G5-00 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 03 2014 PG_Feature THEARTOFASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 100 World Sentosa, Singapore Sentosa, World DanceatResorts Crane www.airasia.com/travel3sixty FEATURE 2/10/14 4:40 PM 03 FEATURE 2014 www.airasia.com/travel3sixty Th eART of ASTONISHMENT Cutting-edge animatronics are fast becoming the trend in Asia, adding uber-cool high-tech attractions to the entertainment scene. WORDS & IMAGES: RICHARD WECHSLER Black Black Yellow Yellow Magenta Magenta Crane Dance at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore Cyan Cyan G5-00 G5-00 PG_Feature THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 100 2/10/14 4:40 PM PG_Feature THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 101 2/12/14 12:59 PM niche of designers and technicians who create free, location-based entertainment in the form of public art. This art form is developing vigorously supported by visionary Asian entrepreneurs. CELEBRATING THE CRANE At the cutting edge of the Asian attraction boom is “THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT HAS BEEN Jeremy Railton and his PRACTISED FOR EONS, NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS company EDC, located in KICKED IT INTO HIGH GEAR THROUGH THE WORK Los Angeles California. OF A SMALL GROUP OF ATTRACTION CREATORS Raised on a remote THAT PUSH THEIR DISCIPLINES TO THE EDGE.” farm in Zimbabwe, Railton entertained himself by creating puppets out of clay and sketching native birds In the down-town business district of Beijing, shoppers and animals from the time he was old enough to look up at a 213-metre high Sky Screen as golden hold a pencil. He designed his fi rst nature park coins shower down and clink against a glass roof 27 when he was 16 and since then, his design career metres above the pedestrian walk-way. At the Wynn has embraced theatre, dance, fi lm, TV, live concerts hotel in Macau, a golden Tree of Prosperity rises from for pop icons, theme park designs and some of the the fl oor, its 2,000 branches shimmering with 98,000 most signifi cant attractions in China, Macau and gold leaves. Meanwhile, on a man-made island in Singapore. the harbour between Resorts World Sentosa and the “If I think back and without digging too deeply Singapore mainland, two giant cranes ‘dance’, fl ap their into the detailed history of attractions,” says Railton, wings and via digital artistry, turn into ‘real’ cranes that “there are a few examples, old and new, that Black shower Resorts World guests with love, long-life and spring to mind. The oldest that I can think of is the good fortune. Standing 27-metres tall, these cranes are Colossus at Rhodes, a huge statue depicting the Yellow the largest animatronic creatures in the world. Sun God, the city’s patron, which stood 30 metres All three iconic displays fall under the rubric of high, astride the entrance to the harbour.” When ‘attractions’ – a term that does little to describe the an earthquake hit Rhodes in 224 BC, the Colossus Magenta ingenious blend of art and technology practised by a tiny broke at the knees; for the next 900 years, the ruins Cyan 102 TRAVEL 3SIXTY˚ G5-00 PG_Feature THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 102 2/10/14 1:33 PM lay on the ground, attracting visitors from all over the The Crane Dance Show is a technical marvel that world with its massive scale. Neither form nor function crosses cultural boundaries and amazes guests of all dictated what it needed to be. It was a celebration of a ages. The wings of each crane spray thousands of victory and the investment came from the spoils. “The gallons of sea water, up to 12-metres in pulsing arcs, design brief must have been, ‘Create a ‘wow’ attraction thus creating the Crane’s enormous fl apping wings. that’ll bring attention and fame to the port of Rhodes’ – very similar to the brief I received from the Chairman LIVE LONG & PROSPER of Resorts World, Sentosa, Lim Kok Thay, in 2007. He asked me to create a dynamic work of public art that Another pioneer in Asian Attraction Design is Mark would embody the spirit of the new resort.” Fisher, who passed away in June of 2013. Fisher Chosen for their preeminence as a symbol of health designed stunning stage set-ups for The Rolling and longevity in Asian culture, Railton envisioned giant Stones, Pink Floyd, U2 and Lady Gaga, and was the cranes as the perfect icon to carry the brand of the new Senior Designer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. integrated resort. The Crane Dance Show celebrates Fisher created the Golden Atrium – the these magnifi cent birds with an animatronic spectacle public centrepiece of the Wynn Macau – as a that references the movements of the crane in a jubilant transformational space in which