Mark Megahan
You don’t need to drop a tab or six to appreciate this trippy interactive exhibit. Even without psychedelics, the “Otherworld” experience is surreal. If you do illegally choose to push the envelope full electric, do it responsibly, with friends to keep you out of trouble. For adventures like that, it’s best to have one friend along who’s also indulging and another who can guide you to an exit, should things turn out too intense.
Otherworld interactive exhibit
If you happen to find yourself in Philadelphia, there’s an “immersive art and entertainment space.”
It offers one exhibit after another guaranteed to blow your mind. From floors of shifting liquid light, to sacks of who knows what – dangling and wobbling around, to an immersive wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, 3D Asteroids game.
Located on Grant Avenue, just off Roosevelt Boulevard, “Otherworld describes this extremely unique installation.” The fully immersive exhibit is described as “a world where anything is possible. A place with no rules, only your imagination to guide you through countless rooms of large-scale interactive art, mixed reality playgrounds, and secret passageways that await you in their surreal landscape of science fiction and fantasy.”
Adding a couple microdots and maybe some windowpane into the mix can really liven things up.
Local radio personality turned art reviewer Brent Porche took a tour which totally blew his mind. He’s enthusiastically confirming the exhibit lives up to its claims.
“It was all that and much more! So many cool rooms and interactive exhibitions throughout Otherworld’s massive space. It’s like a massive trippy museum, where everything is interactive.” By everything, he means “everything from the carpet to the walls and all the cool lights and characters are all part of the sensory experience.”
Another one in Ohio
Philadelphia’s Otherworld is actually the second psychoactive exhibit of its kind. “The first, and only other Otherworld immersive art experience was opened in 2019 in a 32,000-square-foot space, in Columbus Ohio.”
The creators “teamed up with Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group to bring Otherworld Philadelphia to life in Northeast Philly.”
As Porche describes, “it’s like taking any of your favorite scenes and environments from your favorite fantasy movies and bringing them to life.” The exhibit has one sensory warping experience after another to enjoy, with or without psychedelic enhancement.
“There are interactive puzzles and games located throughout the massive space, some of which are hidden and it’s up to you to follow the puzzle’s path to completion.”
This isn’t a quickie tour. “Plan on taking at least a couple hours on your journey inside Otherworld.”
“There is so much to see and experience in every room, that you will definitely circle back around the exhibits a few more times to see and feel things you may have missed initially.” The exhibit features are too numerous to describe in detail. but the images are intriguing.
