I am sketching as many events from UCF Celebrates the Arts as possible. The events happen between April 5-14, 2019. Each event is ticketed. I was issued a ticket to see the Creative City Project’s Immersive Projection Installation happening Sunday April 7 between 4pm and 7pm. The projections were to happen in a large black inflatable room set up on the Seneff Plaza in front of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
As Pam and I approached the black monolith we got the definite impression that the area was deserted. We got to the entrance and looked inside to find there was nothing inside but one screen. We double checked our ticket and we were in the right place at the right time. I had sketched Creative City Projections in the past, so I knew what was to be expecting. It was also insanely hot inside what was essentially a black bounce house, minus the bouncing. Had it been a bonce house it would have been more fun. A guard approached and let us know that the monolith would be deflated in a couple of hours. He was nice enough to let us walk around inside to assure us that there was nothing happening. He confided that they don’t let him know anything about scheduling. Being kept out of the loop made his job a bit harder. Clearly the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing with these event organizers.
Rather than claim complete defeat, I decided to sketch the black monolith sitting in the plaza. It was fairly cool under one of the many sun umbrellas. Construction cranes loomed overhead since construction had stopped for the weekend on the northern theater being added to the Dr. Phillips. As I sketched Pam worked on some editing. A few families started to arrive for what seemed to be a children’s play area to the right of the monolith. One performer waved some colorful silks and another tapped his tambourine. The monolith remained a bust.
Six foot tall panels were being assembled for Creative Clash which was scheduled to happen later that day. One panel had a UCF Knight riding in one of the Lake Eola swan boats. Teams of artists were going to compete against each other armed with black markers racing against a clock. The theme would be announced right before competition began. Having just sketched at a No Borders Art Competition which is essentially the same thing, we decided to head home satisfied too have sketched the empty black monolith which remained as a testament to the strange inefficiency of the Orlando visual arts scene.