-minute video that loops. There are several places to sit around the room to take in the full effect of the experience.
The space is perfect for taking beautiful silhouetted photos with some fun backgrounds!
Aqueous is difficult to describe so I thought it was best to record our experience of it. Watch the video below to get a more complete effect!
A hallway leading away from the main viewing room brought us to a few beautiful installations.
There was only one interactive installation on this floor right next to a beautiful series of glittering blue LEDs.
A room toward the back had walls of what looked like metallic wrapping paper up close. But it created a really cool effect with the blue light bouncing off all its folds. The blue globes in the wall made it feel like I was a fish looking into the port holes of a submarine.
The next room included a giant swirling sphere of liquid that was mesmerizingggggg…
Second Floor Interactive Installations
The second floor had rows of interactive installations. These were various live videos with a different filter at each one. We could walk up to them and see how the filter distorted our image—like video versions of funhouse mirrors!
Some played with lines, others with light, texture, or fluid. All were meant to emulate some aspect of the ocean.
Here is another video so you can see how the interactive installations in this area responded to our live images.
In Conclusion
I really enjoyed the Aqueous art installation at Artechouse. Although the area is very touristy, the space felt tucked away from the major crowds. The space also didn’t seem too busy while there—so their COVID-19 restrictions definitely worked.
Interacting with the installations was fun and it was a great space to get some really great artistic photos of me and my friend. I look forward to returning for some of their future exhibits!
Places continue to open up and I feel safer exploring local art exhibits now that I have my vaccine. I can’t wait to share another art exhibit that many people have been talking about in cities all over the USA! But you’ll have to wait to hear about that one until next time!
