The PASEO is holding space for 2024
NOW IN THEIR 11TH YEAR, THE Paseo Project’s annual art festival returns with new ideas, new art, new dates, and a new layout.
This year’s theme, “Holding Space,’’ is inspired by a 7,000-square-foot inflatable installation called “Daedalum,” by UK-based artists Architects of Air. This traveling inflatable, or luminarium, will be in Taos Oct. 3–6 and will be the centerpiece of this year’s PASEO 2024 event. A series of immersive and participatory art experiences are being cultivated to bring the community together to share art, creativity, and a common space.
“Daedalum” is a spectacular and immersive environment the entire community is invited to explore and experience throughout the four-day festival. Free and open to the public daily from midday to sunset, this 7,000-square-foot installation will be illuminated by the New Mexico sun, creating a mosaic of color, space and light that invites participants to explore, wander, sit, lounge, and ultimately, to be inspired.
Founder, designer and artistic director of Architects of Air, Alan Parkinson, first started experimenting with pneumatic sculptures in the ‘80s and has since developed his own language of form in this larger-than-life pliable medium. He designed and built his first luminarium in ‘85. In ‘90, he created “Eggopolis,” the first of his luminarias to be shown outside Nottinghamshire. In ‘92, the community project closed down and Architects of Air was formed.
Alan Parkinson’s intention is to stimulate visitors to a sense of wonder, to the beauty of light and color, and create an environment where the visitor’s experience is influenced by their own relation to space.
Alan describes his intention as an “Architect of Air” in the following terms: “What motivates me to design is the fact that I continue to be struck by the beauty of light and color found in the luminaria. These structures nurture an awareness of a pure phenomenon that gently cuts through everyday conditioned perceptions and awakens a sense of wonder in people.”
Since 1992, Architects of Air, a Nottinghambased company, has built 21 luminarias, made over 600 exhibitions, and toured in 43 countries where over 3 million visitors have immersed themselves in the luminous world of Architects of Air. The Paseo Project is thrilled to bring “Daedalum” to Taos.
In addition to Architects of Air’s “Daedelum,” a schedule of local artists and creatives will be presenting throughout the weekend with site-specific installations, performances, presentations, and workshops, ranging from the low-tech to new media, and all united by their active engagement with the public and with place.
This year the event will take place in Kit Carson Park, 211 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. The event runs daily, midday to sunset. Later this summer, see The Paseo Project website for the full schedule of free events and activities.
The Paseo Project’s Contessa Trujillo shares: “PASEO is like a magical conduit between Taos and the wider world of art. As a Taos native, witnessing PASEO’s impact is profoundly moving — it is a revitalization and homage to Taos’ art legacy, bridging past and present in the most unprecedented ways. So much of PASEO’s magic is about bringing people together in this creative environment, building and strengthening the community fabric through shared experience, and what better way to do that this year than with “Daedalum”! To literally and figuratively hold space together. We are so excited to flip PASEO on its head this year — extending the length of time, and moving from night to day while still bringing world-renowned art and experiences that are bound to elicit the awe, wonder, and inspiration of PASEO’s past. With the additional two days, weather plays less of a factor and opens up a new set of opportunities and ways for folks to have, and share, an array of experiences for PASEO 2024.”
PASEO STEAM workshops are being scheduled again this year with educational programming managed by Paseo Project staff Amber Vasquez. This cutting edge curriculum brings STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) programming to Taos County youth through PASEO artist workshops that explore the art of the festival. Students get hands-on experiences with cutting-edge tools and technologies.
A full schedule of artists and events will be announced later this summer. More information can be located at paseoproject.org/paseo2024.