CMU School of Drama


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Projection Mapping Revives the Greek God Apollo

The Creators Project: He'll always be the ancient god of music, poetry, and prophesy, but that doesn't mean Apollo couldn't use a 21st century update. While only a select few still worship the classical pantheon, Greek deities still rear their heads from time to time in new artworks, not the least of which is this sculpture, brought to uncanny life with Omote-like facial projection mapping.

2 comments:

Brennan Felbinger said...

I love this art installation. I've seen actual human faces being projected on before, so it only makes sense that they would do it with a bust, which seems much easier overall. I'm curious to know more about the actual procedure behind this, just because they really nailed the facial structure. Did each of them have to be drawn out individually and then pieced together? It's kind of arresting when you see the eyes open up for the first time, just because were so not used to seeing busts like these animated. Theres generally just a stoic kind of look that we've become accustomed to. Seeing the fluttering eyes of Apollo as he awakens is kind of scary, especially because they made the choice to use a greek god instead of some actual historical figure. I hope that these artists do this with a bunch of other statues as well, im waiting to see an animated "The Thinker".

Unknown said...

This was so cool. I love this piece for a variety of reasons. First, it makes the art relevant to people today. Using media - something many people today are familiarized with and something many younger generations have come to expect - to connect with dwindling or uninterested demographics is incredibly valuable for both the preservation of interest in these objects as well as the preservation of the objects themselves. If no one cares about them, why preserve them? Also, the is an artistic repurposing of something that leaves it untouched and undamaged. Once the projector(s) are moved away, the piece will be the same as it was before. Perceiving the statue as human also made me want to look at it for longer than I would've had I seen the piece in a museum (indeed - have I seen this piece in a museum?). It makes the piece memorable, and appeases the art purists and younger technically-inclined generation alike.