【Video】
【Encounter the Sun】
<Encounter the Sun> is an interactive installation project seek to provide people with an accessible experience to be engaged with the Sun and our universe.
In my scenario the viewer him/herself becomes a ‘star’. With the projection on the wall and background cosmos music emerged, the viewer will have an immersive experience of being a part of the universe. The viewer’s motion and movement will also interact with the installation. As the viewer walks towards the center of the installation which will form a total eclipse —— he or she, encounters the Sun.
In this way I want to break the enormous gap between time and space to make us feel a stronger bond between human and the universe.
【Design Question】
So here comes to my design question: How can I bring the remote universe into a reachable experience?
【Inspiration】
I started to get interested in the universe and started to wonder what is ultimate mystery of the universe since a very young age. The universe and the stars seems so close to us whenever we look up to the sky; but sometimes they seemingly so far away to reach.
It’s all start from the August 21st of 2017. A visible total solar eclipse happens through its path across United State.
It was such a significant event that i remember almost everyone on the street was standing there and witness this amazing moment. Some kids are shouting, some people looks excited and some people also felt scared. When the total eclipse really happened, everyone was amazed by this wonder of nature. I even feel it’s like a kind of sacred ritual.
This moment really impressed me a lot.
Humans have, we might assume that humans will always be fascinated by the effect of total solar eclipse.Because just at that moment, we, our human , have a stronge feeling of engagement with our great universe.
【 Research】
Talking about the universe, where we are living in. It never fails to fascinate us and amazed us by its numerous unknown mysterious and infinite beauty.
But is there any other stronger connection or bond between us and the universe?
According to Carl Sagan stated in his famous TV series <Cosmos: A personal voyage>, that we, human are actually made of stardust.
IT’s such an interesting point.So based on a quantum level, that we, human are sharing the same composing elements as the stars in the universe. We are inside the universe but meanwhile we can say the universe is inside of us.
We have such a strong connection with the universe but I think barely people rarely know it. Sometimes in our daily life, we feel the universe and the stars are so far away and we almost tend to ignore it.
I also did a lot of research and this video installation by NASA really caught my attention.
The video is generate by the real data NASA collected from outer space. So basically you can really get a feeling of entering the sun or have a close look of it without burning yourself.
I feel like I also want to create an direct and immersive experience for people to get in touch with our universe. So combining my experience from the Solar Eclipse this year in USA, which I said that is the moment we feel most strongly connected and engaged with our universe, I have an idea of recapturing that moment!!
【Process 】
It was not easy, I started from the very first sketch of coding.
【Future Iteration】
1, I want to go physical. I feel like the physical environment also can provide a more literal experience for people to get a feeling of interacting with the universe objects;
2, Can I connect this with a real outer space objects? Such as solar energy? or Meteorites? Very impressed by the artist Olafur Eliesson’s artwork <Attraction>
It’s a meteorite hovers in mid-air and suspended by the attractive forces of a red magnet. It’s so simple but so impressive to me.
For me this artwork really illuminated a sense of strong connection just like the unvierse and us.
3，I do feel I have so much space to further develop my project in the future. I will keep going on in this domain and keep refining my work.
