Springboard Collective is bringing their latest interactive art installation to Gallery 5 in the form of a game show with a thousand-dollar prize.
First Fridays in Richmond has always been a great time to visit some of the local galleries, socialize with friends, and enjoy some local art… but add a $1,000 giveaway and an interactive art exhibition, and First Fridays just got a lot more interesting.
Gallery 5, an art gallery and music venue in Jackson Ward, will be hosting a special interactive art exhibition brought by Springboard Collective.
Springboard Collective produces interactive, immersive exhibitions, and encourages their audience to get involved. Originating from New York, Danny Crump and Sarah Dahlinger are co-directors of the production. They’ve collaborated with many different artists for shows in New York, Philadelphia, and now Richmond.
“Because Gallery 5 is also a music venue, we’re making it more of a performative installation, and the $1,000 competition is more of a show,” Crump said. “There will be a lot of sculptural installations as well.”
The two have been involved in such exhibitions as Rinkworm, a week-long pop-up roller rink, and One Spa on a Time, a 60-hour spa resort installation at the Flux Factory in NYC.
According to Crump, there can sometimes be more than 20 artists involved in one exhibition. “Many of our projects tend to have a performative aspect, both interactive and in a programmatic way,” Crump said. The way this works is that Springboard invite specific artists to create a show or a performance art piece within the context of their installations.
The competition that takes center stage at this installation is in the form of a single-elimination bracket-style tournament, with 64 possible entries. Each participant has a 1-in-64 chance to win $1,000. It’s set to be part of the performative aspect of the installation, and will be geared like a game show, such as Legends of the Hidden Temple.
“Playing with people’s expectations is a big part of the transformation of this space, and that helps to create an escape,” Crump said.
According to Dahlinger, their projects tend to bring people out for a variety of different reasons — and though it is sometimes a risk to encourage so much audience participation in their work, everyone who attends is nonethless encouraged to engage at their own pace.
“With this one, the core idea being a $1,000 competition, we’re hoping to stay cryptic with what that entails,” said Crump. “But we can say essentially that if you can play rock-paper-scissors, you can compete in this tournament.”
“For us, artistically and creatively, I think the gesture of giving away $1,000 is generous,” Dahlinger said. “A lot of our projects are really generous, and the spaces all get built from the ground up.”
Dahlinger and Crump said they will be starting the setup of the installation this week as they come into Richmond. They’d like to invite people to come by Gallery 5, check out what they’re up to, and help out with the setup.
Gallery 5 is located on 200 West Marshall St, and doors will open for Springboard Collective’s installation at 6pm on Friday, August 2. The competition will begin at 8pm, followed by an after-party and award ceremony at 9pm. For more info, click here.
Top Photo via Springboard Collective