A new amazing piece of artwork has been unveiled at Terra –The Sustainability Pavilion of Dubai’s Expo 2020. With days passing by, the expo has been in serious revelations of various arts and events, to keep the excitement going.
The new artwork, a display of dance in nature is a giant lotus flower that rotates, that is orbited by insects that flutter, feed and pollinate, displaying ecological harmony.
The kinetic sculpture titled Equinox is an optical illusion at its core, made with the help of zoetrope technology, a pre-film animation technique developed in the 17th century.
Created by British artist Mat Collishaw and curated by cultural agency Futurecity, the work has been commissioned by Expo 2020 Dubai specifically to be shown in Terra.
As Equinox is animated – the flower spins on an axis and the petals acting as ‘shutters’ give the appearance of movement to the insects.
The kinetic display will be accompanied by a selection of poems by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and English poet William Blake.
With a height of five meters and a width of three meters, the zoetrope opens and closes hydraulically. Sitting on a base plate that serves as a stem, the flower can also be raised and lowered by hydraulics.
During the daytime, the flower will be in a closed position, with the insect models inside flitting between the 3D-printed petals through animation. In the evening, the surrounding lights will be dimmed and the work will function as a strobe zoetrope.
Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the pavilion features a 130-metre-wide oval building at its centre, surrounded by sprouting solar panels.
The Equinox has been positioned in the Inner Core of the Terra pavilion and comprises a 360-degree glass viewing balcony with a central opening that viewers can glance through to a shallow water reservoir where the work sits.
Cover Image: Expo 2020 Dubai UAE
