The 1960s and '70s were a time of experience.

Whether it was the Woodstock experience, a psychedelic experience or a cultural experience, the E word seemed to hang in the air back then, alongside the heady fragrance of incense and musk oil.

It seems appropriate, then, to say that the Sensory Overload exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum, which features art from these decades, is an experience. Yes, this show of light, motion, sound and the optical in art since 1945, reaches further back than the sixties - as well as ahead to the eighties, nineties and beyond. Still it holds a feeling of deja vu for those who lived through the birth of Op art and geometric abstraction.

Perhaps it is because 1967 was the year when the Milwaukee Art Museum began collecting and exhibiting new media art. That year, the MAM co-organized Light/Motion/Space with the Walker Art Center, in one of the first exhibitions of the kinetic art form in the United States. Sensory Overload, which is housed in the museum's contemporary galleries, includes pieces from that original show, as well as popular works from its continuing collection and works on loan from other institutions and private collections - all of which explore the principles of perception.

Never-ending art

One of the centerpieces of the show is Stanley Landsman's "Walk-in Infinity Chamber" (1968), which visitors can enter (two at a time) and feel like they've been transported to a space that is infinite and boundless. Made out of glass, mirrors and 6,000 light bulbs, the chamber took more than a year to reconstruct (it had been in storage for nearly 15 years), according to Joe Ketner, chief curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The end result is an experience that visitors line up outside the chamber to share.

"It is almost a feeling of weightlessness," said Ketner. "People tend to get lost in there."

The "Infinity Chamber" is one of several interactive pieces that make up this exhibition. Another is Howard Jones' "Sonic II" (1967-68), which invites visitors to both create music and move to it. Jones' stainless steel sculpture, mounted on the wall, has an electronic eye that senses movement and responds to it with sound. In other words, when a person walks past the sculpture, a musical note sounds. By continuing to move in front of "Sonic II," visitors can create their own musical composition through a series of sound responses to their movement.

Jones' initial concept for his installation included four such sculptures, each on its own wall, Ketner explained. The artist, who was also a musician, envisioned a dance being choreographed amidst his pieces, creating an experience that was both musical and visual.

"He was trying to take things to the next level, giving us the experience of art crossing different media," Ketner said.

Another seemingly static piece that comes to life with the help of visitors is a sculpture called "Living Tree" (1964). The movement in this piece, which is contained within the sculpture, is much more subtle. With the push of a button, the segmented branches of the abstract tree begin to move in what is a pre-programmed dance of their own.

Historical movement

These are but a few examples of the approximately 50 works of art that make up Sensory Overload.

Others range from paintings by artists including Victor Vasarely and Frank Stella to selected images and films projected in black box theaters within the galleries. Together they create an exhibit designed to give visitors an extraordinary immersive experience.

"We have a tremendous collection of works from the sixties and seventies that focus on this genre - enough that we could reinstall this exhibit up to five times and not show the same thing twice," said Ketner. "We chose those pieces we felt could still resonate with audiences of the 21st century."

In addition to being a treat for the senses, the exhibition - with its chronological presentation - is also a walk through time that takes visitors from the teachings of Bauhaus artists, whose ideas inspired the art of the sixties and seventies, to artists today whose video and installation work has roots in the kinetic art movement.

"Most contemporary art today goes back to the ideas of the Bauhaus School in 1920s Germany," Ketner said.

Yet, one doesn't need to be steeped in art history to be able to appreciate Sensory Overload.

"You don't have to know about art to have a physical, sensory response to it," Ketner said.

If You Go

WHAT: Sensory Overload: Light, motion, sound and the optical in art since 1945.

WHEN: Now through October 2009. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursdays.

WHERE: Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Drive, along the lakefront.

COST: This exhibit is included in the museum's general admission price which is $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 students and free for children age 12 and younger.

INFO: Call (414) 224-3200 or visit http://www.mam.org

Check it all out

As long as you are at the Milwaukee Art Museum, why not take it all in? In addition to Sensory Overload and Art in Bloom, the MAM is currently offering a special exhibition called Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945.

This landmark exhibition, which runs through May 4, includes 160 photographic works from the avant garde to documentary images which reflect this period of history in central Europe. Called "spellbinding" by the New York Times, Foto is organized by the National Gallery of Art in Washington. A coordinating series of films, Modernity and Tradition: Film in Interwar Central Europe, is also being shown in conjunction with the Foto show.

Admission to Foto requires a separate ticket. For more information about Foto and the film series, visit http://www.mam.org or call (414) 224-3200.