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FATHOM, the immersive multimedia ocean art installation created by artist collective Roboto Octopodo, will go out with the tide on Sunday, July 27, when its final permit extension expires. RO previewed FATHOM in February 2024 during that year’s Portland Winter Light Festival (a few of the festival’s founders are also RO members) and opened it as a semipermanent fixture in downtown Portland that May. FATHOM’s popularity extended its runtime from a planned few weeks to more than a year of showing sights like a to-scale model kinetic whale sculpture, a laser harp, and halls of optical illusions.
“We wanted to prove that we could create a financially sustainable immersive art experience that would act as a hub for the artistic community, employ creative talent, and be an economic and cultural catalyst—and we have,” RO cofounderTyler FuQua said in a statement. “After a full year of successful operations, it’s time to focus on the future of Roboto Octopodo.”
While FATHOM may be winding down, it doesn’t mean RO is about to leave downtown Portland.
Its next project, tentatively named PRISM, will open in another location sometime next year, according to Michelle David, RO’s director of communications. PRISM’s proof-of-concept runs opened at Fan Expo Portland in January, and during this year’s PWLF in the building that last held Rock Bottom Brewery before the pandemic. The forest-themed world, inspired by Mount Tabor and Mount St. Helens, included an infinity room and a sculpted creature with tentacles and a human baby’s head.
David clarified that like its working name, PRISM’s concept and location are far from finalized, but teased that RO plans to make it three times the size of the 8,000-square-foot former CVS storefront FATHOM had transformed.
“Immersive spaces are bigger and better than ever these days, and we’re stoked to be a pioneer in it,” she says.
A series of closing events and parties have been planned to celebrate FATHOM before it washes out like seafoam. Among others to be announced are a masks-required gathering for immunocompromised patrons on Saturday, July 19, and a kickoff event for the annual Portlandia Mermaid Parade and Festival on Friday, July 25. (Queer event producer Katya Butler announced that a late-night LGBTQ+ Pride party will be held at FATHOM during Portland’s LGBTQ+ Pride Festival weekend, but David tells WW that the event has not yet been fully confirmed.)
“FATHOM was always meant as a love letter to Portland’s revitalization,” she says. “We have an efficient plan for the future. We want to end on a high note.”
SEE IT: FATHOM, 520 SW Fourth Ave., 503-482-8208, roboocto.com. 3–10 pm Friday, 1–10 pm Saturday, 1–8 pm Sunday. $22 general admission, $20 seniors, youth ages 4–12 and veterans with ID, $5 Art for All patrons, free for ages 3 and under and anyone within one week of their birthday.