Age Appropriate

Mark Woods

Details

Western Bridge, 3412 Fourth Ave. S., 838-7444, www.westernbridge.org. Free. Thurs.–Sat., noon–6 p.m. Ends August 2.

Related Content

• Age Appropriate: Mungo Thomson's Skyspace Bouncehouse at Western Bridge
  May 15, 2008
• Interactive Art
  July 2, 2008
• Behind-the-Curve Man visits Western Bridge, finds something really funny
  August 3, 2008

More About

• Mungo Thomson

"Everyone outta here over 12!" declares a 10-year-old. "Everyone outta here under 40!" retorts a man decidedly older than 40. The debate took place inside Mungo Thomson's Skyspace Bouncehouse, part of a group show on interactivity titled "You Complete Me." Without people willing to clamber inside it, Thomson's inflated funhouse is just a sad, sagging, state-fair kind of "ride," a little bit preposterous sitting in a gallery. But Thomson's air-filled contraption compels people of all ages to get down to stocking feet and haul themselves up into it. Once inside, you'll be propelled upward by your bouncing neighbors, and will learn to throw your own weight to the floor to test how far back up you'll be flung. A certain aggression might take over, perhaps an unbidden territoriality not uncommon at the playground. The 10-year-old thought he had rights to the whole house simply because he was a kid. And precisely for that reason, and because these air-pumped amusements are very old technology, a few oldsters were suddenly unwilling to give up their room to play. You too can get your intergenerational bounce on. Just play nice.