It's a mini-world of giant colorful spheres, surrounded by palm trees, tropical plants, adirondack chairs, wicker tables, and the soothing sounds of the ocean. 

 

Welcome to Vacation Planet. It's the work of digital mixed-media artist Anne Spalter.    

"Bubbles of memory of vacation and warm weather and the ocean and pool side and palm trees," Spalter says.

The public art installation takes up an 8,300-square-foot space in the mixed-use building at 25 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.

MORE FEATURES:

If you look closely at these giant memory balloons, these are images based on footage shot by Spalter in Miami and other tropical locations. They take on a new life existing around these big orbs.  

"They are all based on digital video, and they are sort of high-resolution still images from the digital video," Spalter says.

The spheres, the biggest one with a diameter of 16 feet, have a rubber inside membrane with a parachute-like material on the outside that the images are digitally printed on.  

 

 

Spalter is an academic pioneer, founding the original digital fine arts programs at both Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1990s, and she has been intergrating art and technology for decades.    

"It's easier now than it used to be," she says. "There used to be a lot of hostility about it, but it certainly has become more welcome than it has been in the past."

 

 

 

Vacation Planet is presented by Wallplay Network, a company that operates and programs vacant commercial spaces with pop-up experiences. This expands on a concept she presented a few years ago at Manhattan's Children's Museum of the Arts.       

"Anyone can come in and hang out and experience the artwork," Spalter says. 

You can visit Vacation Planet for free. It's here through February 2. The entrance is on Wythe Avenue between North 12th and North 13th Street. 

 

 

 

To find out more, head to annespalter.com.