nightLIGHTS: 4 New Large-Scale Light Sculptures

The project provokes concerns over labor relations in the machine era. Drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a word we borrowed from the honey bee community; it is often used for tasks too “dull” for humans. We develop our knowledge structure in the way a honeycomb is a place bees produce and hoard honey. In a highly automated society, we collect, store and transfer data to build intelligent infrastructure to deal with the problems we are facing. It poses the question of man’s condition in the future -- are we going to benefit from the technolocial development or obliged to feed those AI machines to make them better than us? The project is accomodated by two robotic drone performances (the first taking place on December 19th). The movement of the robotic drone imitates the bees’ process of building a honeycomb by moving a hexagon model. This performance also showcases drones’ new uses in the touchable future, namely, grasp, carry and deliver targets autonomously at any designated points with 100% precision.

Wen Yu is a new generation multi-media artist from Suzhou, the hometown of the prominent architect I.M. Pei, and the cultural capital of China from more than 2500 years. Yu’s work incorporates art, technology and education. She creates projects that integrate art, story-telling and tangible material to evoke sensation through physical interaction and explore the line between digital and handcraft.