168. An 1850 Theater Camera (St. George and the Dragon)
Atelier ying, nyc
I wish all a Very Happy New Year! I begin it by doing what I do best. As the Chinese New Year approaches, streets are festively decorated in lower Manhattan with many motifs such as the Dragon.
The traditional Chinese icons of dragon, lion and so forth brought me back to some passions, the Pollock Toy Theatre and then to the opera, Wagner's Siegfreid in particular. The stories of St. George and the Ring cycle are to date unrelated, but for my design a festive dragon takes center stage as a pinhole camera housed within a theatre enclosure, and subtly encircled by the Magic fire of ambient lamps above the cardboard theater's proscenium and the traditional prompter's box right above the orchestra pit. Wagner's Bayreuth has a hidden orchestra and here we substitute that with a loudspeaker (with a black wire mesh) above the proscenium and right next to the camera's main viewfinder. Uniting St. George and Fafner, Siegfried's dragon, the design fantasy muses with Siegfried on the tragic disillusionment of life. It is only when Siegfried tastes the blood of the Dragon he has slayed does he finally see with clarity through the clouds of life.
The Green Dragon camera has a pinhole lens where a decorative pearl would be placed between his teeth. The moving pinhole camera on it's focusing rail on the stage dramatically lighted is reminiscent of elaborate Victorian pastimes. For the presentation kit, a set of original oil lamps are included for authentic lighting effect.
I would be lying if I failed to mention that in putting together this arrangement, my thoughts were dedicated to the actor Bernie Kopell, the magician and evil mastermind Siegfried of KAOS in 10 episodes in the 1965 sitcom, "Get Smart".
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2014 by David Lo.
168. An 1850 Theater Camera (St. George and the Dragon)
Atelier ying, nyc
I wish all a Very Happy New Year! I begin it by doing what I do best. As the Chinese New Year approaches, streets are festively decorated in lower Manhattan with many motifs such as the Dragon.
The traditional Chinese icons of dragon, lion and so forth brought me back to some passions, the Pollock Toy Theatre and then to the opera, Wagner's Siegfreid in particular. The stories of St. George and the Ring cycle are to date unrelated, but for my design a festive dragon takes center stage as a pinhole camera housed within a theatre enclosure, and subtly encircled by the Magic fire of ambient lamps above the cardboard theater's proscenium and the traditional prompter's box right above the orchestra pit. Wagner's Bayreuth has a hidden orchestra and here we substitute that with a loudspeaker (with a black wire mesh) above the proscenium and right next to the camera's main viewfinder. Uniting St. George and Fafner, Siegfried's dragon, the design fantasy muses with Siegfried on the tragic disillusionment of life. It is only when Siegfried tastes the blood of the Dragon he has slayed does he finally see with clarity through the clouds of life.
The Green Dragon camera has a pinhole lens where a decorative pearl would be placed between his teeth. The moving pinhole camera on it's focusing rail on the stage dramatically lighted is reminiscent of elaborate Victorian pastimes. For the presentation kit, a set of original oil lamps are included for authentic lighting effect.
I would be lying if I failed to mention that in putting together this arrangement, my thoughts were dedicated to the actor Bernie Kopell, the magician and evil mastermind Siegfried of KAOS in 10 episodes in the 1965 sitcom, "Get Smart".
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2014 by David Lo.