Chasing Light

Bingce Sun

When we are pursuing ‘something‘, this process becomes sacred.

This project explores how machine and humans get along in the future environment. The location project is M8 Motorway Gantry. During observation of gantry structure and the context of technology development, I think of the age of advocating mechanical– Steampunk, which dispels people’s fear of unknown technology. A political movement– “Right to Repair” is a best proof, encouraging people to fix the things by their own. This also imply the tension between human and machine. Therefore, I set up an old mechanical role to imagine what would happen between it and human.

Besides, I imagine a future background– solarpunk, which is also a society that advocates mechanical, and this is a utopian world driven by sustainable energy, but there are still many challenges, such as the energy war. Solar energy has become people’s luxury and pursuit. Contrary to humans, the old machine has lived in the future, so the acquisition of these energy is simple, but it is difficult for it to perceive the human inner world and get along with human. In this serious context, when humans and machine face the same situation, they gradually become a symbiotic relationship. They ‘repair’ each other, both physically and spiritually.

Space 1

Space 2

Space 3

Traditionally, gantry is a signal on the motorway, so this space can be a spiritual signal in the future, a ‘sacred’ space. While transmitting physical energy, they both pursue their own ‘something‘. Using light as the actual energy and a spiritual symbol, exploring the role of light in the sacred space and the different experiences it gives them. For the two creatures，they are not the same in the “something” they seek, therefore, I set 2 routes for their experience. Then the whole space is divided into four spaces, the meditation area, the communication area, the energy transfer area and the observation area. The light rhythm changes according to these functional requirements. According to the different manifestations of light, there are many spatial forms, including the effect of materials on light. In general, this project relies on the form and experience of light to convey sacredness.