The "Mirage City Fireworks" installation is a collaborative project between the Design School of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and MARS, with Jess Yu and Ma Ning as the lead designers. In response to the brief of this year’s competition “Hybrid Playground”. Our proposal “Mirage” is inspired by the fireworks art of Cai Guoqiang, through the universally recognized concept of fireworks and the childhood memories shared by all. The splendid burst of fireworks, along with its ever-changing geometric forms, resembles the dynamics of urban landscape. The project aims to captivate an immersive experience, inviting visitors to traverse through, stoop under, and engage intimately with it, fostering reconnection between visitors and the surrounding landscape, thereby enhancing the experiential dimension of the festival.
The installation also involves collaboration with Yu Yibin from the School of Film and TV Arts at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, who composed a piece of music for this design. Together with BWEE Technology, we developed the lighting scheme using BWEE Magic light-sound synchronization technology, the installation allows the visitors to experience the synchronized movement of light, music, and the design, providing an immersive artistic experience.
The installation consists of a series of undulating screens, each woven with gradient-colored nylon threads, creating in-between spaces that blends with solidity and porosity. The arc-shaped screens form a series of continuous circulation, allowing the audience to enter the installation from different directions. It allows the installation organically integrate with its surroundings and offers the audience new perspectives on the city and the Xintiandi surroundings. The gradient colors pay homage to Matisse's painting "La Gerbe," with green representing natural landscape, blue representing the sky, and orange and red representing florals and fruits. These exuberant colors symbolize innocence and freedom, while also reflecting the beauty of nature.
We hope that visitors to the installation can momentarily escape the hustle and bustle of urban life, find a moment of relaxation, and reconnect with the imaginative and carefree spirit of their childhood.
