Temple : Flame Tree
2024
Temple: Flame Tree
The flame tree, or royal poinciana, is the official city tree of Tainan. Every summer, its blossoms burst into brilliant red, symbolizing both celebration and farewell, traditionally accompanying graduating students as they step toward the future. Inspired by this potent imagery, artist Cheng Tsung FENG created Temple: Flame Tree for the Taiwan Lantern Festival. In this work, the dazzling bloom of the flame tree is reimagined as a fiery explosion in the night sky, a living firework that fuses myth, ritual, and the language of contemporary stage installation.
The installation takes shape through a framework of metal structures and bent wooden beams, forming expansive fan-like petals. Arranged in a pentagonal composition around a circular platform, these towering petals emulate the grandeur of a fully blossomed flame tree. Subtle touches of golden paint highlight the edges, tracing a sacred outline that gleams under daylight and glows with mystical resonance when illuminated at night. The atmosphere transforms into one of solemn ceremonies, where nature, myth, and performance converge.
Between the petals, five stairways offer pathways for visitors. Outside of performance times, people are invited to ascend to the central platform, stepping into the heart of the work. Standing within, they are enveloped by radiating energy, as if embraced by the fiery vitality of the blossoms themselves. The installation becomes both a stage and a gathering ground, evoking the flame tree’s symbolic meanings of reunion, parting, remembrance, and youth.
In this way, Temple: Flame Tree transcends decoration to embody a ritualistic presence. It pays tribute to the people of Tainan and the generations who have celebrated life’s milestones beneath the shade of the city’s iconic tree. The work invites all who enter to feel both the intensity of collective memory and the blazing vitality of new beginnings—a place where nostalgia and aspiration burn together like flame-red petals in the night.
2024 | Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan | 02/24-3/10 | The Luminous Tainan Display Zone | THSR Display Zone | Tainan
adviser｜Ministry of Transportation and Communications
organizer｜Tainan City Government
curator｜Urban Art Studio
artist｜Cheng Tsung FENG
project design｜Chan Wei HSU, Hong Lin LIU, Sheng WANG
structural analysis｜ Chien Chuan Engineering Consulting Co.
woodwork｜Weige Interior
metalwork｜Wen Chin HSU
lighting design｜Oude Light
lighting engineer｜Beamtec Lighting
photography｜FIXER Photographic Studio
2024
眾神殿：鳳凰花
鳳凰樹是台南的市樹，在夏日盛開的鳳凰花，總以熱情的火紅色彩祝賀畢業學子邁向未來，也有祝福畢業的意涵。藝術家范承宗於台灣燈會創作的作品《眾神殿：鳳凰花》將鳳凰花的盛放視為黑夜中燃起的炙熱焰火，運用構築手法製作成一座舞台裝置，呈現神話與儀式的氣息。
他以金屬骨架與彎曲木材，展開成為扇形的大型花瓣，以五角形排列在圓形平台周圍，如同盛開的鳳凰花。金色漆點綴於裝置邊緣各處，在白日下勾勒出神聖的輪廓，在黑暗中與燈光共譜神秘又隆重的儀式氛圍。花瓣之間各有五處階梯，邀請人們在非演出時，走上作品中心，感受能量四射包圍，就如鳳凰花的花語，成為人們聚散的場所，濃烈的思念與火熱的青春在此時此地集結、出發。
2024 | 台灣燈會在台南 | 02/24-3/10 | 城里有光展區 | 高鐵燈區 | 台南
指導單位｜交通部
主辦單位｜台南市政府
藝術家｜范承宗
策展單位｜都市藝術工作室
專案設計｜許展維、劉鋐霖、王笙
結構分析｜建全工程顧問
木作工程｜唯格室內
金屬工程｜許文進
照明設計｜偶得設計
照明工程｜丞逸照明
攝影｜定影影像