Commissioned by the Luminato Arts Festival in Toronto
Toronto, Canada
June 15-June 20, 2010
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
December 2010
The High Line, New York
June 8-July 5, 2011
Rainbow City Roller Rink, Detroit, MI
November 30, 2018-January 27, 2019
Shreveport, LA
November 2-December 8, 2019
Rainbow City was a 40-piece environmental installation addressing the potency of interaction, ritual, and play. Inspired by Holi, a Hindu festival where people smear and drench each other with colors, FriendsWithYou presents a vibrant collection of mutable, air-filled sculptures. Fabricated of intensely colored materials, the installation encouraged visitors to be active and explore – subsequently, inventing their own ritual. The individual structures were simple, minimal forms, borrowing aesthetics from toy-like geometry and design. Each element towered over guests with height ranges from ten to forty feet. By dwarfing the audience, the totemic pieces triggered a sense of reverence, similar to the visual objective of a monolithic monument. During interaction, the inflated sculptures “embraced” visitors, while repetitive sound elements further enhanced the sensory experience. The overall installation created a surreal landscape of psychedelic scenery intended to simultaneously provoke a religious and childlike awareness. Rainbow City invited spectators to participate with a responsive environment, offering an opportunity to connect physically and psychologically with an energetic, yet ephemeral, setting.
A modified version of the “Rainbow City” Roller Rink was exhibited in Detroit, MI.
Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), Shreveport, LA
2019
November 2 - December 8, 2019
“Rainbow City” in Shreveport was a place to make new friends and entertain families during a six-week, fun-filled festival, as the people of Shreveport celebrated the grand opening of the City’s first urban greenspace—CADDO COMMON, located downtown in the Shreveport Common Neighborhood.
Academy Award-Winning Animation Artist William (Bill) Joyce said, ““Rainbow City” is not just balloons and bouncy houses. It’s a place about possibility, about heart, about innocence, and hope. “Rainbow City” is about the power of art to open up and change everyone’s way of thinking about Art as a vital part of our community and culture. “Rainbow City” is especially a place about the power to transform children into artistically attuned adults.”
SRAC also brought Sam & Tury to Northwest Louisiana as Artists-In-Residence to share their message and to share RAINBOW CITY. They worked with area artists, children, neighbors and residents of social service organizations in the neighborhood where the new CADDO COMMON is located to help them see how art has the power to transform a community.
High Line Park, New York City
2011
“Rainbow City” was exhibited in NYC in celebration of the opening of section two of the High Line Park that runs through the Chelsea gallery district. This interactive installation is a major public art installation and was on display for an entire month blossoming from the concrete jungle. It featured an exclusive pop-up shop where limited-edition art products designed by FWY for AOL were available and a summer long activity zone with food and beverage located adjacent to the installation site.
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
2010
“Rainbow City” was presented alongside Paper Magazine and Pharrell Williams for ABMB.
“Rainbow City” was a forty-piece collection of mutable, inflatable sculptures that became an environmental installation addressing the potency of interaction, ritual, and play. Originally commissioned by Luminato Festival of the Arts in Toronto and inspired by the Hindu festival “Holi”, we fabricated the sculptures from intensely colored and receptive materials and encouraged visitors to be active and explore, inventing their own rituals. The individual structures were simple, minimal forms that borrowed aesthetics from toy-like geometry and design. The structures towered over guests, as each element’s height ranges from ten to forty feet. By dwarfing the audience, the totemic pieces triggered a sense of reverence, like the visual of a monolithic monument. During performance, the inflated sculptures “embraced” visitors, while repetitive sound elements further enhanced the sensory experience. The overall installation created a surreal landscape of psychedelic scenery intended to simultaneously provoke a religious and childlike awareness. “Rainbow City” was visited by an estimated 20,000 people over the course of five days.
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL, 2010
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL, 2010
Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL, 2010
Luminato Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada
2010
Over the course of two amazing weeks, FWY covered Toronto with color and happiness for people from all around the world to experience during the Wish Come True Festival. “Rainbow King” blessed all of Toronto, beginning with “Rainbow City”, the magical interactive wonderland in Queens Park. As part of the activation, we also unveiled two new sculptural pieces called “Starburst” and “Secret Garden” during the opening of Day Dreamers at Narwhal Art Projects. We also hosted a signing and pop-up shop at Magic Pony.
Luminato Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2010
Luminato Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2010
Luminato Arts Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2010