This fall, Chris Wink, a co-founding performer, writer, director, and composer of Blue Man Group, will bring “Wink World: Portals To The Infinite” to AREA15, the experiential entertainment complex opening September 2020 in Las Vegas.
Wink World draws on Wink’s well-honed skills as an experience designer, music composer, and overall purveyor of high-impact visual entertainment. However, the experience will take the entertaining fusion of whimsy, color, art, technology, and music he pioneered with Blue Man Group to the next level. Wink’s penchant for transforming everyday objects into art or entertainment will also be on display, as ceiling fans become kinetic art pieces, and children’s toys like Slinkies and Hoberman spheres transform into a chorus line of dancers and entertainers.
“With Wink World, I’m aspiring to introduce visitors to a fantastical world full of vivid color, surprising changes of state, and surreal, mind-bending imagery that I hope will be more than just entertaining,” Wink said. “I also hope it will be inspiring, and perhaps even a bit mind-expanding.”
Described as psychedelic art house meets carnival funhouse, Wink World is Wink’s most ambitious art and entertainment project since he departed Blue Man Group in 2017. The 1,500-square-foot experience presents elements that illustrate the sublime yet playful sensibility embodied in all of Wink’s work. It will explore the concept of infinity in a variety of conceptual and aesthetic ways, including six infinity-mirror rooms, each featuring a stunning production number that highlights Wink’s love of black light and dynamic stage effects that inspire wonder.
“I’ve always been a fan of infinity illusion boxes and infinity rooms, such as those by the artist Yayoi Kusama,” Wink said. “In the last few years, I’ve become obsessed with the idea of adding motion, music, and whimsy to this already aesthetically arresting format.”
On a technical level, these mirror rooms will also chart new territory for the illusion that promises a glimpse into the infinite, but is obstructed by the viewer. To solve this age-old problem, Wink purposefully designed his rooms to eliminate the viewer’s reflection, thereby enabling guests to “get out of their own way” and offering a less obstructed view of infinity.
The custom painting for the Wink World entrance was created by psychedelic artist Alex Aliume and features one eye that is open and looking out at the world, and another eye that’s closed and looking within. Fans of Aliume’s well-known blacklight paintings will be rewarded when they enter the sixth and final room containing 30 new Aliume kinetic artworks.
Wink World’s fall 2020 opening date will be announced soon. For more information and to inquire about purchasing tickets, follow WinkWorldOfficial on Facebook, and WinkWorldOfficial on Instagram.