You're On Mute

Dallas' West End Square debuts inaugural art installation with digital twist

AURORA presents Daniel Iregu: Antibodies

Want to see yourself on more screens?

Photo courtesy of Daniel Iregu

Dallas' newest public park, West End Square, is getting its first piece of art. It's an interactive installation by Montreal-based artist Daniel Iregui that reacts to the movement and facial expressions of park visitors via motion sensor and reflects the monotony of COVID-era video calls on a huge LED screen.

And it's got a clever name, too: Antibodies.

Parks for Downtown Dallas and the Big D-based public arts organization Aurora are behind the work, which will be on display at the park's east side from March 26-April 4.

There's also a web-based version of the artwork, accessed at aurora.antibodies.webcam.

"We're excited to present Daniel Iregui's eerie and all-too-familiar work Antibodies as part of the inaugural programming for West End Square," says Aurora's executive director, Joshua King. "In a time when we're missing in-person interactions, Iregui's work will bring an element of interactive play to this fantastic new public space. Iregui is paving an excellent path for the creative ways that artists will utilize West End Square's Innovation Arcade going forward."

The Innovation Arcade is a section of the park designed to showcase a rotation of temporary digital installations.

"Antibodies is a project that merges our organizations' missions to support innovation, creativity, and community in the public realm," says Amy M. Meadows, the CEO of Parks for Downtown Dallas. "This artwork by Daniel Iregui perfectly reflects this unique moment in time in which we are all living."

Masks and social distancing are required when interacting with Antibodies.

parks downtown

Season Announcement

Kitchen Dog Theater unleashes immersive 2025 season in new Dallas space

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Safe at Home

Photo by Jordan Fraker

undefined

Seven years after announcing it had purchased a building in the Design District, Kitchen Dog Theater is finally ready to move into its new home.

The third and final production of its 2025 season — the theater company's 34th — will take place all around the new "Doghouse." The other two productions will follow the immersive format at non-traditional performance spaces that was established last season.

With three fully produced events that each run the gambit from captivating and gutsy to heartfelt and hilarious, the monthly New Works Festival Staged Readings Series returns, as does the 23rd annual PUP Fest, nurturing high school talent from all over DFW.

First up is the area premiere of Will Eno's Wakey, Wakey, directed by KDT's artistic director Tina Parker and starring KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos.

"Is it now? I thought I had more time." These first words in Will Eno's play are spoken by Guy, a man who knows, like all of us on some level, that he is about to die. The play questions why we are here and the journeys that everyone takes to eventually get to the same place. Performances will take place at Expo Park, 840 Exposition Avenue, and run February 7-23, 2025.

Production No. 2 is full of mystery: The title and performance location will be announced soon and run in March/April 2025.

The Happiness Gymby Ken Weitzman closes out the season in August 2025 (exact dates TBA).

This regional premiere is a joyous, experiential event based on the science of well-being. Participants take part in a curated theatrical experience meant to boost their sense of happiness, joy, and feelings of connection. This one-of-a-kind project will be the soft opening to Kitchen Dog’s new theater and will take place all over the entire facility, giving patrons unparalleled access to KDT’s new home.

From March to July 2025, the 26th annual 2025 New Works Festival will showcase four-to-five staged readings of the newest and most exciting local and regional playwrights working in contemporary theater today. Each reading will feature some of DFW's most accomplished actors and directors and will take place at different venues across DFW.

For its 23rd annual event, PUP Fest will feature six staged readings of jury-selected plays written by DFW high school students, featuring student actors directed by area professional directors. PUP Fest is the culminating event of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Dallas ISD and Junior Players. Performance location is TBA, but the event will happen June 7, 2025.

For more information, visit kitchendogtheater.org or call 214-953-1055.

kitchen dog theater theater