AUSTIN, Texas - A variety of new fantastical destinations have been added to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport through a public art installation.
The installation, named "Interimaginary Departures", is located between Gates 12 and 14, at Gate ∞ [infinity symbol].
Brooklyn-based artist Janet Zweig created the immersive and interactive artwork that takes the form of a regular gate at the airport but is much more mysterious than meets the eye. Travelers who interact with the installation experience audio and visual elements that make them feel as if they've stepped into an alternate world.
Two screens display rotating flight information for hundreds of imaginary destinations, from The Wizard of Oz's Emerald City to Gallifrey, the home world of Doctor Who's Time Lords. An overhead loudspeaker comes on every three minutes to share boarding information updates on the amusing fictitious locations.
Inspiration for the artwork came from 3-D computer rendering, science fiction and fantasy, and The City by China Mieville, a novel about two cities existing within the same space.
"The opportunity to transform a hold room in an airport into a magical space has never been offered to an artist," wrote Zweig, in the project’s design narrative. "It will be a one-of-a-kind artwork, and will distinguish the airport as a unique location for experiential art and a place with a playful sense of humor."
A cast bronze touch screen kiosk is also in the transformed hold room, in which travelers can take part in a brief survey of quirky questions such as, "Are more things smaller than you or larger than you?" which results in a souvenir boarding pass to an interimaginary destination being printed out to the traveler.
The art installation was commissioned by the City of Austin's Art in Public Places Program and funded through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's Terminal Expansion Capital Improvement Budget. It was made possible through the City of Austin's Economic Development Department, which oversees the Art in Public Places Program which allocates 2% of eligible capital improvement project budgets to commission or purchase art for that site.
Acting Director for the City of Austin Economic Development Department says that "Interimaginary Departures" is one of the most complex art projects they have ever commissioned, and that it was a combined effort of hard work between the project's artists Janet Zweig, local Austin fabricators and the City of Austin staff.
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