A new year-long exhibition at San Diego International Airport (SAN) – Intergalactic Dreaming – features 15 installations scattered throughout the airport that explore celestial phenomena and astronomy. Here is a sampling of some of the out-of-this world artwork.
Artwork by Don Porcella. Photo: Pablo Mason courtesy of San Diego International Airport
Collection of Edward Marsh.
Artwork by Sheena Rae Dowling
(All photos by Pablo Mason; Courtesy San Diego International Airport)
It’s going to be a circus at San Diego International Airport.
Clowns, stilt walkers, jugglers and other characters from the San Diego-based Fern Street Circus will be performing at the airport today and then, as part of SAN’s new Performance Arts Residency, they’ll be sticking around for eight months to create, rehearse and perform monthly.
Full-on summer performances are scheduled for June 7 in the T2 West End Gallery, July 21 in T2 baggage claim and Aug. 19 in T1 post-security, but airport officials expect the troupe to be out and about in the terminals quite often.
“They are creating content inspired by the traveler experience, so they will constantly be visible, trying out new ideas and interacting with passengers,” said airport spokesman Johnathan Heller.
When traveling, you sometimes just need a moment – and a place – where you can be quiet, gather your thoughts, reflect and, if that’s your thing, pray.
Impossible at a busy airport?
Not always.
If you look around you’ll find that many airports have small chapels or meditation rooms that will not only fit the bill, but are really lovely spaces.
San Diego International Airport is the latest airport to create a meditation room for travelers and it’s an artist-designed beauty:
Created by Seattle-based artist Norie Sato, The Spirit of Silence is post-security in Terminal 2 and takes inspiration “from the undefinable and changing edge between water and sky, clear and opaque, organic and built.”
The big expansion project at San Diego International Airport’s Terminal 2 doesn’t officially open for business until next Tuesday, August 13, 2013. But when it does, travelers will be treated to close to $6 million of specially created art.
Here’s a preview of a few pieces.
The Journey,” Jim Campbell, Terminal 2 West Courtesy of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
The Journey is the largest new piece of art and and artist Jim Campbell’s largest piece. It’s a light ribbon six feet wide and 700 feet long and made of 38,000 LED lights. If you stand under the ribbon and look up, you’ll see images that include birds in flight and people swimming, dancing and walking.
“Sublimare,” Merge Conceptual Design, elevated departure roadway Courtesy of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
Sublimare, by Merge Conceptual Design (Franka Riehnelt and Claudia Reisenberger), can be seen on the underside of the elevated departure roadway and flanking the ends of the elevated walkways.
What is it? It’s described as “a physical interpretation of a giant kelp forest that alludes to the industrial kelp harvesting in the 1940s and its significance to San Diego’s environment and economy.”
There’s also The Relativator, by Living Lenses (Po Shu Wang and Louise Bertelsen), which is described as an elevator that explores Einstein’s theory of relativity in the sequence of elevator glass.
Here’s how this is explained: “It is essentially a gravity meter that calculates weight and movement affected by speed while traveling between floors. It shows the relation between people riding in the elevator and the movement of the elevator. The calculations are different every time and displayed in binary code.”
And then there are the bathrooms:
“Donde Esta?” Erik Carlson, Terminal 2 West bathroom entry Courtesy of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
For the entry walls of eight new bathrooms, Erik Carlson created interactive videos showing local surfers, skateboarders, roller coasters and more. The longitudinal and latitudinal locations of each beach featured is laminated next to each video display.
There’s more art to see – and more art still to come, so be sure to plan a visit.
In Carnival, Christine Witnik’s black and white photographs are colored with septia tones and hand-painting to create the images of rides, games, toys and environments found at circuses, street fairs and amusement parks from around the world.
Look for it in Terminal 2 East – Gate 22 (post-security) through October 2012
Elsewhere, the San Diego History Center has put together large print photography, objects and artifacts that explore the history of San Diego’s famous fishing industry. (In Terminal 2 East/West Corridor & Terminal 2 West (post-security), through September 2012) and in Children of the Sun, Natasha Kozlova presents portraits of children diagnosed with autism. (Terminal 2 East – Gate 23, Post-security, through October 2012.)
