Poster of Space Vagrancy Program
On June 22nd, the "Space Vagrancy Program" new media arts exhibition debuted at the Multi-functional Small Theater (hereinafter referred to as "Small Theater") of Meixi Lake International Culture and Artistic Center. The exhibition uses multimedia technology, interactive installations, and sculptural installations to create a dream space. "Space Vagrancy Program” allows visitors to use imagination to touch the cosmos which is currently unreachable.
As Liu Cixin (A famous science fiction writer in China) said, science and technology have been developing at an unimaginable speed, and the Internet covers the whole world. Living the increasingly comfortable life created by the Internet, people gradually lose interests in space. Instead of embarking on a real space exploration full of dangers, they are more willing to use the LCD screens to experience virtual life. The exhibition allows every adventurer to use the imagination to touch the cosmos.
This is not just an exhibition and experience, but also a journey full of exploration and fun. Joining the "Space Vagrancy Program", you will become a stone guardian, and will have to choose your side. You can choose Dr. R's side- using the stone of the universe, opening the Star Gate, rescuing the astronauts, and then starting a space adventure together. You can also side with the Prophet's descendants- destroying the Star Gate, returning the stone to the descendants of the Prophet, and saving their home planet.
We hope that every adventurer can take a break from online life and let the imagination extend toward the wider universe. No matter how old the audience is, the eternal starry sky is enough to touch the heart and enlighten the mind.
Create multi-dimensional arts experiences for the public
From the beginning of the exhibition preparation, the Meixi Lake International Culture and Artistic Center gathered resources, and took the new media arts as the starting point to provide a solid ground for various emerging and cross-border artists and art forms. Parabola Culture Media creative team and the OIArt Digital Art Lab of the Fine Arts Academy in Hunan Normal University have worked together and have written code to generate a random and unpredictable universe, using a large number of 3D giant scenes and Rfid chip technology to bring the interactive features of new media arts to the extreme. Adventure puzzle games are presented with the technical power of new media. The audience is both the player and the protagonist of the story, and the choices they made will determine the ending of the story.
The exhibition highlights the immersive experience, as well as the personal initiative and interactive fun of the visitors, which can be enjoyed by audience of any age. When introducing the original intention and inspiration of the exhibition, Zhang Zhuo, a technical consultant of the art exhibition and an artificial intelligence teacher from Hunan Normal University, said: " As a researcher and educator of technology, my initial contact with new media technology was to provide my children with a more interesting and diverse approach to education. I hope to develop children’s interests in science, to preserve their innocence and curiosity, and to enable them to explore the unknown."
Discover more possibilities in the theater
In order to change the audience's inherent impressions of the theater as a performing venue, the new media arts exhibition transform the small theater into a exhibition hall for the first time, lowering all the stages and stairs to ground level, and demolishing seats to maximize the exhibiting space. Moreover, for the first time, the backstage dressing area was opened to the audience, so the dressing rooms and passages are included in the space of the art exhibition. This method provided hardware support for the overall story creation while expanding the space for exhibition.
He Wen, the producer of the exhibition and the general manager of Changsha Meixi Lake Poly Theatre Management Co., Ltd., said: "Because of the development of new media art, the various art forms that were at first accessible for only a small amount of people are now getting closer to the public. The border between art and life is blurring... As the last work of Zaha Hadid, the Meixi Lake International Cultural and Artistic Center itself is a synonym of art. In the pursuit of art and the universal value, the Grand Theatre will always seeking more possibilities for artistic expression to bring arts closer to the public. With 890 square meters space, flexible structure and diverse devices, the small theater could given us a variety of possibilities to showcase arts."
It is reported that the "Space Vagrancy Program" new media art exhibition will be on display until July 17th. The opening hours on workdays are from 13:00-20:00, and that on the weekends are from 10:00-20:00. After the close of the exhibition in Changsha, it will be on tour national wide.