Brush the Sky

Brush the Sky
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Brush the Sky, Installation View
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Brush the Sky with Midori Kono Thiel
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Brush the Sky with Tamiko Thiel
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Brush the Sky with Midori Kono Thiel
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In "Brush the Sky," a mother-daughter duo bring the ancient art of calligraphy into the 21st century.

In the Wing Luke Museum, transparent wall hangings by Midori Kono Thiel emphasized the abstract nature of calligraphic art by deconstructing the strokes of Japanese characters across multiple parallel layers in non-traditional ways. The transparent layers and their shadows, stirred into motion by a slight breeze, invited visitors to regard each stroke in its own right (see video).

Her daughter Tamiko Thiel enhanced the installation with augmented reality (AR)* overlays. These virtual artworks, visible through an iPad mounted on a rotatable pedestal, enclosed visitors between veils of "real" and "virtual" calligraphy to incorporate them into a total installation.