BY KRISTINA MAH AND LUKE HESPANHOL
Kinetic Light Sculpture Project for Emotional Transitions, Bangkok Program November 2017
Inspired by the mythical naga, this work uses water, light and e-waste to make people aware of the present fragility and interdependence.
Rainbow Naga is a large-scale kinetic light sculpture and digital installation that works with the form and formless quality of light to create auspicious moments of wonder for visitors and onlookers. The idea connects the unexpectedness of the creation of rainbow with the cultural myth of the naga. The work offers a change in the perception passage. It symbolises spiritual dialogue, social connections and shared experience.
Rainbow Naga plays to Thai legends that are kept alive in contemporary culture. It will be a beautiful and captivating public artwork. It will surprise and attract people to visit be- cause of the nature of its construction and the fact that it is meeting point in time and space if people would like to see it. It will bring attention and open discussion through physical and digital channels.
The work creates suspended moments of mindful awareness and wonder in a busy city. A collective memory is created through watching the spectacle of a rainbow that can induce that there is magic in and surprise in unlikely places. Using and affect upon the city.
The natural sunlight will shine through mist that will fall from Aspects of the work will use electronic waste to create the frame that gives rise or traps the rainbow mist that it leaves in its wake. The work is scalable, it can be installed at one or seveal loctions, ideally under bridges. If the work is installed at multiple places, the passing of the nagas could be synchronised. At night or on cloudy days, LEDs will illuminate the mist.