Colossal: 2047 Apologue is a concept performance by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The video is a teaser for the final part of the show titled the Weaving Machine, one of eight acts that combine traditional Chinese craft, music, or dance with modern technology such as lasers, robots, and drones. The combination of ancient and modern technology aims to comment on how much the later has taken over life in the 21st century.
5 comments:
Now this is what I'm talking about! Combining technology, robotics, and art is something I aim to do more than once here at CMU, and this is a perfect example of why. The piece was stunning, moving and incredibly innovative in its use of sound and light and robotics to illustrate a dance and almost personify and give life to the moving plane of lights. The atmosphere begins so ethereally, beautiful and awe-inspiring, but moves to jerky music, discordant noise and a jumble of overwhelming inputs - not the classic 'pretty floating lights' idea that may have started out this piece, but becoming falling tiles, buzzing synapses and information, even stifling the dancer and crushing her at one point. The dancer and the lights interact, making the lights not just a decoration or lighting source but a performer in and of themselves. THIS is the kind of incredible innovation I want to do with technology, and this piece will be a huge inspiration in doing just that.
This is an amazing idea that I would love to see with played with in the future for performances. It's something that I don't necessarily think is always thought of and is often shied away from due to cost. As this kind of technology gets more and more accessible and reasonable to use I would love to see what artists are able to create with it. As of right now I feel that this kind of automation and lighting implementation can be modified and used in ways we (I) can't even imagine being possible today.
This video was super cool! I really liked how they are incorporating technology into dance. I have seen dances with light up suits or some other glowing objects. This is the first time I have seen so many lights hanging and moving with the dance. I wonder what the lights are attached to and the automated system that is able to move them up and down. The fact that it reacts to the dancer’s movement is even more impressive because you would think that all those lights were programed to move and change colors at certain times. I would be really interested to see someone do an improv dance and see how the lights react to them. This type of technology would be very cool in theatre in the right production. I wonder if the technology could be used with scenery as well and have it move based on actor’s movements.
This performance set up is so cool!! It's incredible how well synced up the dancer and the light orbs are as well as the projections in the background. We have been talking about interactive media and video design in my Stagecraft local, and this immediately reminded me of that. Like Sam, I wonder how the lights are attached in that rigging set up and what kind of system moves them. Also, I wonder if the lights are actually reactive, or if the dance is just really well coordinated. If the lights are actually motion response, that system would have to be insane, connecting infrared systems and the motor systems together.
Additionally I would love to know what is Yimou's reasoning and inspiration behind connecting this dance performance with the action of weaving. I see the similarity between the wave like motions of the lights with the dancer's movement and fabric, but I don't quite see how the portion of the performance from 1:30 to 2:10 in the video really connect to the weaving machine.
If i could just type 145 😱😍😱😍😱😍😱characters, I would feel justified in doing so. This concept was amazing and aw shocking. I have seen similar application but each time I see it i am so mesmerized. I would want to try and find a story that could use this application. As a lighting person I am always looking for ways to integrate lighting and scenic elements together. I think the idea of movement of light is the most dynamic we light can be used. More so, I think the 3D element is so valuable in theatre and gives it another layer of magic. I also just love flying scenic elements and the fact that It in theory could be considered a lighting element is encouraging for the possibility for me.
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