Happy Year of the 00X!

Intertrend continues a tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year by honoring each year's Zodiac animal. It all began with an impressive display of red envelopes that passersby would have to remove to reveal James Jean's art based on the history of our building - The Psychic Temple of the Holy Kiss. This was followed by a fantastic rooster sculptural light display amidst an illuminated white Chinese rural landscape.

For Year of the Dog (2018), we created an interactive display that married our tech-forward sensibilities with our love of fur babies. 2019 then proved to be a "game stopper" with a life-sized slot machine to showcase the Year of the Pig. And of course, who can forget the infamous 2020? Just before we were all quarantined, we had visitors follow a path to the side of our brick building to discover a large neon sign that invited locals to take a selfie and "Say Cheese" with a large block of neon cheese beside our friendly neighborhood Rat.

Lunar New Year starts on the first of twenty-four periods of the East Asian calendar, using the phases of the moon to measure time. This is also considered the start of Spring, so the Lunar New Year Festival is also known as the Spring Festival, and dates back to 14th Century B.C. during the Shang Dynasty in China. It is still celebrated all around the globe as a highly important holiday in Asian cultures, with festivities typically lasting 16 days.

It is said that Zodiac animals first appeared sometime around the 5th Century B.C., and while no one knows exactly when they were created, the twelve we know today were officially identified during the Han Dynasty (circa 206 B.C.– 9 A.D.)

Which brings us to Intertrend's 2021 Lunar New Year window display. This year, we are celebrating the Year of the Ox, a very highly valued animal for their stoic, strong, and hardworking characteristics. They are honest, trustworthy creatures who represent reliability, determination, and confidence. With a calm and gentle demeanor, they make great leaders.

Our debonair '00X' is our take on that charming secret agent we all know and love. The concept was the brainchild of our Associate Creative Director Harim Kim, who exclaimed, "I just envision him to be like James Bond. He's stoic, he's strong, he's confident." When the creative team immediately burst out with laughter, we all knew we had a winner. Senior Designer Beryl Cahapay said, "Wouldn't it be amazing if the theme music were done with Chinese instruments?" Well, at Intertrend, ask and it shall be done. With the help of our Associate Director of Creative Services Aaron Yang, and Director of Production Joyce Lu, we worked tirelessly with 3D artist Oscar A. Campos and composer Nathan Chan to bring our vision to life.

For the first time, we're using Intertrend's Edison Theatre for our Lunar New Year display, located at 213 East Broadway in downtown Long Beach, across the street from our main headquarters, The Psychic Temple of the Holy Kiss, where another exhibition is currently on display: Port City Creative Guild's "Couriers of Hope". The Edison's façade houses a traditional movie theatre marquee currently featuring silhouettes of 00X in various poses showcasing his secret agent prowess as he leaps, sashays, and kung fu-kicks to protect the precious red envelope.

The animation starts with a series of dots which travel across the screen to subtly display the start date of the Lunar New Year as 02 12 2021. The dots signal the start of the scope scene in the title sequence of many Bond films, as our 00X stoically lumbers in a defiant swagger across the screen. He abruptly turns to face the scope, breaking the fourth wall, and hands the viewer a red envelope with a Fu symbol for good luck. It then immediately rains red envelopes as the Happy Lunar New Year message pops up, and we end it with a bang of Chinese firecrackers! The music and sound effects give it that extra special je ne sais quoi, but what we definitely know is that it's a fun, cheeky way to start the year.

A big thank you goes out to the Long Beach and Plano creative teams, with a special shout out to Sam Lo, our producer, and Jeff Ma, our production artist, who both resolved technical production challenges as well as handled all of the fabrication. They make every installation we have a smashing success.

Happy Year of the 00X!

We hope it's shaken and stirred! And delicious.