WELCOME TO WILDCARD: A CARDBOARD COSMOS OF CREATIVITY
There’s a good chance that somewhere in your home right now, maybe collecting dust in a corner or discretely folded behind the fridge, cardboard boxes are sitting in varying states of disrepair. Especially in the era of oneclick delivery, cardboard parcels have become a fixture on doorsteps and in apartment lobbies everywhere. Most of the time, the journey ends there; having served their purpose as transportation devices, they become trash in the waste stream. However, members of the Cardboard Institute of Technology (CIT) would argue that countless fantastical and unknown stories are hidden inside their corrugated walls—you just have to think outside the box. On June 17, the Exploratorium unveiled “Welcome to WildCard” in collaboration with the CIT collective, and just like its name, the exhibit is littered with unexpected discoveries, offkilter reimaginings, and delightful diversions. In addition to the immersive WildCard world, a few other things can be experienced: a retro 50s cafe where nearly everything is comprised of cardboard (except the food), a cardboard cinema showcasing the work of filmmakers and tinkerers who have dabbled in recyclable materials, and a myriad of participatory workshops and events from world-renowned artists. It’s organic, multidisciplinary, and sprawling, and the only way to truly experience it is to dive straight in. Like the best fantasy adventures, WildCard begins with a tunnel to another world. As a visitor, you have no maps or directions—instead you’re greeted by cardboard critters, bats perching on the wall. It becomes evident that this is not a piece of art to be explained, but rather a landscape to explore. Walk a little farther and you’ll come face to face with a massive device known as the “World Builder”: a giant drill spiraled like a single helix, with tiny homes and buildings ornamenting each rung on the strand. Suddenly, it makes sense—the tunnel entryway was created by this spectacular machine. Dozens of moments like this are scattered throughout the exhibit, where seemingly disjointed elements reveal themselves to be in conversation with one another, and searching for them is half the fun. One of those little surprises is a tiny replica of Stonehenge. hidden space,” said Robyn Higdon, director of museum experience. “And I love how it brings up questions of history and movement; there is something beautiful about an ancient stone structure that has withstood centuries being represented in a material that will be recycled again at the end of the summer.” Constructed at their Marin Highlands studio, the CIT collective had no set plan in staging WildCard, and the finished product has the look and feel of sprawling vegetation—beautiful, messy, and operating to its own internal clock. Due to its fragile nature, the Exploratorium is the exclusive home to WildCard, and the show can never really be recreated in the same way again. And the installation is exclusive to the Exploratorium; in order to experience it, visitors will have to get to Pier 15 on the Embarcadero by September 14th, at which point all the cardboard will be recycled, and the world of WildCard will live only in people’s imagination and memory. “I’m looking for a snake, have you seen one?” asked William Lopez Ross, a young boy visiting from Latvia with his family. In his hands, he clutched a laminated scavenger hunt sheet while he meticulously searched the surrounding railroads, ponds, and estuaries. Perhaps that’s the real trick of WildCard: children immediately begin interacting without needing to process the experience as “art.” Garry Carpenter of Napa took a break inside the Wildcard installation that also serves as a platform to discuss issues of deforestation, sustainability, and ways to disrupt the waste stream. Especially in this polarized political landscape, WildCard manages to create a unique and welcoming entry point for a bigger dialogue without asserting an opinion. On the contrary, walking the labyrinthine halls of the exhibit feels like walking through a shared idea of the future—and what that idea means depends on the viewer, too. Without giving everything away, guests will be delighted by the sheer attention to detail found in every nook and cranny: waterways acting as highways, technicolor halos of smoke hanging above an active volcano, and audio recordings of babbling streams transporting guests somewhere far away, yet familiar. Enchanting disruptions of scale—where reeds rise high above skyscrapers—subtle hints at mythology and pop culture, and a general dream logic are each brought to the whole piece. Simply put, the everyday and the extraordinary mingle side by side without batting an eye. Outside the proper exhibit, the cardboard cinema provides even more inspiration. Guests can take a break from exploring WildCard to get lost in classic short films. “The films literally animate the creative possibilities of cardboard craft,” says Sam Sharkey, Cinema Arts Coordinator at the Exploratorium. “With a camera and some movie making magic, the filmmakers get to add depth to the imaginative worlds they’ve created. One of our movies, made by a member of CIT, is an homage to an iconic Herzog film. But I’m most excited about bringing ‘Cain’s Arcade’ back to the museum. It’s such a sweet documentary about a kid who makes his dreams come true, one cardboard creation at a time. It’s exciting to witness a child finding their voice through such a simple material.” For those looking for a more hands-on way to exercise their creativity, Fridays at the Exploratorium will feature different artists who invite visitors to build their own creative objects they can then take home, such as origami or cardboard costumes. On Saturday, July 15, artist Caryl Kientz will lead a shadow theater workshop, providing yet another way to rethink and repurpose cardboard into something truly magical. “I hope visitors exit WildCard with a deeper understanding of the many lives of cardboard,” said Martin Rock, associate director of communications at the Exploratorium. “I hope they think about all the things these boxes have carried, and how many paths they’ve taken to get here from how many trucks on how many roads and in what ships across what oceans. And when they get home, I hope they find some cardboard in their house and use it to build their own secret world.” The Exploratorium is currently operating under summer hours—seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.—and will stay open until 9:00 p.m. on Fridays for special events. WildCard is on display until September 4, and after that, the entire world will be recycled into something new again. Who knows what new stories the materials will go on to tell? But after viewing the fiberboard cosmos of WildCard, you might just be compelled to build a universe of your own.