Ride the wave
Gasparilla Music Festival tops a weekend list of things to do. By Jennifer Ring
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evon Brady’s “Munchausen Waves” is one out of about 30 art installations to reside in Crab Devil’s The Peninsularium, a Floridathemed art attraction opening in Ybor Heights next year. The immersive installation—inspired by scuba diving, firefighting, a 1980s fantasy film, and a renaissance-era theatrical illusion— is sure to confuse the hell out of folks, but in a good way, and Brady’s latest trick will be on full display this weekend at Gasparilla Music Festival (get details on the music on p. 39). “Munchausen Waves” is based on the column wave effect invented by Baroque architect Nicola Sabbatini to present the illusion of a wave-filled sea. Brady first saw the illusion in Terry Gilliam’s 1988 adventure fantasy film “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.” He’s been obsessed with it ever since. Brady’s “Munchausen Waves” is a trippier version of the original that replaces the snakelike waves with colorful discs. The idea was to change the engineering so that the waves could roll into each other. “Like having one spiral that’s a left-handed spiral, and the one next to it being a right-handed spiral, and then they’re spinning in opposite directions,” Brady told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. The way he describes it, Brady’s “Munchausen Waves” sounds a lot like seeing the ocean while tripping on acid. Brady printed many of the components using a 3D printer, effectively bringing a renaissance-era illusion into the digital age. But unlike many of today’s digitally-projected illusions, Brady’s Munchausen Waves is a physical thing.
Gasparilla Music Festival. Friday-Sunday, Oct. 1-3. Curtis Hixon Park and Kiley Garden, Tampa. $40-$250. gasparillamusic.com Madame Fortune Taylor walking tour Madame Fortune Taylor, namesake of Tampa’s Fortune Taylor Bridge and Fortune Street, was an ex-slave, community leader, and businesswoman who owned 30 acres along the Hillsborough River in what is now Downtown Tampa. This mile-long, 90-minute tour by Tampa Bay History Center highlights the land she owned, letting attendees get a glimpse into her life. Advance tickets are required, and the tour meets at John F. Germany Public Library (not the History Center). Saturday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m. $10-$20. 900 N Ashley Dr., Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org James Chapin: Fiction for Sustaining Florida If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall while two history buff authors talk about unsettled Florida territory and the brutal schemes that rich men dream intto reality, then you want to be at Oxford Exchange when Pulitzer finalist Ben Montgomery and past CL contributo James CHapin discuss Chapin’s new book “Ride South Until the Sawgrass.” Montgomery—who got the official Oprah cosign on his own “A Shot in the Moonlight”—counts Chapin’s new work “among the best fiction writing inspired by rugged old Florida.” Chapin says he’ll and Montgomery will be “chitchatting about the weight of history, the fate of Florida, and whatever comes to mind.” Sunday, Oct. 3. 3 p.m. $5. oxfordexchange.com
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WAVEMAKER: ‘Munchausen Waves’ in construction at Crab Devil in Tampa, Florida.