Neon Nature

This project was inspired by Jónsi Hrafntinna's exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. He used dark scenes, 360-degree surround sound, the smell of burning and faint lighting to tell the story of the Icelandic volcano in the space. There are no visuals in his projects, but he is intended to create images in people's minds through senses other than the visual.In my installation, however, I will project photographs and videos and the elements are visually centred. I will simulate the wilderness through ambient stereo sound which constitutes a secondary aural sensation. The floating screens will show the banal scenes of the city and the rare aurora borealis. My photographic subjects are not in the wild, nor in the places where the aurora borealis is actually seen, but in the scenes of daily life, in parks, in small streets, in city centres, etc. ...... I wanted to create a contrast between the familiar, mundane scenes and the shocking, wonderful and rare astronomical phenomena; to make people relax and relieve their accumulated stress by associating the beauty of nature with a moment of tranquillity from an everyday scene.

In order not to create too much vertigo in the images, I have also used white noise and soft music from everyday life to ease the audience's emotions.Specifically, my main technique will be to use slow shutter speed, blurred image and the green gel in front of the lense to create the feeling of the aurora borealis as it appears to the viewer. I would like to briefly explain the Aurora Borealis, which will also help me to explain my project. Auroras are formed when particles collide with each other, so they are always slow-moving when viewed. However, the camera's record of capturing the movement of the light is fixed, just like a moment of ordinary city life is also fixed, the unstable camera records the trajectory of the light falling on the sensor to get a blurred photo, it seems to be people in the non-sober state of illusion in the city, so that they can imagine the feeling of watching the aurora borealis from a fixed scene of life. In order to make the live installation more immersive for the audience, I also refer to the projects of many installation artists, such as Fujiko Nakaya, Olafur Eliasson; Haroon Mirza.

To summarise, these photos and videos have blue-green tones and blurred elements, which can be interpreted as a representation of the aurora lights, as well as an expression of the dizziness caused by the pressures of today's society, coupled with the ravages of the COVID pandemic, and the people's desire to be free and unencumbered. Through this project, I hope to let people feel the mysterious power of nature, and let the audience get a moment of peace in the hustle and bustle of life.