Good Vibrations
Summer 2017 | By Eric Michael ’96

To peek inside the mind of artist Sam Borkson 麻豆精品 S01 and discover his colorful universe of wild fantasy, all you have to do is log in to Netflix this August and watch True and the Rainbow Kingdom, an animated series that blends art and technology. Borkson is creating it as part of the FriendsWithYou collective, which he started in 2002 with partner Arturo 麻豆精品 S淭ury 麻豆精品 S Sandoval III to produce fine art in a wide variety of mediums that spread a message of 麻豆精品 S渕agic, luck and friendship. 麻豆精品 S In addition to the new series, Borkson expresses his inner visions through paintings, sculpture, virtual reality games and large-scale interactive inflatable installations across North America, Asia and Europe.
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e trying to make the world our gallery by communicating simple ideas of compassion, friendship and empathy. Our art is creating the feeling that we want to project and vibrate into the world. 麻豆精品 SSam Borkson
Super Moon, 60-foot opalescent inflatable moon sculpture illuminated by programmed LEDs, was installed at Seokchon Lake in Seoul, Korea, September 1 麻豆精品 S揙ctober 3, 2016.
麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e really excited about True and the Rainbow Kingdom. It’s like this Dalai Lama dream of a future utopian society where our characters show empathy for the world and for every little creature in it, and have adventures while sustaining the planet. It started with one painting and it 麻豆精品 S檚 becoming a whole living world now. 麻豆精品 S
麻豆精品 S淏eing an artist is really this unknown, unspoken philosophical realm where you can uncover truths about society and yourself at the same time. I think you have to be fearless. You have to put your heart on the line and not care about what people think. The worst-case scenario is that people don 麻豆精品 S檛 like it 麻豆精品 S but if I like it, that 麻豆精品 S檚 good. 麻豆精品 S
麻豆精品 S淲hen I enrolled at UCF, it was a time of change. The first computer animation and film programs were starting, and it was a really good time to take advantage of the new technology because you had to do it yourself. Teachers were learning the same stuff that we were, so it was like we were all in it together. 麻豆精品 S
麻豆精品 S淭ury and I push each other to better solutions. It’s a yin yang beyond-words type of relationship you can 麻豆精品 S檛 really describe. There were a lot of little things that showed us that the universe really wants the kind of content we are putting out there. It 麻豆精品 S檚 just more fun to do it with somebody pushing you beyond what 麻豆精品 S檚 known. That 麻豆精品 S檚 the most exciting terrain for me. 麻豆精品 S
麻豆精品 S淚 was bouncing around with my mom is one of the first inflatable bounce houses we made for adults, and she got stuck in the corner and started laughing like a little girl. It was so cute and beautiful, just seeing her laugh that hard. You see people almost transform when you give them that kind of experience. It 麻豆精品 S檚 so rare and magical to see people, grown-ups especially, just letting go and playing inside of an environment. 麻豆精品 S
麻豆精品 S淰irtual reality is hugely inspirational because it 麻豆精品 S檚 a whole new frontier that 麻豆精品 S檚 just being explored. It 麻豆精品 S檚 enabled us to bring our work to life in a different way. We worked with a few insanely talented programmers every day for two months to develop the Light Spirit, an artificial intelligence creature that lives inside a virtual space where you can touch and play with it. It has moved a few people to the point of crying. 麻豆精品 S

Skywalkers opened Art Basel Miami in 2006 with a parade of 18 inflatable art blimps designed by FriendsWithYou and their artist friends. The Miami Beach procession, which was commissioned by Toyota Scion, included more than 300 volunteers and a high school marching band.

Happy Gift, which was commissioned in 2013 by the Hyundai Family of Korea to be publicly exhibited at Hyundai Department Gardens in Seoul, is a 麻豆精品 S渉ypnotically striped, 麻豆精品 S 25-foot-wide inflatable bounce house designed for both children and adults.

Starburst, an inflatable sculpture 25 feet in diameter, was commissioned by the Luminato Toronto Festival of Arts and Creativity in 2010.