Week2 Day4

Today was the day we had all been waiting for. In the morning we were given information about the Humble Administrator's Garden in the classroom and after we had done enough work we left in the afternoon to take the bus to downtown Suzhou to see the garden.

After following our guide through the western part of the garden, our group split into two, with half of us exploring the western side and the other half exploring the eastern side. Our key objective was to find places where we could do holographic projections to interact with visitors.

At first we realised that the map we had found ourselves was not comprehensive and only two thirds of the Humble Administrator's Garden, so then we had to turn on our phones to navigate the tour. My companions and I searched the eastern side and first saw an ancient well that had been protected, then an empty house with a double-sided screen, and a bamboo grove and the blank wall behind them, and they were all perfect for projections. One of us recorded this information in our notes in conjunction with the photographs we took ourselves.

Photo I took of the room and a good place

Our focus was on the night tours in the evening, so after a break, the guides took us back into the garden to experience a full set of night tours of the Humble Administrator's Garden.

We were treated to a beautiful illuminated night scene, the lights on the various buildings in the Humble Administrator's Garden were not so bright but suited the quiet classical atmosphere, there were projections of stars down the corridors and even projections that interacted with the fans we were holding. Whether it is the dynamic murals projected in the study or the chessboard in the pavilion under the warm yellow light, it is a very immersive and rewarding experience.

Finally we sat by the lake to watch a performance of Kunqu. This show was very informative for our project as our theme was to include elements of the Dream of the Red Chamber in the Humble Administrator's Garden, with some related projections and performances. The lighting changed so that the characters became one with the architecture and we also observed how the impressions and wires etc. buried in the darkness were arranged.

It was a very rewarding trip, although some of the ideas we had after the field experience turned out to be impossible due to practical constraints, for example, we initially wanted to project the show on the bridge, but actually had to abandon that idea because of the heavy traffic on the bridge and the fact that it was a must-see. However, we did get a lot of solid first-hand information, and what we make after experiencing it first-hand is always more informed and better suited to a practical project.