Project 5 − Lighting a World and a Moment Highlighted Photo

This project involved the creation of an art installation that illustrated the mood, timing, text and situation of a given haiku.

Haiku:
A good world
he dewdrops fall
by ones, by twos.

Project Date 03/19/2002 Project Description Lighting a World and Moment

Project Guidelines This final project was a synthesis of aspects of digital and physical lighting, as well as an experimental exploration into new ways in which both physical and digital lighting can be used to imply meaning and form. Through the use of appropriate technology, we set out to achieve a visual composition / performance project that enhanced the literary artistry of the haiku.

Concept Statement The haiku above revealed to us an environment untouched by man: a surreal world where beauty is everywhere and the observation of the natural is percieved through new eyes, as though for the first time. For the purposes of this installation, a single viewer sits in the 'leaf' and is enclosed by two projection screens. Digital imagery is then projected in synchronization with the lighting orchestration. The progression depicts the passage of a day on a minescule scale. The observer is reduced to the size of an insect in a forest, and watches as vivid colors of sunrise pour through the trees. The hues and textures become almost overwhelming at this small size, covering the viewer and his environment. Individual dew-drops can be seen falling from surrounding blades of grass on the projections. The journey moves full circle as evening descends once again, and the lights and projections fade to black.
The installation incorporated a soundtrack of ambient noises and music, as well as a haunting vocal recording of the haiku.


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