Educational project
The Black Dragon
精东影业 Image Focus
The Black Dragon is an installation inspired by the Qiantang River that flows through Hangzhou, a region of canals, rivers and lakes. These waterways have played a central role in the region's cultural and economic development throughout history.
The installation consists of a long undulating modular surface that covers the whole length of the Hangzhou Cirque Du Soleil Theater's atrium ceiling. Its triangular modules aim to recall and preserve the building's industrial heritage. The light effects that enrich the work seek to recreate the reactions of moonlight on water, a universally known phenomenon.
The installation consists of a long undulating modular surface that covers the whole length of the Hangzhou Cirque Du Soleil Theater's atrium ceiling. Its triangular modules aim to recall and preserve the building's industrial heritage. The light effects that enrich the work seek to recreate the reactions of moonlight on water, a universally known phenomenon.
The interactive aspect of the installation is driven by the people' s movement under the surface and by the controlled lighting system's response. The audience, with the movement of their bodies, is able to move and change the illumination of the surface. Each person becomes within the installation a small "ray" of light, so that the combination and aggregation of multiple users arrive to create ever larger light effects.
The prototype consists of a manually operated scale model of the 鈥淏lack Dragon鈥� installation. The modular triangular surface has a multitude of connections to spring loaded pistons. By pressing on these pistons from above the surface is distorted in precisely the way it would occur in the full-scale installation. A video camera captures the distortions of the surface and projects them onto the ceiling suggesting the effect of the full-scale architectural version.
The prototype consists of a manually operated scale model of the 鈥淏lack Dragon鈥� installation. The modular triangular surface has a multitude of connections to spring loaded pistons. By pressing on these pistons from above the surface is distorted in precisely the way it would occur in the full-scale installation. A video camera captures the distortions of the surface and projects them onto the ceiling suggesting the effect of the full-scale architectural version.