These photos taken by Oliverr Whiite (spacekitt3n) are documentation of my sensory room installation at a sixteen-and-up rave party that occurred on April 25th, 2015. I wanted my sensory room to be a place that patrons could feel safe, find new ways to interact with each other, and enjoy the party. I asked Oliverr (a well-known local rave photographer) to take photographs of patrons in my sensory room any way he saw fit. I used his photographs as my method of documentation for the project because event photographers are the preferred method for rave documentation through today’s social media. I arranged a selection of his photos from the party based on level of activity, internal or external displays of attention, and environmental interactions of ravers with elements of the sensory room. I chose the elements for my sensory room based on their luminosity, texture, UV-reactive qualities, and affinity to elements of rave culture. I sewed thirteen fabric doughnuts and three large fake fur gummy worms to be hugged and moved around by patrons. My intent was to channel the common rave value system of “Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect” through my work. I would know my sensory room became a space of safety by watching patrons’ actions and emotions, conducting some interviews, and comparing the “vibe” of the space to my wealth of experience from attending other parties.
The artist holding a prism kaleidoscope from the installation.
A pile of yarn from my room eating a raver.
These are some ravers enjoying the environment and posing on a worm for the photographer. A jingle-bell beach ball is sitting on the right, and diagonal striped caution tape hangs vertically down the wall.
A pile of beach balls, doughnuts, a blanket, worm, and raver in my sensory room.
a glowing box of blacklight reactive bb pellets in my sensory room.
A raver hugging one of the inflatable flowers in my sensory room.
Some ravers sprawling across pillows in my environment.
A spontaneous cuddle pile happening in my sensory room.
A quiet moment early in the night (you can tell by how clean the floor is).
Here is an impromptu example of the varied ways ravers dress for a rave party. Some wear color contacts because they like them, to assume new identities, or hide the dilation of their pupils.
Here is a raver wearing a lot of kandi bracelets which visually signify the raver values of "Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect." On the wall is a portion of a two-color screenprint I made on fabric.
A dodgeball fight broke out spontaneously in my sensory room.
A dodgeball fight broke out spontaneously with soft objects in my sensory room.
Here is another angle of the room early on in the night of the party. Some ravers are leaning against the wall underneath large sheets of felt, circles, and spraypainted circles. A pile of peeled-off stickers backs is making the white nested texture in th
A candid moment of surprise happening at the door of my room.
The artist in her sensory room environment, wearing kandi bracelets she has made and others traded to her.
This is an example of my doughnuts being used for fun by young ravers.
Some young ravers early in the night of the rave. Looking around the room and discovering this new space. Some are sitting on a giant stuff fake fur gummy worm that I made.
Here is a larger view of the checkerboard made out of stickers in the corner. I gave directions to my helpers and this is the orientation they chose for the rectangular stickers. There are lengths of neon parachute cord hanging down the wall.
A shot from the end of the party. Ravers are melting into the pillows.
Here a youth has put his head through the center of one of my doughnuts.
An example of raver style and portrait photography that exists within the rave environment.
A massage on doughnuts happening in my room.
Here is a wide shot showing the scale and size of a worm and doughnut pillows in my installation.
Some ravers enjoying my sensory room.
Some ravers with expressions of pure delight on their faces.
The patterns on the wall are spraypainted tiles of neon posterboard. I flipped the tiles every other to make the overall pattern. Each tile is 22"x28". Around the ceiling are tiles of a two-unit repeat stencil where I used pink and blue blended together o
A raver holding his hands in a sign of love.
A pile of ravers and the artist relaxing at the end of the party.
A moment of calm later in the night where most of the people in my room were sitting down.
Here is the bottom portion of the beaded hanging piece I made. 1'x3'. A pile of yarn has bunched together with the sticker backings in the right of the image.
A raver playing with a mass of yarn in my room.
The stickers on the wall are arranged in a stripe pattern. Each sticker has a small stripe pattern on it. They are 1"x6' each. The ball this raver is holding lights up when hit hard against a surface.
Here are some ravers enjoying themselves in my sensory room environment.
Some patrons really enjoyed the things they found in my room. Here they are getting very excited for the photographer. A giant worm is being thrown in the background.
This photograph shows the variation in lighting between different places in the room. The corner has foam stickers arranged into a rainbow checkerboard. Doughnut pillows are on the floor with some jingle-bell beach balls.