the dynamic dance and showcases how the power of love can infuse architecture creates the entertainment. On the hour, a inanimate forms with ‘life’. multi-media blend of kinetic sculpture, video, light and Railton is an amateur ornithologist and is familiar music transforms the atrium combining the Chinese with the actual crane dance movements, but his and Western zodiacs; a magnifi cent golden tree rises inspiration for the structural design was sparked while from beneath the fl oor and an 18-metre diametre he was staring at his drafting lamp and realised that crystal chandelier descends from the ceiling. Tree of it had the basic joint articulation of the birds. Each Prosperity cycles through the colours of the seasons, dancing crane has six axes of movement and requires from green to red to orange, and back to gold. The overall effect is a magical transformation of the BELOW: Virtual 1,500 HP, equivalent to the power of a small diesel Acquarium at the City locomotive. Movements are programmed with an ultra- environment, and people often toss coins at the Tree of of Dreams in Macau. sophisticated motion control system, similar to those Prosperity for good luck. OPPOSITE PAGE: The niche of designers and technicians who create free, LED sky screen at The location-based entertainment in the form of public used on Japanese bullet trains. Place in Beijing. art. This art form is developing vigorously supported by visionary Asian entrepreneurs. CELEBRATING THE CRANE At the cutting edge of the Asian attraction boom is “THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT HAS BEEN Jeremy Railton and his PRACTISED FOR EONS, NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS company EDC, located in KICKED IT INTO HIGH GEAR THROUGH THE WORK Los Angeles California. OF A SMALL GROUP OF ATTRACTION CREATORS Raised on a remote THAT PUSH THEIR DISCIPLINES TO THE EDGE.” farm in Zimbabwe, Railton entertained himself by creating puppets out of clay and sketching native birds In the down-town business district of Beijing, shoppers and animals from the time he was old enough to look up at a 213-metre high Sky Screen as golden hold a pencil. He designed his fi rst nature park coins shower down and clink against a glass roof 27 when he was 16 and since then, his design career metres above the pedestrian walk-way. At the Wynn has embraced theatre, dance, fi lm, TV, live concerts hotel in Macau, a golden Tree of Prosperity rises from for pop icons, theme park designs and some of the the fl oor, its 2,000 branches shimmering with 98,000 most signifi cant attractions in China, Macau and gold leaves. Meanwhile, on a man-made island in Singapore. the harbour between Resorts World Sentosa and the “If I think back and without digging too deeply Singapore mainland, two giant cranes ‘dance’, fl ap their into the detailed history of attractions,” says Railton, wings and via digital artistry, turn into ‘real’ cranes that “there are a few examples, old and new, that Black Black shower Resorts World guests with love, long-life and spring to mind. The oldest that I can think of is the good fortune. Standing 27-metres tall, these cranes are Colossus at Rhodes, a huge statue depicting the Yellow Yellow the largest animatronic creatures in the world. Sun God, the city’s patron, which stood 30 metres All three iconic displays fall under the rubric of high, astride the entrance to the harbour.” When ‘attractions’ – a term that does little to describe the an earthquake hit Rhodes in 224 BC, the Colossus Magenta Magenta ingenious blend of art and technology practised by a tiny broke at the knees; for the next 900 years, the ruins Cyan Cyan 102 TRAVEL 3SIXTY˚ G5-00 G5-00 PG_Feature THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 102 2/10/14 1:33 PM PG_Feature THE ART OF ASTONISHMENT_Mar2014_t3.indd 103 2/12/14 4:42 PM serves as a high-resolution projection screen composed of very fi ne particles of water, and like the optical phenomenon of a rainbow, the interaction of light and minute water droplets creates a magical, holographic effect with fi gures that appear to be fl oating in space. The Big O show had an impressive attendance of over 100,000 people weekly throughout the run “THIS 6.5-MINUTE SHOW CULMINATES WITH of the Expo. A testament to THE DIAMOND RECEDING FROM VIEW TO BE its success is that although REPLACED BY GOOD LUCK SYMBOLS THAT originally intended to be MORPH INTO A GIANT SPINNING ROULETTE a temporary structure WHEEL. MUSIC, LIGHT AND SOUND BUILD TO that would not outlast the three-month run of A CLIMAX SUGGESTING THE SOUNDS OF AN Yeosu Expo 2012, the Big ENORMOUS SLOT MACHINE PAYOFF.” O remains a permanent attraction and an iconic landmark. THE BIG O STAYS ON Collaborations between star attraction designers are not WONDERS OF THE DEEP uncommon.