Ganja Vibes Blog

Nuit Blanche Paris 2013; it can be seen as a physical struggle against the invisible nets that envelop our world.

Cai Guo-Qiang One Night Stand (Aventure d’un soir) explosion event for Nuit Blanche in Paris an invitation to lovers all over the world

For the event, artist Cai Guo-Qiang has been commissioned to create One Night Stand (Aventure d’un Soir), a conceptual pyrotechnic “explosion event”. The unprecedented happening will take place on the Seine between the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay. Through this work, the artist invites Paris to have “une aventure d’un soir” both on the Seine — eternal witness of the romantic history of France — and in front of the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, which house respectively Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (La Joconde) and Édouard Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Cai Guo-Qiang offers a work that is both a unique romantic experience and a masterful ode to love in the heart of Paris. Paris is known as a city for lovers, for strolls along the Seine and for picturesque neighborhoods. In the frame of Nuit Blanche, One Night Stand is an adventure into the night that changes people’s perception of the city; the explosion event mixes together imaginations, passions, and ambiance unique to Paris and shares the experience with a large audience. This happening is divided into three scenes: The first scene will be a heated pyrotechnic display that lasts twelve minutes. During this enchanting scene, fireworks will express love and it's metaphorical eruptions. In the second scene, a sightseeing boat (bateau-mouche) outfitted with fifty tents will bring one hundred lovers from around the world to spend a luminous and romantic evening on the Seine. If they want to share their blissful experience with other spectators, they can press a button next to them to trigger fifteen seconds of fireworks, which will be fired from small boats nearby. For the third and last scene, two minutes of elegant blazing silver fireworks will act as a tacit "good bye kiss". For the finale, fireworks that spell out the words "Sorry Gotta Go" will appear. That evening, audiences from all over the world will be able to observe this "One Night Stand" between Paris -the city of love- and the rest of the world. That evening, audiences from all over the world will be able to observe this "One Night Stand" between Paris -the city of love- and the rest of the world. Scene I: Time for the encounter At midnight, Tan Dun's Paper Music from The Pink will play, after which the twelve-minute long pyrotechnic display will begin, expressing the processes of a French sentimental encounter. Scene II: Time for lovers As an interlude to the second act, another section of Tan Dun's Paper Music from The Pink will play. At the same time, on the right, a "love boat", modified from a bateau-mouche and six small boats will light up amidst cheers, and enter the audience's field of vision. The bateau-mouche will have a total of fifty tents above and below deck. It will host one hundred lovers from all over the world to present a scene of international multiculturalism. The fifty duets- as well as spectators on the riverbanks - will enjoy the scenery along the Seine between the Lourve and Musée d’Orsay in France's renowned artistic environment. If they choose to share their experience with the spectators on the riverbanks, they can press a button next to them,  which will make pre-installed strobe lights flash along the outlines of the tent. Immediately after, the small boats nearby will launch fireworks for up to fifteen seconds, evoking an emotional reaction among the couples and the audience on the riverbanks. As such, the number of times and the frequency that the work appears is not pre-determined by the artist or the fireworks company's computer, but rather by the couples themselves. Both spectators and participants will therefore find themselves in a pleasant state of uncertainty and great anticipation. The spontaneous results will bring both the audience and the artist endless waves of surprise. Scene III: Time to go Before the end of the night, the two barges in the middle of the Seine will launch elegant blazing silver fireworks to form a richly layered and climatic two-minute finale as a "goodbye kiss". Finally, fireworks on the barge will collectively spell out in English, "SORRY GOTTA GO". All participants that evening, whether couples on the bateau-mouche or spectators on the banks, will be immersed in an emotive, radiant state of entropy, as it is not a computer that decides when to launch a firework but rather the participants' emotions. The event attempts to take people away from modern means of communication and bring them back to primitive, visceral mode of interaction; it can be seen as a physical struggle against the invisible nets that envelop our world. Source: http://www.caiguoqiang.com/sites/default/files/Cai-Nuit%20Blanche-English%20FINAL.pdf post by: HeatherB

A sea organ made with Mother Nature herself!

This musical instrument is the first pipe organs that are played by the sea. It is located on the shores of Zadar, Croatia. 35 musically tuned tubes and the movement of the sea are the main players of this incredible thing. The Sea Organ has 70m long with the pipes built under the concrete. The musical pipes are located so that the sea water and wind movements produce musical sounds that are heard by passers by so that it achieves a communication with nature and promotes a unity of architecture and environment. As sea forces and energies are unpredictable in terms of tides and winds, this organ offers never-ending concert of numerous musical variations in which the performer is nature itself. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBhk5KFwLVc&w=560&h=315] It is the world’s first musical pipe organs that are played by the sea. Simple and elegant steps, carved in white stone, were built on the quayside. Underneath, there are 35 musically tuned tubes with whistle openings on the sidewalk. The movement of the sea pushes air through, and – depending on the size and velocity of the wave – musical chords are played. The waves create random harmonic sounds. Each musical organ pipe is blown by a column of air, pushed in turn by a column of wave-moved water, through a plastic tube immersed into the water. The pipes’ musically tuned sounds emanate to the surroundings through apertures in the vertical planes of the uppermost stairs. The 7 successive groups of musical tubes are alternately tuned to two musically cognate chords of the diatonic major scale. The outcome of played tones and/or chords is a function of random time and space distribution of the wave energy to particular organ pipes. In this part of Croatia the prevailing musical tradition is the spontaneous four-voice male singing, with melodies and chords conforming to the diatonic major scale. The 5 musically tuned pipes of each section are arranged in 1.5 meter spacing. A listener, standing or sitting on a chosen point on the scalinade, should be able to hear 5 to 7 musically tuned pipes play their natural music. Thus, whole five-pipe sections are tuned to one musical chord. The citizens of Zadar are extremely proud of the first natural musical organ driven by the sea waves ever to be constructed. This installation, absolutely unique in the world, was designed to let people enjoy the point where the medieval town of Zadar embraces the Adriatic. Expert in dalmatian stone carvers and architect, Nikola Basic, created this masterpiece of acoustics and architecture in 2005; recently received the European Prize for Urban Public Space for this project. Many tourists come to listen to this unique aero phone, and enjoy unforgettable sunsets with a view of nearby islands. Famed director Alfred Hitchcock said that the most beautiful sunset in the world could be seen from precisely this spot on the Zadar quay. That was how he described it after his visit to Zadar, a visit he remembered throughout his life by the meeting of the sinking sun and the sea. Source: Informal.RO Publicat: 17 decembrie 2008 Autor: Lucia Reich