Seoul-based art collective Kimchi and Chips is displaying a public art installation entitled ‘Halo’ at the Art Plaza of the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM), creating a spectacle out of sunlight that falls on the venue.
Kimchi and Chips was founded in 2009 by Mimi Son from South Korea and Elliot Woods from the UK. Their research-based approach has earned them recognition “as pioneers in the field of volumetric imagery and advanced 3D projection”, according to the Art Macao website, adding that their works have won several awards.
The current art piece is dependent on the sun and utilises 99 motorised and robotic mirrors, careful calibration, as well as computation, among others, to create a bright halo inside a cloud of mist made up of microscopic droplets of water, which create a large visual effect. The shape appears only for certain moments when the sun, water, and technology coincide, with the image thereby created “compromising” with nature.
In a recent interview with reporters at the Art Plaza last month, Woods said that the installation creates “a spectacle out of sunshine”, noting that the sunlight shining on the plaza is collected using the motorised, robotic mirrors, which all accurately track it and can each shine a beam of sunlight. “You can imagine that as a line of light and space that we can navigate around, and we configure all of these lines to describe a circle in the air. So, we create this image of the sun made of sunlight”, he said.
Woods added that the term ‘spectacle’ is used as: “We like the idea of reclaiming spectacle. Spectacle is often about domination, and we are trying to put it in configurations of submission, that the installation is only capable of being seen when all of the elements are available for us”. Elements that one has no control over such as the clouds, wind and the spectator’s attention have to come together for the image to appear, he said.
The installation in Macau marks the third time that it has been shown, Woods told The Macau Post Daily during the interview on November 22, noting that compared to the other works that the art collective has toured, the one currently on display in Macau was a “really rare” piece of art owing to the complexities involved and specific conditions required in getting if off the ground.
He added that there are very few places where the work can be presented, especially in November and December. Macau was chosen to show the installation due to its suitable weather, i.e., being sunny and bright.
However, the Art Plaza, Woods told reporters, had originally not been among the six locations in Macau that Woods had visited back in March when considering where to display the installation, but ended up opting for it as it offered the largest open space, therefore having less shadows, while its orientation enabled them to have the installation face towards the sun and shine it back.
On having the art work displayed in Macau in an open space, unlike inside a museum, a different kind of relationship is built with public art work. When something is added to an open space, Woods said, it was bound to trigger certain reactions by the public such as people wondering why it was added to the area or what its purpose is. But over time, he said, people may start to understand it and become curious about it, as well as wondering when would be the best time to see the installation.
Woods said that Kimchi and Chips was merely hoping to get to a point where those visiting the plaza can go from just wondering why the installation is there to them seeing that there might be something special going on, and then attempt to understand it, and finally even want taking it in as part of their own.
The installation is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily until January 21. More details can be found on: https://www.artmacao.mo/2023/en/artDetail/588
This undated handout photo provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) shows the Halo installation displayed at a different location.
This undated handout photo recently provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) shows “Halo” at the Art Plaza at the Macau Cultural Centre.
Elliot Woods from Seoul-based Kimchi and Chips introducing the “Halo Installation”.
– Photos recently taken by Yuki Lei
