Mind Games was a one-night-only hybrid event featuring diverse art forms in an arrangement of intermedia, all invested in physical and psychological concentrations and meditations. Each work was engaged in a different way by the audience as a means of creating both contrast and connection through shifting formats. The works collectively explored concepts of focus, forgiveness, dislocation, grief, connection, construction, remembrance, the unconscious, and transcendence.
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Christine Hudson covered an area of the floor with over one hundred thousand handmade porcelain teeth, intended to be traversed by foot. By crossing this sea of ceramic works and reading the artist statement, the work offered understandings relative to personal grief and discomfort.
Mimi Haddon created an encompassing site-specific installation formed out of repurposed material and light, addressing notions of consumption, space, waste, and accessibility. Recycled materials are reformed offering dimensionality and life to the space they inhabit.
In Kiyomi Fukui’s Apologetic Garden, guests were invited to write a letter of apology to whomever they wish, including themselves. Letters were placed in an envelope along with a seed, and then planted in a special garden bed from which a garden grew. This is an exercise in reconciliation—meant to help allow us to forgive others, as well as producing a more verdant life for ourselves.
Rob Brown and Davy Sumner, both artists and sound engineers, created a coordinated soundtrack expanding upon natural reverberation by emphasizing harmonic structure in space through simultaneous instrumentation.
Neil Mathis’s Thoughtitarium is an eight-foot diameter sound-modulating hemisphere fabricated with burlap, plaster, and water. The structure augments the sounds produced by its occupants, providing space for a unique communication experience. This space of communion hearkens aspects of religious architecture and provides an intimate space for personal conversation for two to six people.
Ihab Ali walled off a section of the basement using bricks, which eventually blocked off access to part of his installation over the course of the evening.
Matthew Dumpit created an ephemeral light sculpture by illuminating pieces of seemingly damaged metal, therein revealing a shimmering river of light on the walls of the dark basement.
In a designated space, Sam Medeiros accepted challengers with a handmade wooden chess board requiring participants to drive the knife-like chess pieces into the board with each advancement. This game emphasizes psychological distinctions between participants and viewers.