The “Iris Zoo” neon lights installation is commissioned by the 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung, a long time annual cultural event in Taiwan that began in 1990, Taipei. It has been a celebrated tradition that takes place during the Chinese Lantern Festival. The event brings together arts, multimedia, and digital technologies to create contemporary conceptions of the traditional Festival, through the eyes of artists and creatives from both Taiwan and internationally.
The 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Kaohsiung, brings people together through an immersive experience of light and shadow, within the respective geographical histories and cultural narratives along various landmarks of Kaohsiung. The festival celebrates the reunion of loved ones under the full moon, where families would gather, and the children would carry traditional paper lanterns around to play with friends and families. Therefore, the installation is a reinterpretation of tradition through the modern medium and portrayal of different animals in forms of neon light sculptures. The animal sculptures glow brightly in the night in the smart city, along repurposed old factories, art, and design. An affective mood surrounds the space, as visitors interact with the light sculptures, appreciating the meeting of old memories and new ideas, under the moonlight.