Press Release
Absinthe Production Design by Vivian Lu Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design
Vivian Lu acknowledged for performing arts, stage, style and scenery design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ Absinthe Production Design by Vivian Lu, designed for Vivian Lu Design Studio Limited, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
Regarding Absinthe Production Design
Absinthe is a stage design created for a theatrical play about physics, matter and psychology. The set is built around an oval stage that represents time and can also be read as a galaxy or a continuous loop. Dark reflective panels covered with splattered paint suggest a vast and mysterious universe. A custom laser light sound visualiser allows sound to be seen, because the laser beams are distorted by the frequency of the voices of the actors. Every angle of the stage was tested so the performers could walk, run and jump safely.
About Vivian Lu
Vivian Lu is a visual designer who has worked on exceptional stage to much market applause. In the past 5 years she has worked on over 60 productions from theatre sets to costume designs, runway shows to large elaborate events, both regionally and internationally. Her main aim is to break the mould of traditional theatre, and challenge boundaries by exploring daring concepts. She experiments with different mediums and technologies to explore methods that best evoke emotional connection for the audiences.
Award Record
With this recognition, Vivian Lu is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design Award
The A' Performing Arts Design Award is an international competition recognizing excellence in set, stage, and performing arts design by top designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to performing arts designers, set designers, theater architects and costume designers from all countries. Typical entries include choreography, dance moves, theatrical sets, dance costumes, stage lighting and opera props. The awarded performing arts designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/performing-arts
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/98919
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/98919
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!98919
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/258462
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Absinthe Production Design
- Function
- Production Design
- Category
- Performing Arts, Stage, Style and Scenery Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Arts and Entertainment
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray, Light Slate Gray and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Vivian Lu Design Studio Limited
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Vivian Lu
- Country
- Macau (China)
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #98919
Credits
- Team
- Johnny Tam
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Vivian introduced the technology of laser light sound visualiser to magnify senses in the whole theatrical experiences, and allowed sound to be seen. She custom-made different laser light gadgets and experiments with different materials to find the best one to be used on stage. Every angle of the middle circular stage was carefully designed and the inclusion of technology brought a whole new blend of artistic richness in theatre. The beauty of the design is the limitless interpretation of the set according to their understanding of the play. The oval stage represents time, but can be seen as the milky way, Möbius band etc.
- Inspiration
- Absinthe was a project that has given Vivian a chance to explore potential visuals merging physics and scenography. It was a play that explored topics on physics, matter and psychology. She wanted to experiment with different ways to unearth a new power to enhance audiences sense in the whole theatrical experiences. Vivian wanted to find new ways to capture audience’s imagination and to see how to create different relationship with time.
- Research
- Every angle of the main stage was experimented with consideration of the feasibility on how actor’s move on set. We experimented with different inclination of the set and prior to the performance, we trained actors to walk, run and jump at different angles we have on the circular stage to avoid stage accidents. The whole stage was built with extensive technological difficulties and precision because we had to find the balance of designing it to achieve desired artistic visual but also take intensive examination that structurally it is strong enough withstand immense weight.
- Challenge
- On the initial design part, there are a lot of discussions on how to tactic a complex play, where many deep subjects were discussed and visually portray it all in a manner that guided the audience into the topics and be immersed into the world. Technically during production the curvature of the oval shape had to be very exact, as we wanted to visually make it look really smooth when we detach it to different shapes. The kinds of wheels were also a very big technical challenge as the different points of attaching the wheels made a huge difference on the stage's mobility.
- Realization and Technology
- The project required a lot of research and experimentation, especially experimenting with the laser light sound visualizer, making sure the visuals created from different sound frequencies went hand in hand with the general set design. A lot of prior research also had to be done on the subject matter or physics, black holes and relativity, to create a stage that portrayed elements of these subjects, to allow audiences to quickly connect and be immersed into the show as it was a play that discussed quite complex subjects.
- Operation and Interaction
- Through the sound vibrations spoken from the actors, laser lights were distorted based on the frequency of spoken sound. The visuals that came out from the actors and actress voice varies drastically due to the pitch of their specific voice.. The actors rehearsed for months with the devices to create a specific imagery to go with the set design.
- Project Duration and Location
- The show was first showcased in Beijing in 2019 then toured around in Shenzhen and Shanghai in 2020.
- Specifications
- Vivian experimented with different forms of custom-made sound laser visualiser to best utilise actors on stage
- Keywords
- Scenography, Stage Design, merging physics and set design
