Spellbound Dian-Jung Veronica Tsai Architectural Design ‘18
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.� -Oscar Wilde, 1888
Acknowledgements
• Many thanks to my studio professors -- Frank Fantauzzi, Timmy Aziz, Katie O’Meara, and Michael Maggio -for constantly encouraging me to pursue my interests and be more ambitious with my endeavors. • Many thanks to my academic professor Jennifer Hock for making me a much better writer and thinker. • Many thanks to Lirn Chang for taking such good care of me. Without your accomodation, my installation would not have taken place. • Many thanks to Tim DeVoe for helping me put together the mechanical components of my installation and made the whole experience come to life. • Many thanks to Kathy Espinoza Perez for assisting me in constructing my installation. • Most importantly, many thanks to my family. 由衷感謝你們嘚的支持。謝謝你們把我送出國唸書。我不僅學了 好多寶貴的經驗跟技能, 也認識了好多重要的人。
Table of Contents
Fragmented Materialize Tangible Ephemeral Stitched
Thesis Statement
Literature and spatial design are two very distinct languages. Translation, specifically re-mediation, involves an interpretative process from one language to the other. My thesis project Spellbound re-mediates literature into an immersive spatial experience. Taking the emotions that I felt from reading the novel The Night Circus, I wish to create an environment that conveys these feelings for those who visit my installation.
Fragmented
As night falls, the story begins Snippets of dreams Stitched together by black and white stripes Under the surface A competition unfolds Put on a spectacle Put on an illusion Under the surface A romance blooms Fortune does not favor the lovers Battle until the end of time Battle until one side withers Cherished and adored They wear accents of red Devoted and loyal They trace the circus like bloodhounds Trapped in a town where dreams go to die Taking the chance to become one of them He wears accents of red Devoted and loyal He traces the circus like a bloodhound They are bound together In flames In black and white In frozen moments Until the end of time
It all began with Erin Morgenstern’s fantasy novel The Night Circus. I love the novel dearly, and I have read it multiple times. It is about an eternal duel between two illusionists set in an entirely black and white circus. If words had magic, then this novel would be a great example of a spellbinding book. Morgenstern has the ability to create precise, rich and captivating imagery. Readers can clearly picture themselves walking through the spaces that Morgenstern describes. The circus in the novel has an otherworldly, heterotopic quality that is difficult to grasp. Similarly, the mood of the novel is also elusive. The story left me feeling a range of emotions: nostalgia, bittersweetness, enchantment, and so on. It is difficult to pinpoint a word to explain how I felt. These feelings still linger over me; it is fitting to say that I am spellbound. My initial idea was to imagine The Night Circus as a theater production and create scenic designs for different moments of the story. As the project developed, I moved away from literal translations of the text and realized that what I really wanted to achieve was to create a space that allows people to experience the haunting and dream-like mood that the circus conveys. I wanted to capture the spell that the story casted on me and cast it onto other people. The following chapters narrate my journey throughout this semester. I experimented with drawing, miniature modeling, full-scale installation, and even a little bit of performance.
On Sleep No More
https://laughingsquid.com/the-4th-wall-no-more-a-review-of-sleep-no-more-in-new-york-city/
In addition to The Night Circus, British theater company Punchdrunk’s production Sleep No More is also a source of inspiration. I had the opportunity to attend the production over spring break, and I learned tremendously from the experience. The production is based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Film Noir. It has a peculiar, mysterious and threatening mood. The company repurposed an old warehouse in Chelsea, New York into a performance venue. Visitors explore the building at their own pace; they can touch things, observe the actors closely, and even interact with them. Every visitor has a different experience. The production stimulated the senses, particularly sight, hearing and touch. All these stimulants made the experience very immersive. Punchdrunk successfully designed an otherworldly experience within an unassuming warehouse with the help of very intricate and deliberate scenic designs. As an interesting side note, Morgenstern states that Sleep No More is a huge inspiration for her novel; she has attended the production for at least seven times.
On Foucault & Heterotopia
https://foucault.info//
During my senior fall semester’s Contemporary Architecture and Criticism class, I developed a strong interest in French philosopher Michel Foucault’s idea of the heterotopia. A heterotopia is a designated space for activities and people that are not accommodated in everyday life. Some places Foucault considers as heterotopias include prisons, graveyards, and carnivals; prisons are for those who do not follow society’s rules, graveyards are for the deceased, and carnivals are saturated with fun and wonder. I am particularly drawn to the idea of carnivals or amusement parks as heterotopias. I see them as an escape from our mundane, day-to-day life. Foucault’s heterotopia inspired me to design my own little “escape” from reality, an unfamiliar little world hidden inside the studio space that we are so familiar with.
Materialize
Specimen 1: A Striped Contortionist
She bends and twists, but she is trapped in paper. Are the stripes on her leotard or skin?
Specimen 2: A peculiar staircase
Dangling at such an odd place, Who had the time to plaster the steps with playing cards? Was it Veronica? Most likely.
SCENARIO 1: A Stage of Stripes and Cards
Sitting in the audience, what do you see? Are there cards dangling from above? are those playing card wallpaper? They look slightly three dimensional Why are there stripes everywhere?
