March 10–May 27, 2023
Friday | Saturday
12:00–6:00 pm
Lower Level of 485 Broadway, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
The Cave Dance project harnesses the power of machine learning to reconstruct and reimagine the dance culture of Dunhuang, a complex of over 400 embellished Buddhist caves that mark a major milestone within Silk Road networks. The project integrates thousands of depictions of dance from Dunhuang with motion capture of trained dancers, who performed movements preserved by textual records. With this human-computer collaborative choreography as its foundation, the Cave Dance installation instantiates movement sequences within ethereal motifs, bridging medieval cultural imagination and contemporary, sensorial media. Immersing viewers within a digital performance, the installation enacts the “bodiless body,” a state of transcendence epitomized by celestial dancers at Dunhuang.
Reconstructing China’s tallest wooden structure within VR, the Embodied Architecture project unfolds the cultural logic of the eleventh-century Yingxian pagoda. The pagoda rises 67 meters from the ground and—made without a single nail—exemplifies the sophistication of Chinese architectural carpentry. Combining 3D photogrammetry with an array of architectural modeling techniques and computer-generated imagery, Embodied Architecture presents an immersive film that evocates the Buddhist cosmology and ritual practice embodied by the pagoda.
During Public Visits, CAMLab invites audiences to experience immersive installations that stage cultural history with cutting-edge technologies. This spring, discover new iterations of Cave Dance and Embodied Architecture, projects that present fresh research on world-renowned Buddhist heritage sites—and unveil the theatricality of transcendental spaces.
Reservations are required. Visit camlabcave.com to reserve a spot.