2019 Tracing the sky 伫林染天

Tracing the Sky

Source of Inspiration

“Tracing the sky is like my self-expression poem. I prefer to stay indoors; I usually look out the West Mountain from my window in Beijing and overlook trees and lakes in my home in London. Sometimes I can see some wind; sometimes I can see some people. Even though they seem close at hand consistently, for me，they are still a part of the outside world behind me.”

Artwork Description

Tracing the sky is an immersive mixed reality installation presented in Manchester in July. A hidden underground space in a busy city is transformed into an immersive sanctuary. Under a Victorian shopping arcade, a space void of physical content is filled with floating motion graphics emerging from the brick walls of the deep basement hideaway. Arresting imagery glides across the brickwork, vaulted ceilings and chambers of the subterranean location, filling the architecture with dreamlike skyscapes. The work uses 3D scanning, projection mapping and mobile phones equipped with augmented reality software to allow the audience to interact with the projections. Visitors will find themselves immersed in a fluid environment of simulated clouds and skies that change in response to how they interact with the installation via smartphone technology. Sounds generated from these interactions will add another dimension to the experience.