The Union Square Florist Shop: A Case of Spectral Immersion

Sara Velas, Velaslavasay Panorama, Los Angeles, California, USA

Ruby Carlson, Velaslavasay Panorama, Los Angeles, California, USA

Abstract: We examine the Union Square Florist Shop project at the Velaslavasay Panorama as a case study of immersive phenomena presenting a new model for curatorial practice: Spectral Immersion. Borrowing from the philosophical concepts of hauntology, magical urbanism and unrestored restoration, Spectral Immersion establishes a new category of restoration, curation and presentation that moves beyond simply taking an object back to a former time, but taking it to another dimension in time. 

The project Union Square Florist Shop (created by Velaslavasay Panorama in 2020) is used as a case study outlining the fundamental features of Spectral Immersion, which borrows from principles of the panorama: archival research, compressed time, representation of memory, illusions and the sense of place rather than the place itself. Visitors are transported to a realm of what-might-have-been, of time folded-in-on-itself, extending the experience of immersion via unconscious paradigms and “spectral” indicators.    

Keywords: Hauntology, Window Display, Immersive Art, Floristry, Curatorial Practice

Biographies: Ruby Carlson is a Co-Curator at the Velaslavasay Panorama and served as the elected Secretary of the International Panorama Council (2015-2018). She has worked in the field of panoramas since 2008 to elucidate, present and gather funding for panoramas and related mediums. As a native to Los Angeles, she also works as a cinematographer and photographer for film and fine arts. Since 2010 she has participated in PLACE, a critical return to the discovery of Freud and its construction in the topology introduced by J. Lacan. www.rubycarlsonstudio.com; @1887to1904; ruby@panoramaonview.org 

Sara Velas is an artist, graphic designer, gardener, curator and native Los Angeleno. She is the Artistic Director of the Velaslavasay Panorama, a nonprofit museum and garden she established in the year 2000 to present variations on art forms and entertainments popular before the invention of cinema along with experimental immersive experiences. Ms. Velas is focused on researching the contemporary creation of panoramas in Asia and on her own creations.  Her work with the Velaslavasay Panorama has been supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, California Community Foundation, and the LA County Arts Commission, among others.  An active member of the International Panorama Council since 2004, she currently serves as Co-President. Born in Panorama City, California, she received her BFA in Painting from Washington University School of Art in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1999 and resides in downtown Los Angeles.  www.panoramaonview.org; https://www.sssvelas.net/; sv@panoramaonview.org