Detroit’s ‘Star Wars’-themed Space Dive event strikes back

The teaser posters for 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace were both ubiquitous and cryptic. They hinted at no substantial plot details other than promising the origins of possibly the greatest villain of all time — but it was that short and debatably redundant tagline that stuck with us: “Every saga has a beginning…”

From a certain point of view, you could say that Space Dive could be the beginning of your story. Regardless of whether you’re into the popular space opera franchise or not, this weekend’s annual immersive art installation at Detroit’s Tangent Gallery is, at its heart, for any and all fans of… well, let’s say, adventure.

Speaking of origin stories: Back in 1980, after seeing the second Star Wars film, John Dunivant was an imaginative 9-year-old who would spend that summer building his own to-scale cardboard model of the film’s Cloud City just by eyeballing sketches and diagrams inside a book titled The Art of the Empire Strikes Back, which he fatefully attained via a playground trade. The anecdote of this modest rendering of Lando Calrissian’s mining colony, wrought as it was inside of a humble suburban basement with scissors and glue, could essentially be what Star Wars fans refer to as “the opening crawl,” or the prologue for Dunivant’s life as an artist, stylistically displayed in angled yellow text floating through space.

Dunivant knows, all too well, that finding Star Wars at any age, regardless of which trilogy served as your gateway — the original, the prequels, or Disney’s sequels — can be a life-changing experience. That’s why, this weekend and next, Dunivant and Space Dive co-creator Daniel Land invite you to explore the Tangent Gallery for Space Dive, which transports you to a full-scale hand-built reproduction of the Mos Eisley Cantina from the original 1977 film, along with the interior of a massive Imperial base, then out into a bustling marketplace nestled into an authentically designed dusty spaceport. It’s billed as “The Greatest Dive Bar in the Galaxy,” complete with vendors, musical performances, poets, DJs, lots of costumes, and even Aunt Beru’s specialty “blue milk.”

“It’s pure escapism,” says Dunivant, the longtime Detroit-based artist best known as the visionary mind behind the long-running punk rock-splashed Halloween masquerade Theatre Bizarre. “From the musical performances, to the chatter of vendors hawking their wares, the scent of food cooking that smells like something you may not have tasted before, to the sight of this 360-degree art space, which just becomes a playground to explore and discover … as all of this is hitting your senses, you’re here seeking out your own adventure and bringing your own story to it,” he adds. “It’s total world-building, but we can’t do world-building in a vacuum – our patrons are coming with their own characters and their own unexpected stories which means we’re each all adding to this tapestry of an experience.”

Space Dive’s costumes-mandatory, immersive main events (ages 21 and up only) will be held the evenings of May 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10, with all-ages “Family Days” during the daytime on both Saturdays. Each event features entertainment, food, and bar service with virgin cocktails for the kids, among an extensive and elaborate backdrop that rivals any movie set. Costumes are optional on Family Days, but encouraged, as there is a costume contest, with prizes sponsored by Vault of Midnight comics.

“It’s really more of a dress code,” says Land. “And we ideally don’t want fifty Han Solos,” Dunivant quips in reference to the mandatory requirement for evening attendees, emphasizing that no attendee should feel pressured to assemble a minutely-detailed, screen-accurate costume of canonized characters. “You can show up just wearing maybe earth-tones, some khakis, a frayed scarf, and maybe some goggles and you’re good to go,” he says. “We want people to realize they probably already have the components for this kind of costume lying around at home.” The intent, for many, Dunivant says, is to make up your own character.

“I know I definitely wouldn’t be doing the kind of work that I do without those films,” says Land, a filmmaker and technical director who only caught Return of the Jedi in theatres as a lap-held infant, and later came under the spell of Star Wars via ritualistic home video rewatches. “[Star Wars] made me want to make films.”

Like Dunivant, Land is a multifaceted artist. He made his first feature-length film in high school and then went on to direct a wide array of short films, music videos, and documentaries, including the 2022 feature-length documentary America You Kill Me, about LGBTQ+ activist Jeffrey Montgomery. “But what we’re doing with [Space Dive], the idea of being able to step into another world – and I’m usually out there with my camera at the event – seeing these incredible storytelling moments in this cohesive, full-reality, that’s an honor to get to experience.”

A not-so-long time ago, in Milwaukee Junction

Space Dive sprung, quickly, during the build-up to the 2015 release of The Force Awakens, that first entry in Disney’s sequel trilogy. Land and Dunivant were huddled in a bar together, not unlike Han and Chewie lounging in a cantina, discussing the then-burgeoning novelty Star Wars celebration on May 4. (The date was chosen because of its similarity to the phrase “May the force be with you” — get it?) That’s when Dunivant and Land decided to throw together a for-the-fans party on that pun-friendly date, which fell on a Monday back then. From there, it just started growing.

