I was led to Myhns Mayo’s Myhn’s Land by Ziki Questi, who blogged about Nexuno Thespian’s Sun to Moon: Transmigration Between Day and Night, currently on display high over the region, back in November. However, real life around here has been such that it took me until mid-December to actually go see it for myself, and I’ve been unable to find the time to blog until now.

The inspiration for the piece, according to Nexuno, is Sun and Moon, a song from Miss Saigon, although he also reveals he has long been fascinated by folktales of the Sun and Moon and star-crossed lovers, and this has played a part in the installation.

The piece comprises three interconnected areas, the first being the arrival point. This provides the visitor with information on both the work and the artist, together with some gifts. Also to be found here are several interactive spots for dancing and posing. The dances, perhaps best suited to groups, seem to reflect the various cultural influences on Nexuno’s interest in the subject of the Sun and Moon in folklore and mythology.

A large three-dimensional mural represents the two central figures of Miss Saigon, where she is literally the Moon and he the Sun. The song Sun and Moon plays around and over the piece (so make sure you have sounds enabled), and a series of stars on the floor offer visitors a range of poses they can adopt around the piece to complement it.

Follow the lightning from the arrival area, and you reach the heat of the Sun; a world tinted in red and orange and yellow; where the heads of great birdlike creatures look down upon you, and fiery figures dance and perform acrobatics like wisps of flame caught in the wind while interactive pieces float by, enticing you to touch them and ride them. A path leads through the various scenes, rising gently toward the Sun itself.

At the heart of the Sun lies a passageway which takes you to the third element on the piece: the world of the Moon.

Here everything is cooler, with blue being the predominant colour, although infused with red. Figures and trees seen in the world of the Sun are found here as well, as are other figures, suggesting a continuity of being and connection between the two sections – just as the characters from the musical are as much connected by all that surrounds them in their world as they are by their love. Figures glide through the landscape and birds circle overhead, while at the far end of the piece is a crescent Moon, complete with ruby lips, symbolising Kim.

The is a strongly symbolic build; while the central theme may well be drawn from Miss Saigon, many of the elements within it clearly have their roots in other folktales and mythologies. As such, this is an installation worth exploring carefully; not all may become apparent at first look.

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