Viewers took a journey into the subconscious on Saturday through “Mesmerica 360,” an immersive visual and musical trip during its final show at the IMAX Dome in The Tech Interactive.
“Mesmerica 360” is designed to stimulate the mind and senses, bringing together the sounds of percussionist and Grammy-nominated composer James Hood and visually hypnotic art made by animators around the world.
The lights shut off at 8:30 p.m. and Hood’s voice broke the silence.
“Welcome to Mesmerica,” his voice said. “I entice you into taking this journey with me inside your mind . . . I call it ‘constructive escapism.’ ”
Hood explained on his website that the show’s media and sound is a show for the right brain, the more creative and artistic side.
“There’s no logic, there’s no analysis,” Hood said. “It’s all about fancy, imagination, the impossible.”
The visual journey was projected across the dome screen in 360-degree projections. It immersed audiences by incorporating the uniquely mesmeric instruments in 7.1 surround sound.
Hood’s voice guided the audience to relaxation before the show’s climax.
“Go deep inside yourself. Feel more. Remember more,” Hood said. “Free your mind into fully activating your senses.”
Kaleidoscopic and astronomical light show designs swooshed and transitioned every 20 to 90 seconds, with songs changing every two or more minutes.
“The show felt like it could have been an hour or it could have been three hours,” said philosophy junior Ari Cooper from University of California, Santa Cruz. “I got lost in it. For a second, I thought I was melting in my chair.”
Cooper attended the show alongside his friends and fellow UC Santa Cruz students Jonathan Golden and Andrew Axelrod, who were heavily tripping on the psychedelic drug LSD, commonly known as acid.
“I was insanely blown away by the colors,” Golden said. “I honestly thought I was inside the show, like, I was in the colors.’’
Axelrod said he was blown away, so much so that he could not find the words to describe the night’s visual experience.
The rhythm of the curated art often flowed in circular or in-to-out motions from specific points of origin.
Throughout the show, the music would settle briefly as Hood’s hypnotic voice helped the audience navigate through their state of mind.
“As far as emotions go, I feel like I felt everything,” San Jose resident Bryant Tinajero said.
Tinajero said the flow of immense colors blew him away and guided him the entire time.
Most of the curated art was transforming in space with an abundance of glowing stars. A few landscapes were animated with neon light while bird chirps and the swooshing sounds of waves would occasionally sing alongside the instrumentals.
James Hood was shown playing a steel drum as well. The visual of him was edited with neon color and psychedelic effects.
The “visual journey” was also not a one way trip.
Forty minutes into the show, Hood told the audience to start coming back to their body, and during this narration the visual art began to flow and replay backwards.
“It was like [Hood] took us somewhere and then took us back,” San Jose resident Angela Nogid said. “I feel like I’m walking away with the being in the present and leaving the past behind.”
In the final scenes of the show, Hood said this kind of happiness does not exist in another time or another place.
“I believe happiness is our natural state,” Hood said. “I hope you go from this place with a renewed vitality and gratitude for life.”
The letter “M” flung towards the audience and others followed, spelling out “Mesmerica.”
“Be happy and be confident in your own powerful life for yourself,” said Hood. “Our mind is a powerful ally; it makes everything possible.”
