Creative Partner: Air Giants
Unfurl is a garden like no other. Nature, art and technology have combined to create this visual spectacle consisting of 18 plants, nine of which are massive robots. The interactive, gentle giant in Unfurl are made from fabric and air, towering as high as a double-decker bus. They form a dreamscape where the plants can sense that you have come to visit and thus reach out to connect. The calming retreat from the bustling city is full of light, colour and sounds, guaranteed to enchant children and adults alike.
As part of Tai Kwun’s 5th Anniversary Celebration programme, Unfurl will make its Asian debut throughout Tai Kwun’s Parade Ground from May 23 to 31. To create a friendly garden atmosphere for Unfurl, a grass lawn will be built at the Parade Ground while the interactive experience is suitable for all ages and open to the public free of charge. Families and individuals are both welcome to Unfurl, a joyful experience not to be missed that celebrates the wonder and intelligence of nature’s design sensibilities and makes space for human connection and play.
Creative Partner: Air Giants*
Director of Robotics: Robert Nixdorf
Director of Technology: Richard Sewell
Creative Director: Emma Powell
*Air Giants are a creative robotics studio building inflatable, pneumatically-controlled, wonderful creatures.
We're the first in the world making interactive soft robotics at this scale, and the only people making them for showing in public spaces. These are the biggest robots most people will ever come across. Some are taller than double-decker buses, and they are all safe to approach, touch and connect with. Our work gives people remarkable experiences with (quite literally) monumental inflatables.
Sustainability is always considered in our work, and the robots have very low material use and shipping energy costs for their size.
These are artworks which evoke instinctive and emotive responses from audiences at arts festivals, in shopping centres and on high streets. The work is enjoyed by young and old, those who get close-up and personal with the robots as well as those who like to admire the spectacle.
Unfurl is supported by Without Walls and was commissioned by Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Timber Festival and Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.