SCENARIO 2: A Hallway of Stripes and Cards
Cards protruding from the walls Getting closer to you Cards coming from above Getting closer to you
SCENARIO 3: SIX White Doors
Facing six crooked white doors Which one would you choose? I know, they look unsettling But if you don’t choose one you can’t move on
SCENARIO 4: Six Black Doors
Facing six slightly less crooked black doors Which one would you choose? To move on or to stay here It is your choice
Tangible
Scene 1: The Striped Contortionist
The slightest movement interrupts her stillness The Striped Contortionist Taken apart and suspended For your viewing pleasure
Scene 2: Interlock
Interlocking and strengthening What will happen when they come together?
Scene 3: Structural
Surfacing and Emerging Who travels through this strange little room?
Scene 4: Outgrow Someone forgot to tend their stripes
Scene 5: Where To? Generic black and white blocks. What is hidden within?
Scene 6: A Trail Where would the broken hearts lead you? a romance wasteland, perhaps?
Ephemeral
Crystal Clear Light Bulb + Sharpie
1st Pattern
2nd Pattern
3rd Pattern
Lasercut Acrylic Gear
5 RPM Geared Motor
Slip Ring
1st Pattern
2nd Pattern
3rd Pattern
Stitched
Stitching together bits and pieces Putting on a show An escape from reality Now Spellbound is complete Now they may enter Anticipation rises As two people enter at a time They hesitate at the entrance I, the host, usher them in and shut the door Facial expressions change Filled with wonder, confusion, and hesitation Light and shadow Spinning and dancing on the walls Generic black and white blocks What is hidden within? A haunting voice that hums and whispers Some are eager to explore Some hesitate to move Eventually they leave Returning to their daily lives Hopefully in the future They will remember The peculiar lady And the peculiar little room
For my final presentation, I added a little bit of performance and interaction. Everyone picked a tiny card from this box. When they were ready, I had someone knock on the door of my installation. Dressed in a black and white striped dress, I, the host, emerged from the room. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Due to limited space, I invite two people at a time to enter. I am sure by now each of you has a card with a number on it. When I call your number, please come towards me. While you are in there, please watch your step, take your time, and most importantly, enjoy,� I said as I began my show.
“They are bound together In flames In black and white In frozen moments Until the end of time�
“Generic black and white blocks. What is hidden within?”
On Enhancing the Experience
Inspired by how the visitors at Sleep No More experience the space differently, a huge goal that I wanted to achieve was to vary the visitors’ experience in Spellbound. The main component to achieve that was with sound. I composed a soundtrack that was very ambient with spaced-out vocals. I hummed and whispered things like “dance and twirl…there’s no need to rush” and “stay…with us...just a little longer.” I added a lot of reverb so the soundtrack sounded like it echoed within the space. The soundtrack had a lot of extended quiet moments, so not everyone would hear the same thing. Some might not have heard anything at all. A friend pointed out that the extremely haunting and echoey sound made the space feel like it was a lot more spacious than it actually was. Some people became disoriented and were not sure whether the sound was coming from outside or within. In order to vary the experience even more, I had a tiny peephole in one of the white boxes. I covered the interior of the box with reflective duralar and suspended black threads and fishing wire inside. I hid a tiny playing card with a red broken heart in there. Some people noticed the peephole and looked inside it, yet some people walked right past it. Additionally, red is a significant color in the novel as it symbolizes the fandom of the circus. Here, I used the color differently. Taking the East Asian belief of the red thread of fate, I tied the two figures together. The protagonists, Marco and Celia, are bound together by fate from the very beginning, before they have even met.
On Reaction
The final installation was in a roughly 8-ft3 room. It was small and intimate, but some people spent more than five minutes inside. Everyone had great reactions; I loved observing people’s facial expressions, their circulations, and their interactions with the installation. At the entrance, I suspended an 8’ tall black frame. Some people did not think twice and stepped through it yet some people completely avoided it. Almost everyone stared at the dancing shadows on the wall for a long time, particularly the ones of the two figures. The spinning light bulb casted shadows that looked like they were constantly dancing with each other. Some said Spellbound reminded them of a carnival, which was very similar to The Night Circus. Some said that the experience was both friendly and threatening. Some said that they were so mesmerized that they accidentally knocked over some objects. However, a critic pointed out that I probably should not have been in the space as visitors might feel as if they were being watched. Therefore, when more friends came to see it after my presentation, I ushered them in and shut the door behind them, while I remained outside. A lot of them became flustered when I was about to shut the door, which was amusing. They all had such joyful expressions as they exited the room.
This entire semester’s journey to create Spellbound has been very successful and rewarding. In my final semester at MICA, I finally did a project that explored my passion for fantasy novels. Spellbound allowed me to combine my skills and interests in literature, spatial design, sound design, and performance. It further enhanced my passion for performance and entertainment; seeing people’s reactions to my project was very satisfying; this encourages me to continue working on projects like this after graduation. If I were to ever improve this project in the future, I would love to incorporate more performance. Wearing a black and white striped dress is only scratching the surface of what I could do to incorporate myself into the installation. For me, the show has merely just begun.