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Feel like a kid again. Do what you did again.
Strap on roller skates -- with four fat wheels, not two skinny inline ones -- and glide around a colorful, childlike holiday season pop-up in the lobby level of 1001 Woodward Ave. at the corner of Michigan Avenue.
Two Los Angeles artists designed the playful Rainbow City Roller Rink pictured below. It opens Friday through Jan. 27, sponsored by Bedrock Detroit (the building's owner) and the Quicken Loans Community Fund.⠀
There's no cost for admission on a first-come basis. Skates and lockers are available to rent.
A Michigan Chronicle writer stepped onto the 69-foot by 53-foot skating floor Thursday:
Never a dull day on the job for me. I wake up not knowing what I’m doing in the city today. New Rainbow City Roller Rink opens Friday, free to the public. Skates and all at 1001 Woodward. Bringing Skateland to downtown. I obviously don’t know how to skate. pic.twitter.com/WYIlRBGtzM
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt) November 29, 2018
It's the fifth installation since 2010 of the art-and-recreation project created by Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval, working as a duo called FriendsWithYou. Earlier stops were in Toronto, Miami, New York and Thailand.
Skating hours are 2-9 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays the next two months.
The artists describe their vision in a statement:
A vibrant collection of weightless sculptures is suspended from the ceiling, hanging overhead as skaters traverse the rink’s striped floor and encouraging activity and exploration.
Each balloon-like companion is minimal in form, composed of simple geometry and towering high above. The largest figure in the group features a rotating head and stands at over 30 feet tall, reminiscent of carnivals or revolving signs off West Coast highway roads.
By dwarfing the audience, the totemic pieces trigger a sense of reverence, yet the softness and friendly features of these monoliths are welcoming and warm. The installation creates a surreal landscape intended to provoke an iconic and childlike awareness, and offers an opportunity to connect physically and psychologically with an energetic, ephemeral setting.
Based on the Hindu ritual Holi, the colors are meant to transport visitors to a colorful, happy place as they playt.
Anthony Curis, owner of the Library Street Collective gallery, helped bring the interactive work here. "The art of FriendsWithYou spreads a purity and positivity very rarely experienced outside of childhood, but is created for people of all ages," he posts in a statement. "Their work has the power to take you out of the reality of the day to day and just be in the moment."
-- Alan Stamm
Free public roller skating is offered from 2-9 p.m. five days a week through Jan. 27. (FriendsWithYou photo)
