Los Angeles Balloon Museum Debuts with Engaging and Immersive Attractions for Guests

# Elevating Art: Balloon Museum’s *Let’s Fly* Exhibition Touches Down in Los Angeles

Balloon art has evolved significantly since the groundbreaking balloon experiments initiated by the Montgolfier brothers in 18th-century France, when their inventive hot air balloon marked the beginning of human flight. Fast forward to the present day, and balloons now enhance not only tangible objects but also ignite the imagination. In recent decades, balloons have emerged as a favored medium for artistic expression, with contemporary creators utilizing them in innovative and pioneering methods. At this moment, balloon and inflatable art is being honored in a substantial way at the *Let’s Fly* exhibition, organized by the Balloon Museum, which has recently arrived in Los Angeles.

### A Worldwide Exploration of Inflated Marvels

The *Let’s Fly* exhibition, which first launched in Rome in 2021 and has since traveled to prominent cities such as Madrid, London, and New York, has captivated over 4.4 million attendees with its visually stunning, immersive installations. The Los Angeles stop, hosted at Ace Mission Studios, features an extensive array of works from more than 20 globally recognized artists specializing in balloon art and inflatable installations. The exhibition is an intriguing mix of creativity, science, and art, providing a fresh and fascinating approach for individuals to engage with air, light, color, and form.

### Highlighted Masterpieces of the Skies

Among the prominent installations in *Let’s Fly* are several that encourage interactivity, turning the audience from passive observers into active participants.

#### Tadao Cern’s *BB* (2023)

One of the most remarkable pieces showcased in *Let’s Fly* is Tadao Cern’s *BB* (2023). Cern, celebrated for his explorations of forces such as air and gravity, presents a breathtaking arrangement of 50 silver balloons suspended among a network of mirrors and lights. The installation ingeniously plays with equilibrium, reflection, and the ethereal lightness of helium-filled balloons. Guests entering this piece are prompted to reflect on their environment while engaging with the artwork through their reflections and the evolving lighting.

#### Karina Smigla-Bobinski’s *ADA* (2017)

Another standout exhibit is *ADA* (2017), an interactive helium sphere crafted by Karina Smigla-Bobinski. The design, while seemingly straightforward, unveils its brilliance through interactivity: the balloon is adorned with graphite spikes, and as it glides and is nudged by visitors, it creates abstract marks on the adjacent walls. The spontaneity of human interaction combined with the balloon’s movement yields dynamic, ever-evolving art—a testament to the unexpected magnificence of creative exploration.

#### Christopher Schardt’s *Mariposa* (2023)

Making its debut at the Balloon Museum in Los Angeles is *Mariposa* by California-based artist Christopher Schardt. Unveiled at the Burning Man festival earlier this year, this radiant work boasts 39,000 full-color LED lights that animate designs across the structure’s surface. Resembling a butterfly in its fragile geometry, *Mariposa* invites visitors into a luminous realm, blurring the lines between technology, nature, and art in an inspiring and transcendent experience of color and form.

#### *Hyperstellar* (2023)

Crafted by Hyperstudio in collaboration with Quiet Ensemble and Roman Hill, *Hyperstellar* envelops visitors in a celestial adventure. Entering a vast dark pit filled with black rubber balls and gazing upward at the suspended balloons provides a tactile and visual experience akin to floating in space. The minimalist design highlights a void-like ambiance, encouraging participants to orbit through the installation as though they are navigating uncharted cosmic landscapes.

#### Rub Kandy’s *The GINJOs* (2022)

Rub Kandy’s *The GINJOs* infuse the exhibition with humor and playfulness. These bulbous figures, varying in shape and size, are amusing yet slightly unsettling, reminiscent of characters from a fantastical carnival. The vibrant, inflated forms present a moment of joy and curiosity, offering a whimsical interlude from some of the more reflective works.

### Expanding the Horizons of Balloons and Inflatable Art

The allure of *Let’s Fly* resides in its artists’ commitment to experimenting with materials and concepts that elevate traditional balloon forms into sophisticated artistic expressions. Sasha Frolova’s imaginative inflatable sculpture *Fountain of Eternity* (2023), for example, is a remarkable fusion of form and light. The gentle, biomorphic contours of Frolova’s creation blur the boundaries between organic and manufactured, challenging perceptions of what defines a living entity. Comparably, Max Streicher’s refined use of inflated fabric imparts life-like movement to his works, making large structures appear to breathe and undulate.

At the same time, artist Ouchhh’s *AI Dataportal of Atlanta* (2023) investigates the convergence of data, environment,