8 pieces of art you should check out during HUBweek
From graffiti and VR to pop-up music performances, don't miss these impactful HUBweek exhibits.
HUBweek runs from October 8 to 14 this year, bringing innovation, technology, and design to downtown Boston. It’s not all panels and forums, though: Artists play an important role in contributing to the experience, whether that means spray painting the side of a shipping container or working with architects to build an immersive live art show.
Here are eight art exhibits and performances worth checking out:
We the Future: A Public Art Exhibition
Also known as Container Village, this public art exhibition will adopt the 2018 theme “We the Future” as artists transform shipping containers into individual works of art. Visitors will be able to stop by the Crystal Cave, where neon, blacklight, handcrafted paper crystals, and even special smells are used to create “Neon Dream;” or walk through “A Father’s Lullaby,” where men and fathers will contribute multimedia commentary on the role of men raising children. (Wednesday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 13 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.)
HUBweek Walls
Other shipping containers will be works of art themselves, as local and national artists will create murals on containers outside the festival site (but still within City Hall Plaza) in an exhibition dubbed “HUBweek Walls.” Spanish street artist Okuda San Miguel will be the Feature Wall artist, with a piece that comments on the relationship between humans and animals. (Wednesday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 13, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
INTRDR
Artist Tomek Sadurski and design firm CBT have teamed up to create an immersive live drawing experience that allows viewers to see abstract imagery come to life. Held in the Immersive Dome, the dome will serve as “the canvas of each drawing,” said Sadurski. “Some of [the drawings] will appear to last for a moment, maybe they will be a collage, but then they will start to turn into more complex themes.” This surreal exhibit is bound to bend your mind. (Wednesday, Oct. 10 and Thursday, Oct. 11 from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12 through Sunday, Oct. 14 from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
Signature Performance: When The Sidewalk Ends featuring Cliff Notez
Boston rapper and artist Cliff Notez will perform with an ensemble of brass and string instruments for an hour on Saturday evening, combining hip-hop with jazz and blues in a commentary on black resilience and surviving racial trauma. (Saturday, Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.)
Stories Under the Stars
This popular series will return for another run of storytelling, music, and radio to explore the theme “Light in the Dark” within the Immersive Dome. As scenes of the cosmos are depicted onto the dome, moving stories about how light affects us in personal and scientific ways will be shared with the audience. (Wednesday, Oct. 10 through Sunday, Oct. 14 from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.)
Illusion Rooms
In the same vein of Refinery29’s Instagram-driven 29Rooms, Illusion Rooms brings creativity and color (and, let’s face it, all the IG likes) to life by transforming shipping containers into artistic optical illusions. Get your camera ready for Andy Bablo’s 50s retro living room, Cyrille Conan’s geometric abstract “razzle dazzle” room, and more trippy visuals. (Wednesday, Oct. 10 through Saturday, Oct. 13 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Modulate Live – Dance Party
This party will be all about the art of dance. As musicians perform live music using synthesizers and drum machines inside the Immersive Dome, visuals created in real time will sync up with the sounds. Your only job is to feel the rhythm and act accordingly. (Saturday, Oct. 13 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.)
Pop-Up Performance: Liminal Activations
A handful of pop-up performances will be taking place at City Hall Plaza throughout the week, but “Liminal Activations” is the only one that will focus on the current state of the natural world. During the scored nighttime performances, MEEK Production dancers will use objects and interactions with the public in an effort to encourage viewers to think about solving our environmental issues. (Thursday, Oct. 11 and Friday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
