PANTHERA TIGRIS
  • Home
  • About the artist
  • Tickets
  • Tiger resources

Panthera tigris

September 3-4 and 7-9

Joan and Edgar Booth Theater


A mixed-media experience by artist Kayleigha Zawacki
WHAT IS PANTHERA TIGRIS?

An Experience.

Panthera tigris is a Boston-based art experience in a theatrical context. This work explores themes of sustainability and wildlife conservation through the use of lighting, sound, scenery, and projected animation. You are invited to participate in a one-of-a-kind interaction with one of this planet's most regal, and most endangered, species--the tiger. 
A glowing orange tiger crouches in front of the viewer, projected onto a structure built from pallets and fencing, which rises up like wooden spires. A curtain of silver confetti hangs above, and the pallet structure is covered in pin points of white light from fiber optics woven into the almost invisible fabric that covers it. The pallets are lit purple.

THE ABSTRACT

What inspired the work?

Tigers are in crisis. 3,900 remain in the wild—97% fewer than 100 years ago. Three subspecies are already extinct. As a visual theatre artist, I propose to address this crisis by developing storytelling experiences that inspire lasting emotional impact and motivate action.
 
Through audio, scenic, and lighting design, I will create a unique immersive environment within a 360 degree installation. Curated experiences with the presence of a virtual tiger within that space will inspire viewers to overcome their preconceptions of tigers as savage and dangerous, to develop positive and joyful associations with tigers, and to despair at the loss of habitat that is forcing tigers to disappear.

Panthera tigris is a passion project for me. Three years in the making, this work honors my lifelong interest in tigers and their conservation. It will not come as a surprise that tigers are my favorite animal. This experience is my way of grappling with the question of how my artwork can be a vehicle for raising awareness about issues that are important to me--and to all of us. It is my great hope that one day I will have the opportunity to work on a project such as this one that can travel to multiple sites to help educate about conservation and sustainability. ​

Panthera tigris in process.

Sustainability in art.

One of the goals for this project is to explore ways to make art artmaking, especially when it comes to theatre, more sustainable.  When selecting materials for Panthera tigris, I determined that they should either be

1. Recycled/repurposed - materials that are given a second life through this process and would otherwise have been trash. 

The projection screen scenic element is built from reclaimed pallets and old New England wooden fence panels. I disassembled the fence panels using a crow bar to be sure to use as much of them as possible. The mirror mosaic floor base is an MDF floor that a theater company in town no longer wanted.

2. Reusable - materials that are not use-once-and-throw-away. 

The fabric and fiber optics that will dress the projection surface are reusable for other projects. I've tried to protect the LED tape (usually considered an expendable because of its fragility) for reuse by adhering it to strips of wood cut from scrap luan. 

I am working on solutions to convert materials that might not otherwise be reusable into art. The mirror floor panels will be cleaned up and re-purposed as wall art. The confetti curtains can't be stored without tangling, so I hope to use the confetti in resin artwork for a future project. I saved the nails that I removed from the fence panels for a similar purpose. 

The goal is to pave the way for reducing the impact of my artmaking in the future by asking myself to think critically about the impact Panthera tigris is having on our global resources.  

As featured in BU Today.

A woman with long dark hair and a crimson sweater stands on a mirror mosaic floor looking up at curtains of confetti that fill the air above a nine foot tall wooden structure built from pallets and fencing. Behind her on the wooden pallets there are swirling patterns of points of white light, created by woven fiber optics. A glowing orange tiger is projected onto the round wooden surface.
Photo credit: Cydney Scott
View the post here.

#TerrierTuesdays

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BU College of Fine Arts (@buarts)

Follow Kayleigha Design on social media to stay up to date on this and other projects. 
Reserve Free Tickets
Panthera tigris is supported in part by a BU Arts Initiative Graduate Arts Research Grant.  Learn more about the BU Arts Initiative at  bu.edu/arts.
Boston University COVID-19 Statement: The University is committed to promoting a safe campus environment and has enacted a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all members of the university who are on campus. We also strongly encourage all visitors to campus to be vaccinated. In accordance with current University safety protocol, cloth face coverings or disposable masks must be worn indoors at all times when not eating or drinking. Any participant with symptoms that could be related to COVID-19 should not engage in group activities and seek medical advice.
  • Home
  • About the artist
  • Tickets
  • Tiger resources