Mây Pha Lê_La Pan Tan, Mu Cang Chai (Vietnam), 2018

art installation
dimensions: height 15 ft. x length 60 ft. x width 55ft

Standing on Doi Mam Xoi, surrounded by layer upon layer of rice terraces, and after observing the Hmong farmers tending the fields, Cao & Perrot had a vision that this beautiful site could be the ideal location for their first temporary crystal cloud installation in Vietnam. They also knew that creating such an ephemeral new artwork should be a close collaboration with the local Hmong community, highlighting the beauty of things handmade, and continuing the Hmong's long tradition of sculpting the land.
The Crystal Cloud is made with hand-sculpted galvanized wire mesh, and adorned with 58,000 brilliant Swarovski Crystals. The cloud formation is supported by a series of randomly-placed galvanized steel posts resembling a shimmering crystal forest.

Red Bowl_Saint Lazarus Leprosarium, Beauvais (France), 2012

art installation
dimensions: height 12 ft. x length 54 ft. x width 66ft

“White Dome” and “Red Bowl” installations deal with themes of man’s purification in both the physical and metaphysical dimension, and the shift from sacred to secular. In the Saint-Lazare Leprosarum, visitors are invited to cross a pond entering a hemisphere of 5000 tall metal rods topped with red glass marbles. Taking inspiration from the biblical theme of annointing healed lepers, the installation recalls man’s moral dimensions and the belief in being able to purify the body of diseases by a bath of blood. The pond is covered with a veil of water lentils to create a soft green proliferating surface.

White Dome_Saint-Barthelemy Collegiate, Beauvais (France), 2012

temporary public art installation
dimensions: height 36 ft. x length 18 ft. x width 18 ft.

“White Dome” and “Red Bowl” installations deal with themes of man’s purification in both the physical and metaphysical dimension, and the shift from sacred to secular. Within the ruin walls of the Saint-Barthelemy Collegiate Church, a large cupola formed by thousands of suspended SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystals create a rain of light, symbol of the soul’s purification by ascension to the divine. The floor is covered with cracked clay and sprouting shoots of wheat sown at random during the exhibition to embody the movement of transformation and regeneration.

Cloud Terrace_Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, 2012

installation at historic gardens
dimensions: length 36 ft. x width 30 ft. x height 15 ft.

“Cloud Terrace takes the form of a hand-sculpted wire mesh cloud suspended over the terrace and embellished with 10,000 genuine SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS water-drop crystals mirrored in a reflecting pool. The Arbor Terrace is one of the most modified spaces in the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. Originally designed by Beatrix Farrand in the early 1930s as a simple rectangular herb garden (...), it was refashioned by Farrand’s former associate Ruth Havey in the 1950s as a pot garden centered on a Rococo-style parterre with low, Doria stone parapet walls. The space can be hot and bright; CAO PERROT’s installation is a response to these conditions, extending the shade of the arbor across the terrace and animating the space inside the parterre with an oval pool surrounded by pebbles.”

Cloud Chandelier for Kenzo_Paris (France), 2008

tremporary installation at company's new headquarters
dimensions: length 20 ft. x width 12 ft. x height 14 ft.

"Cloud Chandelier" was inspired from KENZO's approach of ephemerality, lightness and the explosion of colors. This installation is an intuitive exploration of everyday materials, and their interaction with light. Constantly evolving, this vaporous formless shape evokes the impermanence, asymmetry and a spacial experience - a contemporary interpretation of traditional Japanese Wabi-sabi concept.

Mimosa_Medici Fountain at the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris (France), 2005

flower installation at historic site
dimensions: 1.000 sq.ft

This temporary installation in the Medici Fountain (circa 1630) was sponsored by the French Senate to celebrate the winter-blooming Mimosa flower. Clear monofilament was used to float a path of vibrant yellow blossoms across the water; and arranged bouquets of white gypsophila in the surrounding urns.

Pollen Garden_Potager du Roi, Versailles (France), 2012

exhibition
dimensions: 6,460 sq.ft.

The three Pollen Gardens, all created in historical sites, aim to sensibilise people to allergies to pollen. At Versailles, it was installed at the King’s kitchen garden, which is adjacent to the Superior National School of Landscape Architects, initially founded in 1873 as the National Horticultural School. Suspended on rods, five thousands pollen-like Bohemian glass balls of various sizes and color shades seem to depart from a 5 feet-tall wheat field. The undulating pattern generated from the seeds germination on the three large parterres sharply contrasts with the multi- centenary orthogonal grid, still de rigueur in the 21st century. Ancient varieties of wheat were complemented with meadow plants such as poppies and cornflowers.

Red Box_American Academy in Rome (Italy), 2002

annual exhibition
dimensions: area 900 sq. ft. x height 30 ft. + 2.000 sq.ft. courtyard

As a recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture (FAAR’02), Andy Cao spent a year at the American Academy in Rome, where, with design partner Xavier Perrot, they created the Red Box installation inspired by the art, history and sensuality of Rome. Cao and Perrot transformed their studio and the familiar entry courtyard of the American Academy.

Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama_Worldwide travelling exhibit, 2006-2012

art exhibition
dimensions: height 9 ft. x width 4 ft.

A tribute to the orphaned children at Ky Quang Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The so-called “deaf coconuts” are farm rejects used by Andy Cao to symbolize the plight of the disabled children whom he met in an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City. These children were abandoned at birth as a result of their physical impairments, believed to be the result of exposure to “Agent Orange”, a chemical weapon and defoliant used by the United States during the Vietnam War. The inclusion of a gentle lullaby speaks of hope, the universal need for nurturing, and unconditional love.