‘Air’ born

European ‘luminarium’ alights at Common Ground

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Friday, July 12 — Eight people, six months and 10 miles of
hand-sewn seams add up to one Exxopolis, a “luminarium” art piece that’s the
key sideshow event at Common Ground this weekend.



“Everything you see is (based on) geometry in nature or
monumental buildings,” Kimlin Lucas said, one of the eight builders behind the
piece. “People describe it as being like one of those inflatable (jump houses),
except for adults. But it’s a calm environment. We encourage people to sit (or)
lie down a while. You can even bring a book.”



Architects of Air, the company behind the piece, was founded
by Alan Parkinson, a U.K. artist began experimenting with inflatable sculptures
in the 1980s. Exxopolis is a 20th anniversary creation of the
original version and is the largest to date. Almost 155 feet high and roughly
92 feet long, the piece takes up a soccer field-sized patch of land on the east
side of the Grand River.



This lava lamp-meets-beach ball art inflatable art structure
is a psychedelic maze of loops, turns and nooks. No artificial lighting is
used. All of the panels in the custom-built plastic walls have varying degrees
of translucency to them, allowing the walk-through sculpture to glow in
different colors in sunlight.



The idea behind the pneumatic structure was to create a
dance performance space specifically designed for those with special needs.
When Parkinson found that others were interested in his designs, well, you
could say the idea just ballooned from there.



The Architects of Air luminariums have been exhibited in 43
countries, but this is one of only 11 appearances it will make in North
America. And it already seems to be quite the hit. After it was inflated Friday
afternoon, one of the first visitors was a child who cried and begged not to
leave.


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