Expo.02, Yverdon

We traveled to Expo.02 in Yverdon for a day on one of the last weeks of the exhibition. Yverdon was just one of the Arteplages of the Expo, there were a number of others in the area (Biel, Murten, Neuchatel and Jura). We had heard good reports from others, but weren't quite sure what to expect. What we saw surprised us. Everything had a very surrealistic, futuristic look, and it was evident that a lot of ideas, work and expense had gone into making everything look quite out of the ordinary. The visual design, supported by the almost omnipresent spacey, soothing sound, were excellent and very creative. Some of the exhibits, however, were somewhat lacking in content. A lot of actors were around, introducing the exhibits and, in instance, getting people waiting in line to sing or dance, entitling them to skip the queue. Ah, yes, the queues were the single most irritating part of Expo, with waits of 45 minutes to an hour per exhibit even on a Thursday. I pity the people visiting on a weekend!

On the "Oui" pavillion	The columns of the pavilion were very bright and made me so dizzy that I had to take care not to crash into one
A sign indicating the direction of the entrance to the Arteplage	The signature structure of Yverdon, the artificial cloud or "blur". It was possible to walk onto it and to the viewing platform right at the top (partly visible)
On "blur". The cloud was created with hundreds of nozzles spraying water	Most everyone wore a raincoat due to the spray on "blur". You could buy a poncho before entering
There was a bar on blur with blindingly blue walls, including these special editions of Evian bottled water	Sign outside Blur showing the shape of the cloud depending on the wind strength
Exhibit "Signalschmerz" was amazing, a gigantic cube with long plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling. You had to walk through them, a unique experience!	Some of the plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling
A few of the tubes had red lights on them to indicate the presence of tiny speakers, through which people recounted their story	I was dizzy again
This exhibit was another huge cube with a cloth skin painted to look like a cross section of earth	The entrance to the exhibit. The interior was fantastic, being dark and filled with couch areas on which you could lie to look up to the huge ceiling, on which the visuals of a multimedia show were projected
Spiky lamp in the kids' section	Funny contact ads plastered all over the outside of this exhibit. Great to read while waiting in line to enter
Looking inside out from the "Oui" exhibit. You could get married here for a day. We did!	Inside Oui. It got very confusing with slowly rotating, coloured glass doors. The spacey music provided the proper mood
Inside Oui, getting disoriented ...	Another part of Oui
Nearing the final chamber of Oui	The final chamber. It got real intense here
Where did you last see a parking lot for prams?	Red and orange were dominant colours in some areas of Expo.02