Universe Two

A city is more than a lifeless existence. Its essence is in togetherness. 

Bubbles possess a delicate, translucent quality. When light passes through them, it refracts and interferes, resulting in a mesmerizing display of radiant colors on their surfaces. Similarly, a city, with its vibrant tapestry, is a living embodiment of diversity. Each corner tells a story, colored by the myriad cultures of its inhabitants. Drawing a parallel between these two, the animated video depicted a city pulsating with joy and energy. Here, people are shaping the very essence of their urban landscape through shared experiences and collective creativity.

Togetherness Animated Video
Creative Director - Phoo Myat Thwe
Music - Destination Unknown by Lynn Thant Naing
Animation - Kaung Myat Soe

Destination Unknown by Lynn Thant Naing is the 13th song from his album Emulate.

© 2022 LTN Audiovisual Inc.

This island hosts all the portals to enter other parts of the exhibition. Explore around to see what artworks are included in this exhibition as you listen to "Destination Unknown" by Lynn Thant Naing from his Emulate album.

In the midst of chaos, people tend try to seek help from higher beings or the cosmic superiors, calling them gods sometimes. Religious spaces are filled with people who are in need of help. People chanting the chants, holding rituals, praying to the gods or just sitting for peace of mind while listening to birds chirping and bells’ ding dongs, public sacred spaces play as places in urban areas that cannot be completely forgotten.

With this work, the connection between religious squares in urban areas and people will be explored also with the questioning of how these spaces will transform in the future. Apart from transformations, questions that we should also be finding answers are “Will people create their divine authoritative figures as AR to worship them at their fingertips?”, “ Is it possible to replace the peace of mind that people get when they go and sit on their respective religious squares?”.

In this work, a 3D sculpture has been created that represents as a higher being (aka god) with an experimental sound piece.
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Demon’s Downfall, 2023, Looped animated video

“Demon’s Downfall”, the short animated video which is part of the Fiction Story “ The Shadow of Heroes: The Battle Against Demonic Forces”. The event of The Heroes Kids taking revenge on the Demon happened in this scene. This story begins with the spirits of people who existed altogether in their past lives. Their families, homes and lives were demolished by the malevolent evils who wanted to rule everything. From the ashes of this devastation, the flames of hatred and sorrow, rather than being extinguished, forged an unbreakable resolve within each departing soul. In a twist of fate, these fallen individuals were reborn as immortal extraordinary heroes to get revenge. Each carried the weight of their past lives, now ignited with an undying purpose. The rebirth of these rebellious spirits seem to be a threatened message to the demons.

Zun May is working on this story through different art forms such as mixed media installation, illustrations and animations. This “Demon’s Downfall” animated video can be seen through Augmented Reality experience portraying that each spirit from her story exists with us together in this real world even in their afterlives.
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In Myanmar, the lack of libraries has hindered education and developmental progress. The pandemic and political turmoil has deepened the void left by the lack of communal spaces. This work is created as a monument; an urban testament to the power of literature and a beacon of renewal for reading culture and social cohesion. By reimagining urban spaces as platforms for shared literary experiences, the artwork seeks to reignite the joy of reading and the warmth of human interaction. Through its presence, 'The Literary Watcher' beckons people to come together, to gather around and to celebrate the rich literary heritage that binds us.

About the Sculpture
'The Literary Watcher' embodies an allegorical artwork that captures the richness of wisdom, insight, and freedom attained from a lifelong journey of indulging in meaningful books. A stack of books stands as a visual testament to the abundant knowledge acquired through reading. The eyes of individuals signify that consistent engagement with literature brings about added perspectives and heightened mindfulness. Adorning the sculpture's pinnacle, peacock feathers indicate that those who partake in reading can maintain the freedom in their lives, as these feathers symbolize 'rebirth and optimism'. Collectively, this artwork delves into the importance of literature, commemorating the diverse and unified spirit of cultural society through personal and communal reading practices.

Myanmar traditional heritage and art have been named  “Ten Flowers” by historians. It is known that these arts and crafts have been mastered since the Bagan era. The brickwork system of Bagan pagodas and the construction of the stupas are invaluable architectural arts and the masonry artisans played a key role in it.  

In construction sites of the contemporary time, masons are regarded as the vulnerable laborers. The masons are seen as uneducated, hard laborers. Without the masons, there won’t be irrigation dams, residential houses. In a life of  deprivation, the masons in poor clothing are building the architecture for the future, working hard to get the merest wages. The lives of the families who depend on the masons are exhausting and difficult. They have to struggle daily for theirs and their family's livelihood. 

This work pays respect to the invisible hard workers of our cities in a construction site environment with background music by the artist, Hanzoni Wok. 
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The sky and the electric poles seem to go hand in hand. The cables are the pulse of the city, entangled in intricate knots above the ground. The sky symbolizes freedom, the cables, connection and belonging together. Wherever I go, I look at the electric poles and the sky in their background. I look at the pole and the sky in front of my home all the time as well. The sky shifts in color with time. The sky doesn’t seem lonely to me. Such bits and pieces of urban life are something to yearn for. 
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The land of Oz in the Wizard of Oz story is a fantastical landscape crafted out of human imagination. When we were young, we tend to be imaginative and creative but these creative abilities seem farther away from us as we grow old. I, myself, suffer from loss of creativity. My world in youth was full of freedom and wonder. This artwork is a way of going back to it.

