The Cirque des Silhouettes installation is an interactive projection experience in which shadows dance with light to create a magical blending of cinema and live shadow puppetry. Presented on a tent-like canvas screen framed in wood, a movie depicting a ringmaster, tightrope walker, and various circus arts performers cast in silhouette perform a series of acts and stunts accompanied by original instrumental music. The audience may choose to join the circus as an artist when the host of the installation invites them to step behind the screen and select a shadow puppet to place on the screen to add to the Cirque des Sihouettes performance with their own shadow puppetry.
Cirque des Sihouettes is a blending of ancient and contemporary art forms and live performance. Shadow puppetry, silhouettes, and cinema are combined with guided play to create the experience for the audience and the artists. Shadow puppetry is believed to have originated in China over two thousand years ago. The simplicity and beauty of this evening entertainment created an enduring artistic tradition that has spread around the world and across time. The art of silhouette cutting, in which the artist cuts the profile of a subject out of black paper, originated in Europe and most notably France in the early 1700's and reached its "golden age" in the 1800s.
The first contemporary movie theater in the United States was the Vitascope Hall located at Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. This installation is not only a tribute to the journey of these forms through time, but also a celebration of our contemporary communities' creative expression of them.
- Created: 2019
- Collections: LUNA FĂȘte Festival of Annual Festival of Light Art