At night, I go on board and say
Good-night to all my friends on shore;
I shut my eyes and sail away
And see and hear no more.
– My Bed is A Boat, from A Child’s Garden of Verses
“Airship Orchestra” by ENESS. Photo courtesy of Balloon Museum.
EmotionAir at Balloon Museum Chicago: Art You Can Feel
Chicago may have never needed more playfulness than it does now as political disruption and state-sanctioned violence sweep through the city. There are too many reasons to feel hopeless and deprived, and too few to feel hopeful and energized. In times such as the presence, childlike innocence may be one’s only salvation.
To touch is to live. To feel is to heal.
And when the public lives under a system designed to deprive of them of both, art that engages our senses of wonder may be the last sanctuary.
And what’s more wonderful than an entire museum of inflatable art you can touch, feel, hug, sit on, and play with?
“EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel,” Balloon Museum’s groundbreaking immersive experience, opened at The Fields Studios in Chicago on Thursday, October 30 and runs through April 6, 2026. Featuring large-scale installations and inflatable works created by internationally renowned artists, the exhibition is designed to engage the visitors’ five senses, using touch, feel, and play to create a sensory journey connecting the audience and the art on a soulful level.
Stepping into the exhibition is like being transported into an interactive children’s book. Every movement engages the installation, and pulls the viewers off the bystander’s seat and turns them into a co-creator. There is no set ways of touring the exhibition, nor the proper sequence of experiencing each piece. Alas – “EmotionAir” expects the audience to run wild, experiment, explore, and become mesmerised by the most simple things like a curious child.
Key Installations to Experience
For example, “10 Agosto,” a collaborative installation by Italy-based Hyperstudio and Elena Raimondi, is minimalist yet powerful. Inspired by the Night of San Lorenzo, the installation constructs a moving nightsky inside the museum’s space. Sitting on a swing, one watches the light globes floating above them move, spin, and collide as one sways, moves, or briefly suspends themselves mid-air. The pale, white lights coat the mist in blue and purple, creating a surreal environment that lingers between dreams and realities. Haven’t we all, at some point, sat on a swing set at night and wished we’d throw ourselves into the universe and dance with the stars? Now, that dream can come true at “EmotionAir.”
“Airship Orchestra” by ENESS is a generative soundscape synchronized with lights. The giant, bulb-like installation is projected with geometric patterns of dots and stripes, reminding audience of Yayoi Kusama’s pokadot world. Except the shapes here do not remain still. Instead, they shift and morph according to the music, leaving an open sky for interpretation. What do you hear? How do you feel? Do you see the shadows of cunning foxes following you through a dark forest, or millions of jelly fish flooding across the water above while you lay on the ocean bed?
While imagination and fantasy flow through the exhibition, “EmotionAir” does not shy away from critical contemporary discourses, either.
In “Somehow I Don’t Feel Comfortable,” Japanese artist Momoyo Torimitsu stuffed two oversize red rabbits into a cramped, room with black tile floors and empty white walls. One of them tower over the viewer, staring down with blank eyes and red, smiling mouth. The appearance is closer to a haunting monster than an adorable cartoon animal. The viewer, forced to step around the massive obstacles and standing under their looming shadow, likely quivers at the thought of being dominated by something that is supposed to be cute.
“Somehow I Don’t Feel Comfortable” by Momoyo Torimitsu. Photo courtesy of Balloon Museum.
Here, Torimitsu uses their massive bunnies to cast a critical look at the discomfort behind the universal demand for cuteness in a world where kawaii culture has become overwhelming and universal. The artist conveys a sense of dis-proportionality through the scale of her work and asks the questions that are often ignored: What is cuteness in a world of distraught? Why is there such a sense of urgency to feel cute, be cute, and appreciate being cute? The same can be said with any cultural trends, if one were to think more expansively.
Meanwhile, UK-based Jason Wilsher-Mills used youthful colors, designs, and patterns to share the lived experience of the disabled community. Drawing inspirations from classic British children’s comic, 70s TV programs, and decorations from his childhood home, Mills created “The Argonaut,” which resembles an individual with disability lying down.
In Greek mythology, “the Argonauts” are a band of adventurers who accompanied the hero to Colchis to retrieve the golden fleece during the Trojan War. The name, quite literally, stands for “those who steer the ship of Argo,” which was the name of their boat.
For Mills, “The Argonaut” is a tribute for the unsung heroes in the disabled community with whom he’d collaborated over the years throughout his journey in Britain. Serendipitous sharing the same name as the Trojan hero, Mills drew parallel between the mythology and the reality, showing his deep respect to those who stood against adversity and continued their advocacy.
“Cube Abyss” by Cyril Lancelin. Photo courtesy of Balloon Museum.
Finally, “EmotionAir” understands that every adult has an inner child who needs healing. In this immersive, imaginary experience, the “no”s we received in our younger days can be rewritten into acceptance and permission simply by recreating and reliving a negative experience.
For example, “ADA” by German-born, Portland-based artist Karina Smigla-Bobinski is all about overriding refusal with freedom. In this installation, the artist creates a transparent helium-filled sphere covered with charcoal sticks. The viewer interacts with the giant balloon by pushing, pulling, dragging, kicking, even, and the charcoal sticks hit the white walls, ceiling, and floor.
No “quit messing up the walls” in this room. Therefore, no interrupted creative flow. The artist encourages the audience to use their surroundings as the canvas and make marks to their heart’s content. Spend five minutes with the installation, or thirty. You are in control.
If “ADA” is about fun and freedom, then, “Cube Abyss” on the other end of the emotional spectrum, delving fearlessly into terror and paranoia. Created by French artist Cyril Lancelin, the installation creates a inflatable geometric maze that resembles everyone’s childhood nightmare: the road we did not choose, or a dark alley we always passed on a late night out of school. The dark stories we told ourselves about that abandoned warehouse building two blocks down the street, or the strange noises we swear we heard coming from our own closet… “Cube Abyss” invites the viewer to re-experience their irrational fear in a safe and comfortable environment – to feel the tension, absorb it, and come out of the other end. Maybe only by physically walking through the abyss can we finally lay our hidden terrors to rest.
Why EmotionAir Matters in Chicago Right Now
Playful, audacious, and compassionate, “EmotionAir” at Balloon Museum is a timely getaway from the dreadful reality and a necessary recharge for the tattered bodies and weathered souls of adults in the modern world.
There is no use denying the level of unrest and uncertainty being forced upon Chicago that does not seem to be ending in the very near future.
Nor is it possible to turn blind eyes and deaf ears to the sound of tear gas canisters or the angry roars of the people.
Many are scared. And more are furious. Fear and rage weigh down the soul. They drain us and exhaust us, leaving us too tired to fight another day.
Confronted with such a reality, embracing the sense of play becomes more significant and fundamental than ever.
In “EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel,” viewers must forget about every rule in a traditional art gallery or museum. Featuring 20 artists from around the world, the work on display varies from generative soundscape, audio-visual assemblage, ambient visual meditation spaces, to interactive co-creating adventures. In a world that often feels too apathetic, too isolated, and too hostile, “EmotionAir” is a global effort to rekindle joy and wonder.
“Since the very beginning of the Balloon Museum, we have believed that play and wonder are not just elements of childhood, but powerful tools to create artistic experiences that engage everyone. Our mission is to transform what is light, ephemeral, and seemingly playful into a universal language that connects people across cultures. In this way, the most authentic and purest aspects of childhood become expressive means through which art can spark emotions, stimulate participation, and open new possibilities for dialogue with the public,” says Roberto Fantauzzi, CEO of Lux Entertainment.
