miguel chevalier's 'flower power' blooms into a digital garden of light

miguel chevalier has created three monumental installations, especially for the jing an kerry centre in shanghai, that are an ode to nature, announcing and celebrating the arrival of spring. ‘digital water lilies’ is a new site-specific virtual interactive garden that comes alive after sunset on the piazza of the jing an kerry centre, next to the former house of chairman mao. a lush parterre of flowers and different varieties of luminescent plants, the virtual array of blossoms delicately respond to the interaction of guests.

for ‘digital water lilies’, miguel chevalier includes varieties of flowers rich with symbolism and good auspices during the spring in china, such as african lilies, orchids, camellias and peach tree flowers. flowers appear randomly, come to full blossom and fade away, only to be reborn again. the garden renews itself time after time, constantly changing and flourishing into its summer glory. as visitors walk around the 600m² flower carpet, the garden senses and shifts around them, with the flowers opening up new paths of discovery. as a fresh form of ‘digital impressionism’, the title and the cosmic sensibility of the work pay homage to monet and his research on light, seasons and nature.

the flowers are rich with symbolism and good auspices during the spring in china

the second installation, ‘trans-natures’ transforms the jing an kerry centre tunnel into a lush 360-degree garden of mysterious arborescence, hiding and revealing flowers which generate a symphony of luminescent forms and colours. ‘trans-natures’ announces the revival of nature; the stationary frescos on the walls are accompanied by four interactive virtual flowerbeds projected on the ground, thus creating a fully immersive sensation.

flowers appear randomly, come to full blossom and fade away, only to be reborn again

the last installation, ‘dreamed gardens’ transforms two of the glass bridges at the jing an kerry centre into huge colored stained glass windows, rich with translucent imagery. during the day, the soft light and vibrancy of colour creates a magical environment reflected on the floor and ceiling, visually embracing visitors.

as visitors walk around the 600m² flower carpet, the garden senses them and shifts around them

placing visitors at the heart of a reinvented nature, miguel chevalier’s immersive environments aim to create an intriguing and poetic botanical universe, a place between dreams and reality. his installations suggest a new poetic relationship between art and vegetation, and attempt to recreate the conditions of symbiosis between humankind and this reinvented nature.

the installation announces and celebrates the arrival of spring

‘trans-natures’ transforms the jing an kerry centre tunnel into a lush 360-degree garden of mysterious arborescence

the stationary frescos on the walls are accompanied by four interactive virtual flowerbeds

‘dreamed gardens’ transforms two of the glass bridges at the jing an kerry centre into colored stained glass windows

during the day, the soft light and vibrancy of colour creates a magical environment reflected on the floor and ceiling

the installation visually embraces visitors

the pieces suggest a new poetic relationship between art and vegetation

project info:

name: flower power 2017, miguel chevalier
for: spring campaign love in bloom, jing an kerry centre, shanghai (china)
time: 14th february to 19th march 2017
software: claude micheli
technical production: voxels productions
courtesy: puerta roja gallery (hong kong)

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: peter corboy | designboom