VortexMama T.
Yelp
Excellent adventure, very zen! We made a Miami day of it. We started out at 11am with lunch at RED ROOSTER, 15 min away! Excellent lunch at Michellin star place by Chef Samuleson. We then headed to SB.
Preface: Not sure if this plafe is truly for kids after 1 hour. I heard many kids complaining. Its very zen. After about 10 minutes in each room, I could see boredom set in for kids under 15/18. I can see this as a great date spot for 30 and above. If you don't enjoy art on walls, skip this!
Tips: wear flats, big warehouse and try to buy groupon. $70 for 2, 1 adult, 1 senior. Bathrooms were very clean! Valet was $10 with ticket. On street parking was difficult but uses app.
Of the 4 exhibits, I enjoyed three.
Room One -
I enjoyed ROOM ONE: Floral Walls were amazing. One flower per month, season. Changes. In 20 min we saw 3 variations.
Room Two - My favorite Room
I enjoyed the light blub room! You put your hand under a sensor and your heartbeat is translated into sounds using BMW technology! The large bean bags were nice to rest on and enjoy the lights above. RAPHAEL was a great doxent who took photos of couples, explained the tech. All the workers
Room Three - EPIC WASTE OF MY TIME but great hype man. The docent was awesome. So let me unwrap this: James Turrell is a great artist Im sure but this exhbit was an epic miss.
First it started to go downhill by the line. After the lights room, you lined up for the JT light exhibit. So why the line? Well there are 6 benches that show a movie of JT. The movie was 100x better than exhibit. Unsure why room wasnt laid out better to accommodate more people. So as you watch movie, they say put in shie booties. Fine. This must be special. Wait for it! Can you feel a decline? Hold on tight
We line up after the film. We are told to file into the room but dont go upstairs. Cool. Must be good. We were led to another room near stairs. HYPE MAN: hes the best thing of the show. He sais "You are in the Centerfield when you crossed threshold. What color is the wall? You will feel the walls go away. You will feel things. Some people see things. Some people will be moved deeply. No photos. Absolutely none. From here on, please whisper!."
He was filled with deep passion.suspense. Hold on, JT is about to give us some major stuff!! I was scared and excited at the same time. No photos? . Oh well, we about to board the mothership. Hurry up! I didnt want to ascend the steps. But I did. He said breathe. Relax.
About 20 of us in this big white room, the lights change slow, one time. Purple to a soft haze. We started breathing. Waiting. Waiting. 3 min. Waiting. Where is it? I looked around to see other sad faces. Faces screamed " WTF". Some people whispered. After 4 minutes, nothing. We look at each other and wanted to laugh. But tried to remain somber. 99% of the room was underwhelmed. Now, I'm "woo", but this this was way "woooo wooo" and nothing. The hype man said "lets turn and go". Wait! Wait! Noooooo. Where is the EXPERIENCE for these shoe covers and long speech.
The artist has a light style called " western minimalist". I think you need to be under an " influence" for this to be an experiience. I'm shocked SB would call that an experience. Lots of disappointed faces, who walked into the ES DEVLIN room with relief! Finally something to enjoy. Her intro moviie was cool. Very little seating, approx 4 to 5 min.
Room 4 - Mirrored Maze ES DEVLIN experience.
Excellent, fun. Upstairss area. Neat way to interact with sound. Great wall. My bf loved this room. He was in love! Great photos! Great job ES!
So you exit near sone cool photography of another "light worker". Then you exit to gift shop and bathrooms. Its not worth more than $30. They want an extra $15 for cloud experience. We skipped being wet, cold, etc to walk in the clouds but saw people in there. I saw 20 yr - 30 yr olds around enjoying it as gal pals or couples. These specific installments are NOT kid enjoyable, a bit too zen. Go toba kids museum. I think this place changes its audience based on the installments. Heard one parent say, " calm dobe, relax, we are leaving soon". He looked 10. Most kids ubder 15 arent doing ZEN for nore than 30 min and forget going into a white room with a hype man and zero experience doing deep breathing. I would lose all my mom cool points if I had my 15 year old endure that light debacle. Id never hear the end of that and it would cost me an after- show bribe! LOL
Great 1.5 hours for $30, a 1x or 2x a year outting, provided the installations change!
Overall, a great afternoon. I think under 30, boredom will set in after 30 min. We are 50nabd 65, so it was enjoyable 1.5 hours to enjoy something different. Most musuens are not interavtive so you just look but dont touch. Here you can sit, reflect, touch. Im not sure when they update or change these artists out so check their site. There was a food truck adjacent with outdoor seating.