AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPLORATION OF SOL CEJA’S DREAM-LIKE EXHIBITION HOUSE HAUS OF LUNA 2022. MACIE HARRELD/PSU VANGUARD MACIE HARRELD Imagine a house straight out of a dreamscape. It’s seemingly commonplace and yet vaguely uncanny. The clocks are indiscernible, the mirrors are windows and familiar photographs appear distorted. The closer you look, the more the strangeness is evident. What if you could actually visit that place? PSU alumna and interdisciplinary artist Sol Cejas has made that dream a reality. Cejas has created an elaborate, surrealist spectacle using a fascinating medium—a house. Located in Vancouver, Washington, Haus of Luna is a seven-room interactive experience that currently has tickets available through Nov. 20. This experience guides spectators through a journey of introspective creativity and eccentric entertainment. Cejas has curated a unique and personal encounter with interior design, twisting the mundane into something bizarre and extraordinary. Each room varies drastically from one to the next—a living room furnished with maximalist clutter sits adjacent to a virtually void bedroom, save ethereal music and a headless mannequin. A bedazzled statue of the Virgin Mary and a majestic horse draped in fluorescent tubing are striking statement pieces throughout the house. “I focus on doing special pieces for each room that are very iconic from the Haus of Luna,” Cejas explained. Dramatic lighting, neon accents, ambient music and cultural iconography occupy the foreground of her artistic expression. “People want to see something different,” Cejas said. “I wanted that experience to be like, ‘I’ve never seen that…’ The look in people’s eyes when they walk in, like it doesn’t matter if they’re old or young, they all kind of have that same look, and that’s actually super rewarding.” While the first version of the Haus opened in 2021, this year’s Haus of Luna has incorporated ChromaDepth glasses—a technology that intensifies the perception of color by shifting 2D images into a 3D realm. Indeed, Haus of Luna satiates a desire to experience something completely original.
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ARTS & CULTURE
To visit the installation is to experience another world, and it’s one that anyone can enjoy. The exhibition offers ample opportunity for subjective interpretation and sociocultural examination, as well as a means for light-hearted entertainment. Cejas expressed that a critical goal in creating Haus of Luna was to allow people to find joy in it and play with the concepts she introduced. “The mirrors are kind of like a portal, transporting you somewhere else,” she elaborated regarding her abundant use of mirrors. “Not to evade but to explore. Not as an evasion of reality but as an alternative reality. To play with it.” Cejas added another layer to this playfulness in her embrace of the nostalgic. Rotary phones, early 2000s era televisions and 20th century memorabilia decorate the exhibition. Cejas has instilled a certain reminiscence in her work that sparks an intergenerational connection between viewers. “I’m a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and I wanted to bring that,” she explained. The intricate detailing and decor selection are a feast for the eyes. Haus of Luna is intensely visually mesmerizing, so naturally this is a place that translates beautifully to film. “The reality is people come here to take pictures,” Cejas said. “I try to make sure that [from] every angle where you’re standing, you can get a good picture composition.” Even without a photo, the Haus of Luna is not likely to be forgotten by visitors. This is more than a viewing experience, and it demands to be heard, felt and explored spatially. Haus of Luna represents a new wave of artistic conception, in which spectators transcend the role of passive observer and become enveloped in the art itself. It stretches the participant, tugging at the childish imagination within each of us. “The message is also to encourage creativity of any form,” Cejas said. “If you’re a lawyer, engineer, accountant—you need to be creative. To think outside what’s presented to us. I think that’s where the world is going.”
HAUS OF LUNA 2022. MACIE HARRELD/PSU VANGUARD
PSU Vanguard • NOVEMBER 9, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
