Each room is the artist’s interpretation of musicians and their songs, intended to ignite all five senses with art elements for sight, sound, smell, taste and touch | Vents Magazine

Step into a 1920s-inspired interdimensional maze fusing art, music and interactive technology at The Funhouse. The immersive experience features six multi-sensory rooms from Universal Music Canada’s award-winning artists in collaboration with Mondo Forma’s local art collective. Each room is the artist’s interpretation of musicians and their songs, intended to ignite all five senses with art elements for sight, sound, smell, taste and touch:

1. Deep Jungle: A multi-sensory installation from ​Casey Watson ​and ​Jazz Cartier​features a life-size elephant, hand-made jungle, and sounds and smells that transport you into a lush tropical world.

2. Rising Venus: An art installation from the ​Broadbent Sisters​ and ​The Beaches​that includes an explosion of fluorescent rocks with a holographic goddess at the centre, inspired by Botticelli’s famous work, ​The Birth of Venus​, that changes hue based on the viewer’s aura reading.

3. Skin & Earth: A post-apocalyptic environment from multidisciplinary artist ​LIGHTS​, inspired by various scenes from her graphic novel. Visitors can experience her imagined universe firsthand and bring it to life using the Funhouse Augmented Reality app.

4. Free Trial: A nostalgic home dinner scene with surrealist pop artist ​Paul Jackson​ and Bad Child​that interprets modern-day romance and technological failures. The experience blends the everyday with glitchy tech, lighting and touch-responsive elements that lend an eerie sense to the sci-fi domestic setting.

5. Graffiti Alley and Home Studio: An interactive installation by renowned graffiti artist Getso​and ​New City​that bring the outside indoors with a playful recreation of the band’s garage studio. Guests are invited to become a part of the artists’ world by playing instruments synced to lighting and sound.

6. Drawn to the Desert: A collage-like illustrated world from ​Jeff Blackburn​and ​SonReal that brings to life SonReal’s hit “​1000 Highways​.” Hand-painted, AR-enabled cutouts of characters, signs and elements from the musician’s viral videos lend a maximalist, larger-than-life perspective to the artist’s work.

“We wanted to celebrate the fantastic creatives from our city’s growing art, music and tech scene and provide a platform for artists to share their work outside a traditional setting,” said Jonah Brotman, the Funhouse’s founder. “We’ve also had incredibly positive feedback from the community and have seen a variety of visitors through our doors since opening.”

The Funhouse occupies a former Buddhist temple with three stories, more than 7,500 square feet and a complex series of 14 different rooms. Enter the Wes Anderson hotel lobby-inspired reception area and choose from two entrances, a wardrobe or an elevator, to begin exploring a 14 wild rooms of hidden secrets. The top floor is a dreamy Underwater Ballroom taken over by the deep sea with larger-than-life sculptures of ocean life, a featured mural by renowned artist Ben Johnston, and interactive projections. The Ballroom is also available for private group event bookings to satisfy Toronto’s need for inspiring new spaces.