TEMPE, AZ — Arizona State University students within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts have partnered with ASU Gammage and a few professional technology companies to build and create a drive-thru sensory art experience inside a parking garage in Tempe.
Called "designspace," the mile-long drive-thru art museum features more than a dozen art installations across four levels of the parking structure, some designed and created by ASU students, that blend flashing lights, strobe lights, projections, LED screens, and sounds.
The art experience opens Friday evening, April 9, and is scheduled to run through April 25.
Showtimes are at 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Tickets are $45 per vehicle, which includes processing fees, and can be bought at ASUGammage.com/designspace.
"The theme is space, whether that’s the space between people, like you and me, space on earth, outer space, the oceans, and just sort of how our idea and relationship to space has changed with the advent of technology, and particularly because of the pandemic, and how that sort of affected our ideas of personal space and the space around us," said Hailey Featherstone, co-creative director at Lightswitch, A Chicago, Illinois-based design company. They also worked with Video West and Hybycozo.
Featherstone said they wanted to work with ASU design students to give them a real-life experience in the industry, working with professionals and professional equipment, something that is tough already, but even tougher during the pandemic.
"How we interact with each other as professionals, to meet with us to understand the attitude and the work ethos that it takes to really be successful in this industry, as well as how to do things on the multi-lateral levels within the industry," Featherstone said of the learning experience. "How to lay cable, how to set up lighting, how to program a counsel, how to work with a media server. How to pitch, present, and then deliver a project for a professional team."
