ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The wildly inventive Fairgrounds St. Pete, an immersive art museum for all ages, celebrates weird, wonderful Florida.
Mermaids, manatees, and now mullet.
Expanding in size, scope, and spectacle, the offbeat attraction just unveiled "The Bait Ball," a trippy 3D zoetrope that mimics the natural phenomenon of fish — in this case, lowly mullet — defending themselves against predators.
"It's kind of a three-dimensional flipbook, an animation that's lit by strobe light," says artist Devon Brady, a playful creator who also happens to be a full-time firefighter for Hillsborough County.
The art installation is a whimsical sleight of hand. It took four 3D printers working nonstop for two and a half months to create 254 fish to make up the strobing, spinning artwork.
"My work is all about creating an illusion, but then letting the viewer into that illusion, showing them how it's made," says Devon.
For hours, tickets, and more to Fairgrounds St. Pete, go here.
