The Soothing Center is an artist-made pop up spa aimed at combating the daily bombardment of negative stimulation embedded in our material and media cultures through sensory based therapies that stimulate and engage the mind and body; however, unlike standard spas, the treatments available here have subtle yet undeniable conceptual underpinnings that address an array of topics including singularity, power dynamics, capitalism, identity, and intimacy.
While formally a functioning spa, The Soothing Center is also an "intra-lational" art exhibition, that brings together makers and practitioners from New York and Los Angeles to exhibit a special brand of psychoactive art during Art Basel that actively affects the viewer through chemistry, participation, and biohacking by utilizing wearable architecture, video meditations, herbalism, and poetic gestures. In many ways the The Soothing Center is a cleanse where the body can recalibrate its relationship with itself, stimuli, and governing constructs.
Artists and practitioners participating in the debut are The Institute for New Feeling (including a collaboration with Cosmic d'Alessandro), Mattia Casalegno, Blaire Edwards, Cole Lu, and Keren Moscovitch. The Soothing Center is curated by Jesse Bandler Firestone.