Amber Long captions a behind-the-scenes look at Rain Room, a remarkable installation currently at MoMA:
Rain Room, an installation by London-based artist collective rAndom International, is an experiment in sensory disruption. A 300 ft² room is rigged to create a constant downpour, but motion-detecting cameras stop the rain anywhere a person is present. The effect is one of being cloaked in dryness, which follows you wherever you go. The rain is actually so loud that the voice of a person a few feet away is drowned out, thus the lacuna of rain occupied by a body actually forms its own “room.”
Kevin Holmes adds:
The unusual nature of Rain Room fosters a variety of reactions and forms of engagement from the audience that seem to move it beyond being just an installation into a performative piece, an element rAndom International often capitalizes on by introducing dance performances where dancers move through the space alongside visitors.
The Dish 