Cao Zhen caozhen0806@126.com AS most venues in Shenzhen are preparing for the New Year with traditional decorations, OCT Harbor and OCT-LOFT are taking a different approach. The two chic and vibrant areas in Nanshan District have launched the “Super New Year” project, placing artistic installations within their quarters to express that space is infinite, art is boundless and creativity goes with the New Year. “Blue-green Algae Time” in OCT-LOFT’s north and south areas and O’Plaza shopping mall in OCT Harbor are ideal installations for selfie-taking. The large and colorful installations of plants are inspired by blue-green algae, which is thought to have converted the early atmosphere of the globe into a livable environment and dramatically changed the composition of Earth’s lifeforms by producing and releasing odorless and invisible oxygen. The installations reflect that even a minor force can cause great changes. Meanwhile, the installations’ creator, Beijing company Super Plants, also asks an interesting question: Why do only humans celebrate festivals and holidays? How about plants? Japanese artist Akihito Okunaka’s “Inter-World-Water: The Water Over the Waters” is a giant polyolefin film ball floating on the surface of the lake in OCT Harbor. The connections between humans and the world is Okunaka’s main theme. The gorgeous, soft ball conveys a joyful mood to passersby in OCT Harbor. Amsterdam-based duo Children of the Light (Christopher Gabriel and Arnout Hulskamp) has brought four light installations to Shenzhen for the New Year. Be careful, you might be perplexed by their luminescent world. Their “Warping Halos” in O’Plaza is the result of their research into the natural phenomenon of the halo, a circle of light around a luminous object that is caused by refraction through ice crystals in the atmosphere. The installation is made complete by a soundscape created by DJ and producer Huerco S., who layers rich and atmospheric ambient sounds. For their “Monospectrum” inside O’Garden of OCT Harbor, Children of the Light placed a prismatic lens at the end of a smoke-filled space. Behind the lens are eight stroboscopic lights in a flower-pattern formation which vibrate at a high frequency and change from one color to another. Visitors can “bathe” in the color of their choices and wander around in the color-saturated room at ease. The duo’s “Zerotime” in O’Plaza is a light installation without light. It is made up of a large number of hanging retroreflective tubes, placed in a haze-filled space. Children of the Light invites the visitors to use the light of their mobile phone screens to activate the installation. Then visitors will receive as much light as they send out. The lit-up elements give the impression that there is endless space and infinite paths to take. Meanwhile, sound is generated based on the output by a camera’s capture of the light from visitors’ mobile phone screens. “We have created an installation that erases the presence of time and space by very minimal use of material and technology,” said Children of the Light. “Healing Light” outside O’Plaza is a 9-meter-long passage fitted with bright LEDs, resulting in an overload of light. It is uncomfortably bright, as much as a pitch dark space can be uncomfortably dark. But you will adapt to and start to enjoy this new sensation the same way you would adjust to stepping into a hot bath. Light installation “Color Practice 3.0” by Chinese artist Xu Zhuo’er is placed on the dock of the lake at OCT Harbor. The illuminating circle surrounded with smoke creates a halo at night. In the artist’s eyes, light is life, time and memory. Finally, do not forget to check out some trendy hoodies and shoes at CONP, a pop-up store opened by award-winning fashion designer Su Wukou and Super Plants in OCT Harbor. Venue 1: OCT Harbor, Nanshan District (南山区欢乐海岸) Metro: Line 9 to Shenzhen Bay Park Station (深圳湾公园站), Exit E Venue 2: OCT-LOFT, Nanshan District (南山区华侨城创意文化园) Metro: Line 1 to Qiaocheng East Station (侨城东站), Exit A or Line 2 to Qiaocheng North Station (侨城北站), Exit B | 