IMAGINE stepping into a magical world made out of monumental inflatable structures designed to generate a sense of wonder at the beauty of light and colour.
Architects of Air is a Nottingham-based company that build luminaria, large-scale inflatable PVC structures that take six months to complete, last for 300 exhibition days and have visited over 30 countries since 1992.
This year they are bringing their structure Amococo to the Earagail Arts Festival as the Architects of Air celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Amococo is the most labyrinthine luminarium, featuring 86 triaxial domes and 71 pods that create a complex of pathways where the visitors may happily lose themselves.
Built in 2008, Amococo’s common visual motif is the ‘oculus’ – an ovoid window that allows light to gently diffuse into the domes.
This is most strikingly effective in the cupola of the central dome where the ceiling resonates with iridescent rainbow hues.
Amococo is the luminarium with the potential to be set up in a very long narrow configuration approaching 80 metres in length.
Visitors remove their shoes before entering an airlock. Once inside they can wander freely through labyrinthine tunnels and cavernous domes, or just lay back and enjoy the ambience of the structure.
Vivid reflections of liquid colour spill across the curved walls creating a world apart from the normal and everyday, many people comparing the experience as if walking through a stained glass window, a futuristic space station, or inside a gigantic strange breathing but comforting creature.
Festival Director, Paul Brown said: “Amococo is something everyone will enjoy – bring your kids, bring your granny, bring a friend but don’t miss out on this great event.”
If you would like to find out more about this event and others taking place during the Earagail Arts Festival, get your copy of the festival brochure or log onto www.eaf.ie