Create: Projection mapping is unlike any other artform, merging real-world environments with extraordinary displays of light and motion. Large-scale projection-mapping creations can dazzle large audiences, but artists are using projection mapping on a smaller scale as well, in hypnotic, otherworldly video projects. As projector prices fall and lamps become brighter, this artform is becoming more accessible—so we spoke to three veterans of the artform to see how it’s done and where it’s headed.
6 comments:
There are a lot of great takeaways in this article for both designers, and actually for managers as well. It’s important for a manager to understand the inspiration and process that a designer goes through and this article offers a peak into that sequence. The article talks about some of the challenges of placing a projector and finding a location for it. I had never thought of using mirrors as a solution to a tricky angle and I’m wondering if it could be done with theatrical projection design as well as installation projection design. The article also talks about having a screen or canvas that you can use. These discussions can be hard because in theatre you have a scenic designer that is also involved and trying to tell their own story. Most likely, there won’t be a perfect blank canvas for your design to use a surface so it is our jobs as managers to help designers through that process.
I love that projections and media have become such an accessible art form. When we first saw hints of projection mapping onto architecture a few years ago (my first recollection would be on Cinderella's Castle), it was this jaw-dropping new way of creating spectacle and performance. There were characters flying by, and the castle was changing colors! But this was just the beginning. Artists all over the world have created beautiful work that transforms the objects they project onto. Some pieces feel more like live performance, with performers' images being used to pull off impossible physical feats as they fly and spin through the air (the front of the building) while light surrounds and transforms them. Some of these works take historical architecture and flip it on its head. We never want to think of altering an important or historic building, but projection can do it without even touching it. It's a very cool medium to explore and I'm excited to see what else develops over the coming years.
I agree with Ben in that there are a lot of takeaways from this article for both managers and designers. Projection mapping has been particularly interesting, as an art form, because it doesn't seem like there are many opportunities for people to learn the technology and how to properly use it with either learning under a mentor or simply teaching yourself how to work with the projectors to achieve the desired effect. Particularly when working with architectural projection, I think that it must be incredibly difficult to plan how things will look unless you have the freedom to work within the space. While the article mentions starting with a blank canvas, I'd be curious to know how realistic that could be when planning a piece that will be projected on something as large as a massive building/structure. I've always been curious how Disney manages to project onto Cinderella's Castle, and I think the mention of mirrors and extreme projection angles kind of explains how that could be accomplished. Visiting Disney in the past, it's always been a mystery to me as to where the projectors are hidden.
It is interesting how in projection mapping installations, the installation happens offsite, and the actual projection "screen" is never touched. That is pretty much the opposite process to traditional media installations, where the site where the media is viewed is the only site with which the installation crew interacts. I worked in a museum where installations had to be approved in paper templates in the gallery by curators or designers before installation began, or else risk damaging the drywall (by driving in hanging equipment in the wrong place). If the drywall got damaged, the time it took to replace walls would delay the gallery opening for months. In a projection mapping installation, if the projection does not line up correctly, no permanent damage is done, the designers just have go either reposition the projectors or go back into Photoshop and fix the design. I just think that that is so cool.
This is such an interesting article in discussing all the different paths of project mapping. When I initially clicked on this article I simply expected to be getting a list of quick tips for what and how to do projection mapping. But I was pleasantly surprised with a somewhat detailed view about the future and the dynamics behind projection mapping and the new forms of projection mapping installations. I think that projections are still just such a new field that hasn't been nearly flushed out enough so that we know and understand all of the uses and forms for it yet. The ability and the effects that good projections can give a designer and an artist on a piece can never be matched to that of something on a physical piece. As this next group of designers and creators learn more and the ability to use projections becomes more and more accessible the things that we us for projections will undoubtedly change and grow.
Similar to what Kat said, I am absolutely astonished by the way projections and media have grown in such a short amount of time. Media design has only recently become a realized art form and there is still so much more to be discovered through the work that designers, creators, and installation artists are continuing to create. Projection mapping, to the scale we know today, is something that is newer in the field of media design and it can truly add a entirely new dynamic to a show that before wasn’t possible. The various ways projection mapping can be used is incredible, and I can only imagine how it will continue to grow and change. There is so much unrealized room for growth and experience in regards to media and projection technology that I can only imagine what the future holds and how designs will change- even over the course of my time here at Carnegie Mellon.
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