Molly Allis’ Interactive Art Installation Opens at Occidental College

‘A Child Was The One That Turned On The Switch’ opens at Occidental College in Los Angeles this week. | Image: Courtesy of the artist.

CalArts alum Molly Allis (Music/IM MFA 14) opens an interactive exhibition tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 7, at Occidental College’s Weingart Gallery. In A Child Was The One That Turned On The Switch, Allis uses recycled materials to construct a playful game-based installation with theatrical elements.

The design immerses participants in imaginative alternate realities, which serves Allis’ investigation of God’s/the Creator’s whereabouts. The work peers into mind-boggling subjects such as black holes, the Simulation Hypothesis (which posits that we are living in a simulated reality) and the Holographic Principle (an interpretation of string theory). 

A Child Was The One That Turned On The Switch also features additional CalArtians during its exhibition run. Tempe Hale (Film/Video MFA 14) created animations for the show. On Saturdays in September, Leah Olbrich (Theater MFA 13) performs live puppet shows during the exhibition from 1-4 pm. The intimate performances allow only three audience members at a time, in 10-minute intervals. Reservations are encouraged.

Allis, an L.A.-based artist, is actively involved in children’s arts and music education. She has worked with the Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont, and Great Small Works Toy Theater Company in Brooklyn. Her animated films have screened at the the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Linoleum Festival in Moscow and the Madrid Experimental Film Festival.

A Child Was The One That Turned On The Switch is on view through Oct. 1. The opening reception at the Weingart Gallery is on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 5-8 pm.