The large-scale inter-disciplinary art installation "A Landscape of Metamorphosis: No End to End" was conceived and realized by Jennifer Wen Ma, an internationally acclaimed visual artist. The work will be on long-term exhibit at the Spectacle.
With Chinese ink painting tradition as foundation, the artist has created a stunning immersive sculptural landscape through innovation and technology. Artist’s honeycomb-construction paper-sculpture technique combines laser cutting with Chinese traditional art forms, philosophies, aesthetic theories, and practices, such as Literati landscape painting, classical garden design, and the Book of Rites; and fusing them with cutting edge contemporary technology to create innovative art installations for a modern audience to traverse between multiple artistic fields.
The sculptural landscape takes the form of three islands, inspired by the shape of the Macau peninsula and its surrounding changing landscape. Similar to landscape handscroll painting, the islands extend widely to invite guests into its vista. Furthermore, guests can travel through the landscape elements and experience different times of the day and seasons, as if wandering in Lingnan landscapes of the region.
The first iteration of the installation depicts the seasons of spring and summer. Incorporating the teachings of the Book of Rites and principles of the Five Elements, the artist depicts the seasons with colors from tender greens to pinks and reds that are fresh and light to evoke the feeling of the land reviving in spring with an abundance of flowers nestled in the verdant landscape.
The platform bases are embedded with LED panels that reflect the change of seasons in their color and rhythm. This multi-media installation creates space for visitors to be immersed into the world the contemporary art, fused with nature, traditional culture, and modern technologies.
In addition to the floor garden installation, there are three metamorphic butterfly shaped creatures, taking flight from the gardens. Composed through Rorschach image-making and Chinese characters “nothingness” 無, “exhaustive” 窮 and “limit” 盡. Strung together, 無窮盡 produce a never-ending source of metamorphic content to echo the continuous innovation of Chinese culture. At the same time, it harmoniously complements the Spectacle – the largest free-span gridshell glazed roof, the world’s largest area of the permanent indoor LED canvas, and art inspired by nature. When sunshine reflects on the soaring butterflies which rise out of and soar above the landscape, it highlights the transformative power of nature, and the symbolism of renewal represented by the butterfly.
Time：24 hours
Location: The Spectacle, MGM COTAI
