Stimulating the Theatre of the Mind, Diluvio: Teatro delle Ombre
Manuel Báez

Proceedings of Bridges 2020: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Education, Culture
Pages 485–488
Short Papers

Abstract

Inspired by the 500ᵗʰ anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death in France on May 2, 1519, Diluvio: Teatro delle Ombre (Deluge: Theatre of Shadows) offered an interactive and immersive exhibition/installation as part of Cinquecento: Carleton Celebrates Leonardo da Vinci, the 2019 year-long commemorative initiative at Carleton University. The project was conceived as the culmination of a series of Diluvio installations from the author’s Crossings Interdisciplinary Research Collective Workshop offered at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism. Overall, the series of projects were inspired by Leonardo’s Deluge drawings and his reflections on the reciprocal inter-connections within nature as revealed by his studies of the flow of water, air, light, shadows, and energy. The rich complexity of such phenomena is revealed and experientially encountered by working with the highly pliable properties of woven aluminum wire-mesh that’s folded into the classic Miura-ori tessellation pattern. The inherent attributes of this membrane and the sculptural work resulting from this process are revealed through evocative shadow projections activated by the public within the unlit exhibition space. Inspired by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the immersive experience offered a deluge of self-activated shadow-projections as a way of stirring, triggering, and thus revealing the highly resonant, fertile and imaginative potential lurking within the theatre of the mind.

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