Editor’s Pick: A Holiday Multiverse at Artechouse
ARTECHOUSE's immersive 'Spectacular Factory: The Holiday Multiverse' is stuffed full with "everyone's favorite holiday themes."
“As a kid, I always wondered what it would be like if you were in the world of the Nutcracker, not just watching the performance of the ballet from seats in a theater,” Tati Pastukhova told Metro Weekly in 2017.
At the time, ARTECHOUSE, the pioneering digital art gallery that she and her husband Sandro Kereselidze opened earlier that year, had just debuted the first Christmas-themed immersive exhibit, Imaginary World of the Nutcracker.
Since then, the popular venue has become known for its cutting-edge, technology-driven art exhibitions and experiences, all presented in its lair-like underground office space located a few blocks north of the Wharf in the same stretch of Southwest as the historic luxury hotel complex recently relaunched as the Salamander Washington D.C.
This weekend sees the opening of ARTECHOUSE’s latest “immersive and enchanting holiday experience,” this one promising a festive fantasyland that goes far beyond the classic toy-driven ballet of the original.
In fact, SPECTACULAR FACTORY: The Holiday Multiverse is stuffed full with “everyone’s favorite holiday themes,” a litany that includes “a thousand nutcrackers…a thrilling train ride through wreaths [and a] candy cane carousel.”
The official description also notes that “visitors will float among giant swinging jingle bells,” which suggests that one-horse open sleighs are yet another casualty of the global supply chain crisis.
Developed by ARTECHOUSE Studio, the experience makes full use of a custom-made system of state-of-the-art technologies, including multi-channel floor-to-wall panoramic projection and multi-channel spatialized audio, that allow for “total metaverse-like immersion.”
In addition to the main installation, SPECTACULAR FACTORY is complemented by interactive auxiliary galleries.
Additional elements will be activated by guests scanning designated gift boxes using the ARTECHOUSE XR app on their mobile devices — including the chance to visit a toy factory assembly line as well as the ability to collect small trinkets and rewards redeemable for prizes.
And no ARTECHOUSE experience is truly complete without a stop to the XR bar to try the “range of specialty holiday-themed cocktails augmented by enchanting XR experiences.”
On display through January 8, 2023. ARTECHOUSE DC is at 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Tickets are $17 to $25. Visit www.artechouse.com.
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