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We're desperately in need of some serious rain here in drought-stricken California, but in the meantime, we'll have to settle for the indoor, simulated variety.
"Rain Room," an art installation where visitors are able to walk through a simulated downpour without getting wet, is heading to LACMA this fall and we can't wait to check it out. After a hugely successful run at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London's Barbican Centre before that, the exhibition will open here on November 1 and will run until March 6, according to the L.A. Times. If those previous appearances are any indication, the museum is likely to see an enormous turnout. Seriously, people waited in line for 8 hours or more just to get in. Try beating that Space Mountain.
The installation is comprised of a roughly 2,500 square feet with sensors that adjust the falling water to keep you dry as you move through the space. The museum is expected to allow 20 to 22 people in the gallery space for timed 15-minute intervals. Five to seven people can walk beneath the simulated rain at any given time. Admission will require a $15 upgrade from the museum's general admission price, while members and visitors 17 and under will pay $10 with a general admission ticket.
The "Rain Room is the work of London-based art collective Random International. According to the group, "The work was created to heighten awareness of people's own presence in space. "Rain Room' physically represents personal space and casts a light on the different behaviours this space elicits."
Drought-embattled Los Angeles may not at first seem like the ideal place to host such a water-heavy artwork with all of our water thieves and drought-shaming. But the museum assures us that the water will be recycled through a "closed-loop system with minimal evaporation and replenishment." The 330 gallon tank used for the exhibition will be with the museum's clean water supply.
To get more of an idea of what's in store for you once "Rain Room arrives—and you get through the line, you can check out more photos over here at Gothamist.
We'll see you in line in November.
