Platinum Fine Arts and Art Installation Design · 2025
Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation
by Phaidesign
- A' Design Award 2025 Platinum Winner in Fine Arts and Art Installation Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: The Inlet
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 1,417,327
- Verification code 96C2929245 · Verify this award
About Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation
Mystical Serpent is a light art installation created on the facade of a century-old building in Shanghai, China. The work blends serpent legends from ancient China and ancient Rome. The main body is an inflatable form made of lightweight recyclable material, winding through the building windows and across the ground. Printed fabric on the walls and stickers on the glass form a mural with a pseudo three-dimensional effect. Eastern and Western motifs are combined in a unified color scheme. The installation links horizontal and vertical spaces and gives the old facade a new appearance.
Weijie Yang's Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation emerges from the intersection of ancient mythological symbolism and contemporary light art practice, positioning itself within the distinguished tradition of site-specific public installations that seek to transform urban environments through the strategic deployment of illumination and sculptural form. The work demonstrates remarkable technical accomplishment in its seamless integration of large-scale luminous elements with historic architectural fabric, the serpentine forms appearing to possess agency and life as they wind around corners, drape across facades, and weave through the three-dimensional urban matrix with apparent organic fluidity. The chromatic sophistication evident in the carefully orchestrated progression from warm amber and orange segments through coral and magenta passages to cool blue sections reveals an understanding of color theory that serves both aesthetic and symbolic purposes, the spectrum suggesting elemental transformation, seasonal cycles, or the legendary association of serpents with rainbow phenomena across diverse cultural traditions. The intricate surface patterning applied to each segment invites extended contemplation, with geometric vocabularies drawn from textile arts, architectural decoration, and natural scaled creatures creating visual density that rewards close examination while contributing to the overall spectacular effect at urban scale. Thematically, the installation engages with the serpent as a universal symbol of regeneration, wisdom, protection, and cosmic energy, its sinuous form representing the continuous flow of life force through space and time while its massive scale elevates this symbolism to the level of public monument and collective celebration. The work successfully bridges cultural traditions through its contemporary technological execution of timeless mythological content, inviting viewers to consider how ancient symbols of power and protection might be reimagined for contemporary urban contexts. What transformative possibilities emerge when the mythological imagination is given luminous physical form in the spaces of daily urban life, and how might such interventions shift our relationship to both heritage architecture and the symbolic creatures that populate our collective cultural memory?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- 2025 is the Year of the Snake in traditional Chinese zodiac culture. On the facade of a century-old building in Shanghai, China, we have created a lighting art installation with the theme of snake: "Mystical Serpent", blending serpent legends from ancient China and Rome. The winding 3D inflatable snake body intertwines with the building's windows and the pseudo-3D mural. It renovates the original appearance of the building's facade, connecting the ground and the walls, and giving this century-old building a new visual experience.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Main body of the inflatable "Mystical Serpent":
Diameter: 1m,
Length: 7m-14m
South wall mural: 100 square meters
West wall mural: 250 square meters - Tags
- Installation, Art Installation, Light Art Installation, Exhibition, Shanghai
- Production Technology
- Using lightweight recyclable material, the main body of the "Mystical Serpent" is an inflatable device. The material properties ensure that installation can be stably displayed under various weather conditions. The pseudo-3D effect is achieved by covering the building walls with printed fabric and pasting glass stickers on the building`s glass. With carefully designed colors and patterns, and through ingenious visual treatment, a strong three-dimensional sense is created as a whole. The bold patterns of the serpent`s body are crafted from recycled materials, interlaced with traditional Chinese auspicious motifs and ancient Roman motifs(such as snake scales, peony designs), symbolizing the dragon-snake transition of the Chinese new year.
- Design Challenge
- The innovation of the design is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Spatial Design: Spanning from Building No.3 in The Inlet's facade to the ground, the installation merges three-dimensional forms with pseudo-3D planar patterns. We installed a frame on the outer side of the original wall of the building and covered the facade in the form of mural. Additionally, inflatable tubes, simulating the shape of a snake slithering through the building and across the ground, to connect the horizontal and vertical space.
Graphic Design: In terms of graphic design, the mural on the wall is applied in a pseudo-3D style, creating a three-dimensional atmosphere through the use of visual illusions. For the pattern design, we have carefully selected traditional patterns from both the East and the West, juxtaposed them and integrated Eastern and Western cultures by using geometric shapes and a unified color scheme. Fragmented Chinese and Roman serpent motifs are deconstructed and layered into a visual dialogue. - Project Duration
- The project started in October 2024 and finished in December 2024 in Shanghai, and was exhibited in January 2025 in Shanghai.
- Operation Flow
- The entire installation is installed on the building and the ground, allowing people to interact with it by observing or taking photos in the square.
- Research
- Before we started the design, we conducted extensive research in the following directions:
Cultural Inheritance and Cross-cultural Dialogue:
The original building in this case is The Inlet in Shanghai. It is a unique Shanghai-style architecture that incorporates both Chinese and Western architectural cultures. When designing "Mystical Serpent", we also took into account the approach of integrating Chinese and Western elements to interpret the traditional culture of the Year of the Snake, which represent the city's all-embracing spirit.