“We’d been talking about it for a while, actually,” Land says, recalling how Dunivant already had the epiphany realizing that the shape of Tangent’s bar matched the architecture of the cantina set in A New Hope. Dunivant, of course, had already drawn up blueprints by the time 2015 came around. “And we talked about how we would really pull this off,” says Land. “How far could we take something like this? I’d happened to have some funds from my Kresge Fellowship to get us started, and then we suddenly had this saga coming back into the culture and it all intersected. [Dunivant] drew up the schematics and other designs, and Brett Carson [Space Dive co-creator and on-site manager] developed this rapid build of the Cantina bar and booths. And each year we’ve expanded more until eventually taking over the whole [Tangent] complex.”

“We were working around-the-clock, just to plaster and paint, that first year,” Dunivant says. “I didn’t sleep for three days and was still painting as people were walking in the door; it had to get done! Since then we’ve added more, but even at that time we were just doing it for kicks — to blow off some steam together, and now it’s become this juggernaut.”

Dunivant and Land started with concepts… but they needed an alliance. “The ‘build it and they will come’ cliche is true,” Dunivant says. “People started showing up and they each had their own talents to contribute.” That could be costume-makers, carpenters, prop-makers, and skilled designers who could, say, help create their own droids by using a 3-D printer. “The amount of creatives and artists and passionate people who just want to add texture and build these sets is just amazing,” he adds.

“This is powered by people,” says Land. “It takes a lot of energy and skill and talent to make this possible. During event nights there’s a crew of over 200 people working to run Space Dive.”

There’s creatives, and then there’s logistics, Dunivant says. “We have support from stage managers, sound engineers, gate crews, costume support, and zone managers,” he adds. “It’s a massive logistical Rubik’s Cube, from aesthetics, to safety, and how foot traffic flows through a nonconforming space where we’re encouraging you to explore pockets but not clog up the flow. We’re prepared for so many different things to just accommodate this platform for adventure, making sure everyone’s safe and secure.”

And that, Dunivant says, is especially where zone managers shine, making sure exits are clear and also making sure nothing on each set, props or anything, is moved or tampered with or blocking anything. The idea is for everyone to attain full enjoyment of the experience, safely and securely, without even noticing what it took to get there.

First step into a larger world

“We hear versions of this story all the time,” Dunivant says, specifying how “people come for their first time and have just thrown together a ‘scarf-vest-goggles’ look but then they get here and meet all these Mandalorian warriors and end up joining another community of armor builders, or maybe they start getting into costume-making and just tap into a creativity that they didn’t expect. They might write themselves off until they see everyone else around them doing their own things and then they can’t wait for the next party to debut the thing they’ve been working on.” Land adds that he loves “seeing people unlock and step into their own creativity at Space Dive.”

“We want to create a very inclusive environment,” Dunivant reiterates. “Everyone is welcome, and we want you to create your own character, and start building your own story. You don’t need some full-on Darth Vader costume. We’ve watched people over the years grow their character, adding to their costumes, as their narrative gets deeper and this event keeps evolving; it’s exciting to see.”

“Who are you?” Land says, “in your own galaxy far, far away…”

Every story has a beginning, but the future, as Yoda said, is “always in motion,” and that non-stop energy is profoundly true for all contributors to Space Dive. Dunivant is currently booked for various art exhibitions while Land is building toward the streaming debut of his latest documentary, all while sacrificing any shred of sleep for the sake of Space Dive. “Our fantastic team,” Land says. “Each has their own creative pursuits that they dedicate their blood, sweat, and tears to, but we all find the time for [Space Dive].”

Along with the crew, there are other local artists, poets, and musicians, who are landing at Space Dive to perform during the events, including Amber Hasan (with original poetry that taps into world-building political lore), Audra Kubat (performing in alien languages and helping to book talent), Dixon’s Violin, Emily Rose, the Detroit Party Marching Band, Black Jake and the Carnies, the Boreouts, the Cult of Spaceskull, Wesley and the Crushers, Onyx Ashanti, Fire Flower, and many many more.

So if you’re looking for a unique experience, set course for Space Dive. You can be a wide-eyed Luke, a snarky Han, an indomitable Leia, a stark Andor, a smooth Lando, a courageous Rey, or literally anyone you want to be. This call to adventure, this hero’s journey, is essential for any sci-fi fans, any theater fans, any art and music fans… anyone looking for a sense of community and maybe even a veritable new hope. Especially in these dark times, when it feels like we could all use some Rebellion, and a little hope. Hope is one of the best things to build upon…

Space Dive main events (ages 21 and up only) run two weekends from 7 p.m.-2 a.m. on Friday, May 2-Sunday, May 4 and Friday, May 9-Saturday, May 10. All-ages family days are from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 and Saturday 10. Pre-sale tickets available at spacedive313.com or at the door for $52.50; Tangent Gallery, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit.