The Rain Room
Jackalope Pavilion, Corner of Fitzroy and Ackland Street, St Kilda
https://www.jackalopehotels.com/art/rainroom
Ticket Available until April - for all ages.
I love the rain. Maybe it's because I'm a country girl, maybe I'm just strange, but rain makes me happy. Okay, it's not so good when it's torrential and you're stuck without an umbrella and you need to be somewhere, but any other time, rain is awesome.
So when you tell me that there is a place you can go where you can walk in the rain and not get wet, I was going to happen.
According to the website, The Rain Room is:
"A 100 square metre field of continuous rainfall, Rain Room is a responsive environment engaging all the senses, allowing you to be fully immersed in the rain while simultaneously protected from it. A globally significant work, Rain Room seeks to explore how human relationships to each other and nature are increasingly mediated through technology."
In less wanky language, it's a room, where it rains and you can walk through the rain and not get wet. Sensors pick up where you are on the floor and it doesn't rain around you.It's very cool.
It is very, very cool.
Your ticket gets you 20 minutes in the Rain Room. When you turn up, your belongings stowed in lockers, you are taken into a vestibule. The guide gives you a bit of a talk - mainly they tell you to move slowly when you're in the space and to beware of people getting too close to you as you might get wet. They then take you into this darkened space, illuminated only by a single light at the end of the pavilion. And it's raining. Proper rain, not some passing shower. The rain you get in Bali. The rain we used to get when I was a kid. Rain that would keep you inside with a book and a cup of tea for an afternoon.
Walking into the installation, the rain parts around you. It's still raining around the place, but you are dry. It's all driven by motion detection sensors,which locate you on the grid which then stops it raining over you.
This left me with a huge smile on my face. It was sunny and in the late 20s when I entered the room. The temperature dropped ten degrees and it was happily damp. If you stand in the middle of the mat and close your eyes, you feel like you're in the middle of the weather. It's a joy to watch people find the boundaries of the area keeping them dry. It's fun when you do get by the odd droplet. Moving too fast and you're guaranteed to get drenched - so it goes a bit against the grain - as most of us move faster when it starts to rain.
It was a strange experience. Worth every cent of the entry fee. There is something very raw about standing around in a dark room in the rain.
Then all too quickly it was over. A quick trip around the gift shop and then back out into the light and the heat. I was sad to leave.
I'd like to go back again and share the experience. Now that they are releasing more tickets, this may happen.
(Images are mine, from the phone)
Today's Song:
Jackalope Pavilion, Corner of Fitzroy and Ackland Street, St Kilda
https://www.jackalopehotels.com/art/rainroom
Ticket Available until April - for all ages.
I love the rain. Maybe it's because I'm a country girl, maybe I'm just strange, but rain makes me happy. Okay, it's not so good when it's torrential and you're stuck without an umbrella and you need to be somewhere, but any other time, rain is awesome.
So when you tell me that there is a place you can go where you can walk in the rain and not get wet, I was going to happen.
According to the website, The Rain Room is:
"A 100 square metre field of continuous rainfall, Rain Room is a responsive environment engaging all the senses, allowing you to be fully immersed in the rain while simultaneously protected from it. A globally significant work, Rain Room seeks to explore how human relationships to each other and nature are increasingly mediated through technology."
In less wanky language, it's a room, where it rains and you can walk through the rain and not get wet. Sensors pick up where you are on the floor and it doesn't rain around you.It's very cool.
It is very, very cool.
Your ticket gets you 20 minutes in the Rain Room. When you turn up, your belongings stowed in lockers, you are taken into a vestibule. The guide gives you a bit of a talk - mainly they tell you to move slowly when you're in the space and to beware of people getting too close to you as you might get wet. They then take you into this darkened space, illuminated only by a single light at the end of the pavilion. And it's raining. Proper rain, not some passing shower. The rain you get in Bali. The rain we used to get when I was a kid. Rain that would keep you inside with a book and a cup of tea for an afternoon.
Walking into the installation, the rain parts around you. It's still raining around the place, but you are dry. It's all driven by motion detection sensors,which locate you on the grid which then stops it raining over you.
This left me with a huge smile on my face. It was sunny and in the late 20s when I entered the room. The temperature dropped ten degrees and it was happily damp. If you stand in the middle of the mat and close your eyes, you feel like you're in the middle of the weather. It's a joy to watch people find the boundaries of the area keeping them dry. It's fun when you do get by the odd droplet. Moving too fast and you're guaranteed to get drenched - so it goes a bit against the grain - as most of us move faster when it starts to rain.
It was a strange experience. Worth every cent of the entry fee. There is something very raw about standing around in a dark room in the rain.
Then all too quickly it was over. A quick trip around the gift shop and then back out into the light and the heat. I was sad to leave.
I'd like to go back again and share the experience. Now that they are releasing more tickets, this may happen.
(Images are mine, from the phone)
Today's Song:
1 comment:
Hi Pand,
If you like that you would LOVE Manchester. As you can guess I hate rain, which may make you wonder why I live here ...
:o)
Cheers
PM
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