[aha] promo

[Master Subsito]

Here comes the Sun

(America calling)

Artists: Mary Sherman and Rudi Punzo

Venue: Jinshan Beach

Time: 5th of June 2008



On the 5th of June 2008, at Jinshan beach, artists Mary Sherman and Rudi 
Punzo will present Here comes the Sun, which is part of Intrude366: Art & 
Life, a public art project organized by Zendai Moma.

 The performance involves 800 Kongming lanterns launched into the sky in a 
particular sequence to spell out the words Here comes the Sun in ASCII 
programming code.  The launch of each set of lanterns will have an initial 
sound at the moment of take off, intermingling with the sound of the next 
letter (symbolized by the number of lanterns) launched.



ASCII is the programming code use by most computers to assign a number to 
each keyboard function.  This can be thought of as modern-day equivalent to 
the pervious means of submitting data electronically - Morse code or the 
ancient Chinese practice of writing messages to send to the one’s ancestors.



Mary Sherman and Rudi Punzo take Chinese military strategist Zhuge Liang, or 
Kongming (Three Kingdom Period) and his “public performance” as point of 
departure for project in Shanghai.

Two historical reference lead us to Zhuge Liang  public art ‘performance’ as 
a tool to thwart off an enemy.  The first one tell the story of Zhuge Liang 
opening his fortress gates rendering fortress vulnerable.  When the enemy 
arrived, they could not believe their eyes or ears and, thus, thought that 
this must be a trick and retreated. Still, others say it was because the 
music was so beautiful that the enemy was so moved that they could not 
attack..  Again Zhuge Liang was threatened with war, so he sent a spy to his 
enemies’ camp to substitute the maps of his land with false maps, locating 
his fortress where it was not. Where the maps showed this false fortress, he 
sent up flying Kongming lanterns (which were often used for signaling), 
tricking the enemy to believe that that location was indeed his fortress, 
allowing Zhuge Liang’s army to take them from behind.



Here comes the Sun – whose title references the Beatles’ song “Here comes 
the Sun” - will re-inact these 2 famous public art works. In addition, out 
of respect for the recent losses from the earthquake, the artists have 
adapted the piece, so that the public can add their blessings onto the 
lanterns being sent to the heavens





http://www.intrude366.com/index_en.html