The Blinkatorium is a series of free standing sculptures inhabiting a 5,000 square foot parking garage, and evokes the aesthetic of a traveling carnival. All pieces are constructed using colorful LED and incandescent lighting, along with vibrant stripes and graphic patterns, a cornerstone of Pennington’s body of work.

The Blinkatorium was first presented at the return of Baltimore’s Artscape festival in 2023, after a three year postponement due to the pandemic. It was welcomed back the following year for Artscape’s 40th Anniversary with new pieces and experiences added to the collection.

Featured was an updated rendition of “The Spider” (originally constructed in 2016 and reworked for this project), a pair of lit circular disks flanked by large chevrons on easels titled, “The Gates”(2023), and Pennington’s latest 2024 oversized installation titled, “The Billboard”. Pennington also launched a new, interactive piece created in conjunction with Side A Photography, in which participants danced in the center of a ring of blinking light columns, and received a 20 second, rotating video of their experience.

The Blinkatorium is an illuminated, immersive experience that seeks to create a reflective and meditative space, where viewers can wander through moments of candor, nostalgia and play. The versatile series of structures and engagements can be customized and modified to fit a variety of different spaces, environments or creative experiences.