A collaborative project the City of Sydney for Lunar Festival 2020 at Circular Quay, Sydney.
The Rabbit Lantern is a large scale illuminated artwork made for The Sydney Lunar Festival 2020 with the City of Sydney. It is one of 12 animals of the Lunar Zodiac represented as a sculptural installation
in a free outdoor display that celebrates a centuries-old tradition of Chinese Lanterns with a contemporary twist.
Sitting by Sydney’s harbour, The Rabbit is inspired by playful childhood memories of the popular ‘White Rabbit’ candy. The concept is a nod to our humble childhood, where we did not have the luxury of owning toys but cherished the folded paper forms our parents would fashion for us out of our favourite wrappers from candies during the Lunar New Year.
The Rabbit Lantern is a large scale illuminated artwork made for The Sydney Lunar Festival 2020 with the City of Sydney. It is one of 12 animals of the Lunar Zodiac represented as a sculptural installation
in a free outdoor display that celebrates a centuries-old tradition of Chinese Lanterns with a contemporary twist.
Sitting by Sydney’s harbour, The Rabbit is inspired by playful childhood memories of the popular ‘White Rabbit’ candy. The concept is a nod to our humble childhood, where we did not have the luxury of owning toys but cherished the folded paper forms our parents would fashion for us out of our favourite wrappers from candies during the Lunar New Year.
Video by City of Sydney
Rabbit Lantern in situ: Photo by Jeonghoon Lim
Renderings of Rabbit Lantern
The textured artwork on the lantern is a collaged map of Circular Quay inspired by the White Rabbit Candy wrapper. It is an ode to the treat we loved very much as children that tells a story site specific to where it stands.
Borrowed elements of the packaging such as it's iconic colours of blue, red, white and it's patterned forms of stripes are carefully placed across the map to divide land and ocean, while handmade rabbits leap across the space weaving in and out of roads. Well known sites such as the Sydney Opera House are tagged in paper cut Chinese lettering.
Borrowed elements of the packaging such as it's iconic colours of blue, red, white and it's patterned forms of stripes are carefully placed across the map to divide land and ocean, while handmade rabbits leap across the space weaving in and out of roads. Well known sites such as the Sydney Opera House are tagged in paper cut Chinese lettering.
Artwork of Rabbit Lantern
Our concept initially developed from three Rabbit Lanterns inspired by three popular childhood treats: The White Rabbit Candy, Lei See Tong (aka Chinese New Year Candy/Red Envelope Candy), and Hawflakes. After a reiterative process, we decided on The White Rabbit to represent our concept.