The installation integrates Eastern mythology with Western guardian culture, which promotes cross-cultural understanding, provides the public with an open cultural experience space, and enhances social cohesion.
Activation of Public Space and Community Sense of Belonging: The installation is situated in the public area of a century-old alley in Shanghai. Through light and shadow interactions and immersive experiences, it transforms the traditional neighborhood into the heart of festive celebrations. Its lighting design, which clearly differentiates between day and night, balances functionality (nighttime illumination) and artistry. It attracts diverse groups of people, including children, the elderly, and international tourists, demonstrating the inclusiveness of public art. - Inspiration
- The inspiration of "Mystical Serpent" comes from the legend of Zhulong, a serpent deity from ancient Chinese lore who governs day-night cycles and symbolizes eternal life. Additionally, it incorporates the story of the ancient Roman "domestic snake" the guardian of family. The fusion embodies renewal, protection, and the unbroken thread of life across civilizations. Also this integration achieves a convergence of Eastern and Western cultures, and conveys the profound meaning of protection and the continuation of life.
- Image Credits
- Image #1:Photographer DXIN,Mystical Serpent 1,2025.
Image #2: Photographer Qiao Wu, Mystical Serpent 2,2025.
Image #3: Photographer Qiao Wu, Mystical Serpent 3,2025.
Image #4: Photographer Qiao Wu, Mystical Serpent 4,2025
Image #5: Photographer Qiao Wu, Mystical Serpent 5,2025.
Colors of Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation
Get Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation
Cultural Art Installation Design Services
We create immersive art installations that transform spaces and celebrate cultural narratives. Our award-winning studio specializes in large-scale public art, lighting design, and cultural exhibitions for museums, brands, and urban spaces worldwide.
G0E23 ShopGrand Interview about Mystical Serpent Light Art Installation
As a native Shanghainese, I have always been deeply influenced by the city’s unique blend of Eastern and Western cultures. Integrating these two cultural perspectives has long been a central pursuit in my design practice. Since the Mystical Serpent was created for the Chinese New Year, my goal was to craft a light installation that embodies both Shanghai’s cosmopolitan character and its spiritual essence through a cross-cultural approach.
Respecting the site’s inherent character has always been a core principle in my work. This respect goes beyond form—it lies in uncovering the spiritual and historical essence of the architecture. Since the building itself is an embodiment of East-West fusion, I wanted the artwork to reflect this harmony by bridging the old with the new, and the traditional with the contemporary.
Before choosing Zhulong and the Roman domestic serpent as inspirations, I conducted extensive research on serpent myths from both cultures. In The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Zhulong opens its eyes to bring day and closes them to bring night, while in Roman mythology, the household serpent symbolizes protection. As the Spring Festival celebrates reunion and renewal, the fusion of these myths—light and darkness, protection and family—became a natural foundation for the design.
I focused the design on the building’s south and west façades, where the angular relationship posed the main technical challenge. I resolved this through flowing curves that visually connect the two sides while contrasting the building’s linear geometry. The structure extends from and returns to the windows, as if the serpent’s body were emerging and dancing through the air—achieving both spatial continuity and expressive independence.
Unlike permanent sculptures, festive installations in commercial spaces have a short lifespan, and discarded materials often cause waste and pollution. I believe designers should create not only visual beauty but also moral goodness. Therefore, I chose recyclable waterproof nylon as the main material—its lightweight nature both reduces structural pressure and aligns with environmental sustainability.
Zhulong’s myth of opening its eyes for day and closing them for night inspired the dual experience of the installation. During the day, high-saturation warm tones create a vivid visual presence; at night, the internal illumination transforms it into a soft, glowing form—echoing the myth’s poetic cycle of light and darkness.
Located on North Sichuan Road in Hongkou District, The Inlet sits at the historic crossroads of East and West that shaped Shanghai’s identity. Through this installation, I hoped to evoke that spirit of cultural fusion. Public art, unlike gallery works, belongs to everyone—it engages passersby directly. This connection between site and spirit is the essence I sought to express.
Rather than focusing solely on serpent imagery, I compared Roman and Chinese decorative patterns to identify visual commonalities. I sought harmony through geometry and color unification, ensuring that when motifs from different cultures coexist, they form a coherent whole—an aesthetic dialogue rather than a mere juxtaposition of symbols.
The integration of Eastern and Western cultures has always been central to my creative philosophy. Growing up in Shanghai, a city of inclusivity and convergence, I deeply value cultural synthesis. In today’s world, where divisions seem to grow, designers bear the responsibility of promoting understanding and harmony through their work. This belief will continue to guide my future projects.
I believe the project’s powerful visual impact resonated first—the way it broke from conventional “placement” methods by using the building itself as part of the composition created a strong spatial tension. The vivid red palette captured attention instantly, while the deeper narrative of East-West cultural fusion touched both the jury and the public. Visual strength draws viewers in, but it is the story and detail that make them stay.