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Endless Possibilities Ahead 

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Image Details

B!G ART 

The DOOR(S) 

On display November 4–13, 2022

Calgary, Canada 

What does a door mean to you? Does it evoke feelings of opportunity or anxiety? How did a door become a metaphor for success, failure, opportunity, family, home, change, transition, and so many other moments of emotional connection? After all, it’s just a door. 

The DOOR(S) are prototype gateways to alternate realities and more. Picture a standard front door: white, with a small window at the top and a brushed aluminum handle. Now, picture this door in the middle of a busy road, walkway, or park. If you open the door, you’re sure to know what’s on the other side. However, when you open this door, you can discover an alternate reality. Each time you close and reopen the door, a different experience awaits, bending your imagination to dream, “What if?” 

Canal Convergence and B!G ART are excited to announce the return of one of the fan-favorite installations from Canal Convergence 2021: The DOOR(S). This year’s iteration of The DOOR(S) will once again open to a wide range of “alternate realities,” but with a twist! In addition to opening a portal to one of many experiences, The DOOR(S) will also act as a gateway to past Canal Convergence events and to a real-time livestream at Scottsdale Fashion Square. With one of the doors located at Canal Convergence and the other placed inside Scottsdale Fashion Square, visitors will have the chance to virtually interact with strangers at the other door. 

Biography 

A self-described “artistic charlatan,” Paul Magnuson of B!G ART believes his technical creations are less art and more experiments in alternative, interactive public entertainment. Each piece utilizes accessible, but hacked, consumer technology in unique combinations and unexpected situations to evoke surprise and wonder. Like moths to flames, people are attracted to the glitz and glamor of bright lights, video, lasers, fireballs, and other special effects, interrupting our regularly scheduled lives, and Magnuson wants to be the one who turns on the light. 

B!G ART was invited to participate in the 2022 Canal Convergence as a returning artist in celebration of our 10th anniversary. B!G ART first exhibited at Canal Convergence in 2021 with The DOOR(S).

See these other works by B!G ART at Canal Convergence 2022: The STARQUARIUM and The TUNNEL.

DOOR(S) artwork sponsored by 

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