In the structural confinement of dull urban life, people seem restrained, not being able to see beauty and creations surrounding them. Perhaps a way of breaking free from this is to let your inner child full of wonder be free again. It can feel fearful to do so, but through this work, I would like to show how the freedom of creativity feels. Here in Oz, you can experience the surrealistic characters of my imagination roaming in the city. Through the AR filter, my work is fully transportable and will be with you whenever you need to escape to a world of wonder.
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Underage child labor is a grave violation of children's rights and a hindrance to their development. It robs children of their innocence, exposes them to hazardous conditions, and denies them the opportunity to grow, play, and learn. These children are forced into work at a young age, often in industries that exploit their vulnerability and limit their prospects for a brighter future. 

Education plays a vital role in breaking the cycle of poverty and providing children with a path to a better life. Education empowers children by equipping them with essential knowledge, skills, and opportunities. It instills confidence, fosters critical thinking, and opens doors to a wide range of possibilities. Millions of children worldwide (including our country and city) lack access to quality education due to various barriers, such as poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and discrimination.

In order to combat this problem head-on, this work re-imagines about the life of children in our city in a positive and playful way with fun-induced visuals under this year theme "Togetherness."
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This work is also featured as an Augmented Reality artwork on (Re)Imagine City/ (Re)Imagine Home Instagram page: @re_imagine_city.

Terrific unites the dynamic urban landscape with the universal language of hand gestures. This installation celebrates the vibrant emotions inherent to various professions, embracing the duality of joy and melancholy in a captivating and unconventional manner. Through a visually captivating display of hands emerging from traffic lights, this project underlines the connection between human emotion and the pulse of city life. Repurposing The Traditional Traffic light, the installation integrates expressive hand sculptures emerging from each light. These hands depict a range of gestures representing emotions related to different professions. The Hands "applaud" the passing crowd, creating a sense of unity and recognition within Togetherness, The Urban Environment. By integrating hand gestures into the fabric of the urban landscape, the installation establishes a sense of belonging, bridging the gap between individual emotions and the collective urban rhythm TERRIFIC is a word play toTRAFFIC, which could also mean expressing intense impressions whether it is good or bad.
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The warmth of festivals and happy moments people share with each other has been lost for quite some years. Since covid, people have also lost the chance to go back to hometown and celebrate festive time with their families as well. Remembering this lost tradition of celebration, Moments to Restore work recapture nostalgic moments of Thadingyut Light Festival in Myanmar. It engages the viewers audio-visually with familiar scenes from the festival and background ambient sound of Thadingyut Nights.
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Based on the artist's interest in people-place interactions weaving the intangible value of society, ”You are The Urban Fabric” focuses on the Genius loci of Maymyo aka Pyin Oo Lwin. Colonial architecture , teashops, thrift culture, market and various ethnic groups in town has been weaving the city image all along.The downtown area is the busiest and vibrant urban fabric in town but its image has been diminished by three forces: physical forces, intangible forces and personal forces.

This collective collage of Pyi Oo Lwin in a faded environment require human action to be visible. If the audience doesn’t make any movement, the collective collage disappear and if he do, the faded environment will become visible. The concept is you are the urban fabric and if you take actions, the essence of the city will not be diminished.

This work is also featured as an Augmented Reality artwork on (Re)Imagine City/ (Re)Imagine Home Instagram page: @re_imagine_city.
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A Metamorphosing discusses the story of transmuting through extreme violence, comparing the biological processes of butterflies species evolution and human psychology. This work comments on ancestral trauma, human-on-human impact and an un-ending cycle of cause and effect that shapes human lives and psychologies. 

Based on the original interactive story of Phoo Myat Thwe. (https://www.phoomyatthwe.com/creative-works/a-metamorphosing)
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Emulate Album © LTN Audiovisual Inc 2022.

Album Statement
Nothing’s totally original these days. Whether you like it or not, you need to keep it in mind that it’s been done before. But, on the bright side, just because it isn't original, doesn’t mean it can’t be unique. The people, the environment or the things surrounding you or that you choose to surround yourself have a huge impact in your creative process. You will have some sort of feelings or thoughts with you everyday.Those can help make your work stand out; even if it isn’t a hundred percent original.    This is what this album is about. Emulation of my taste in music, fused with my personal stories and feelings behind them. 
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What do you want to say about your city?

This is a collection of public submissions for (Re)Imagine City 2.0: Togetherness exhibition. The public is encouraged to submit their artworks or expressions about the cities they reside in for a feature in this space. There is no selection process for this submission and anyone is free to express as long as they follow the public submission guidelines. 

If you are interested in submitting your work, please email us at reimaginecity.rmh@gmail.com with your work, work statement if you have and a name you want to be featured as in this space. 
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Existing between the relic and mythic realm, the Great Bell of Dhammazedi has been the object of fascination and obsession of Myanmar people. Conceived in 1490 by Mon King Dhammazedi, the Great Bell went through different hands from the holy ground of Shwedagon Pagoda to the battlefield of Thanlyin until its watery catacomb at Yangon River. Over the decades, people of power have struggled to salvage the Great Bell according to the belief that the country will prosper again under the rightful ruler when the Great Bell of Dhammazedi re-emerges.

'And The Great Bell Tolls' intends to reimagine the historical site at Yangon River as a sacred place where the collective hope manifests and to recreate and reclaim the national treasure and give it back to the people to whom it truly belongs. In this work, a 3D replica of the Great Bell of Dhammazedi will be projected, accompanied by a series of video sequences and the imagined soundscapes of the Great Bell.

This work was also featured as an Augmented Reality art hosted on Instagram as a part of (Re)Imagine City First Edition. The AR is still available to view on Instagram at @re_imagine_city. The audiovisual work will be on www.thewrong.tv as a part of The Wrong Biennale 2023/24. 
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