Cultural Center features unique meditation experience

CHICAGO (WLS) -- In a cavernous space at the Chicago Cultural Center, you can escape within The Illusion & The Aftermath. This temporary art exhibit provides a unique meditation experience where music and light drive relaxation.

"The tension release of inhale, exhale is what I'm searching for in the music," explained project composer and sound designer John Sully.

Sully achieves this with a stream of bending tones, plucked from multiple guitars. But just as important to the experience is the glowing aura. Without headphones on, the room is near silent; director and visual designer Kenneth Collins uses light to pull visitors closer.

"Once you sit down, the lights are almost too bright in a way on purpose that forces you to close your eyes," he said, adding that even so, "that light is still present in the room," adding to the viewers experience.

This performance goes on for six hours, but Collins and Sully said this was done deliberately so that guests could not stay for the entire piece.

"There's not a beginning, there's not a middle, there's not an end. There's just the moment that you have," explained Collins.

You can experience The Illusion & The Aftermath for free this Wednesday through Sunday at the Chicago Cultural Center. Wednesday through Saturday the performance is 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Sunday performance is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.