Art gets a light touch

The installation is 8 meters long, 4 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. The main body is composed of around 80 opaque polyethylene bubbles in seven sizes.

Sensing the breath of visitors through a mouthpiece, the bubbles gradually light up in pink hues, and the stainless steel support rods and metal brackets seemingly make the bubbles float in the air.

Data collected from audio sensors-including vibration, volume and frequency-is converted into dynamic visual effects. And algorithms play out in real time, providing the audience with a new viewing experience with each breath.

Speaking about his work, Liu, a 36-year-old who comes from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the first Chinese to win the Excellence Award of the 31st International Association of Lighting Designers Award, says: "When an art piece leaves the white box of a museum or a gallery, it is facing not professional viewers but the crowd. A public artist has to create an interaction between the work and surroundings, based on an understanding of the city and the space where the work is located, and people who might pass by. Blowing bubbles is about people sharing childhood memories, regardless of age, gender and skin tone."