Once again working with The Bezark Company and Z Frame we created a new projection based activation for the Beaver Creek Resort Company. The goal was to add an element of fun and surprise to the main village square at Beaver Creek.
We created a roughly 90 second “feature” that plays at the top of the hour and 4 separate looks that play throughout the hour that feature the seasons of the Colorado mountains.
When finished we had an hours worth of content that can seamlessly loop every night to help brighten and enliven Beaver Creek Village. Special thanks to the Bezarks and the artists at Z Frame for bringing the project to life!
Every year a group of space enthusiasts gather to celebrate human kind’s achievments and dreams of existing as a space faring species. In honor of the first human to orbit it’s called Yuri’s Night.
“Yuri’s Night is the World Space Party. Every year on or around April 12th we celebrate all that humanity brings with us as we explore the cosmos: music, art, science, culture, and each other!”
For 2022 we were invited to projection map the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) that sat in the hangar with the Endeavour orbiter. Working with Z Fame artists we created a variety of looks to play throughout the event. Some were looping environmental looks while others were audio reactive to sync with the music played by the various DJs at the party.
For the signature look for 2022 I created outlines of the various machines that had been carried to orbit by Endeavour with a squiggly outline pattern on the SSME itself. A particle cloud that danced with the music in the room filled out the background. All of the programming was done with Touch Designer which allowed us to play with the graphics live during the event. Take a look at the quick video we put together here:
Friends! As some of you know I’ve been collaborating with Cynthia Minet on her new installation that will soon be opening at the International Museum of Art and Science in McAllen, Texas. If you’re in Los Angeles this Sunday, March 4th from 2p – 5p you can get a sneak peak of the work at Cynthia’s studio here at the Brewery.
I worked with Cynthia on the lighting/audio system design and programming. Each sculpture has about 49 RGB LEDs in it controlled with a Trinket microcontroller. The audio is triggered by motion and powered from a Trinket Pro. If you have questions, you’ll have to come to the studio 🙂
There is more info on the open studio at the Facebook event page. We hope to see you there.
It’s been quiet in my creative world…but not uneventful. Over the last couple of months I’ve had the pleasure of working with Cynthia Minet on her upcoming installation, “Migrations.” Cynthia is an accomplished artist and her creations are constructed from post-consumer plastics and LED lighting. Migrations depicts six Roseate Spoonbills in varying stages of flight. With this sculpture Cynthia hoped to push the lighting a little further than she had in previous work.
There were two goals.
Have greater control over the color and brightness of each LED
Add movement to the sculpture by animating the LEDs
P9813 LEDs
After some initial conversation a third goal popped up. If we’re going to be programming these LEDs could we also add some motion activated audio to immerse the viewer in the world of the spoonbill?
After some testing we settled on the P9813 LED pixels. The plastic casing around the actual LED helps diffuse the light. The fact that the strands run at 5v was an added bonus.
To program the lights and the motion based audio I knew we were going to use something in the Arduino family. The spoonbills do not have a ton of room inside of them so we opted for a Trinket to run the lighting and a Trinket Pro to run the audio system. Ideally everything would run off of one board but that just wasn’t feasible here. This also cut down on the cost for each sculpture.
The next few posts will get into the details of the wiring, programming, testing, and installation of the lighting and audio systems.
If you’re around this weekend (Oct 21 and 22) you can see the sculpture in its current state at the Brewery Art Walk. Art Walk runs from 11a-6p both days.  #breweryartwalk
Friends, family and totla strangers. Thanks so much for coming to thespring  Brewery Artwalk. Hopefully you experienced some art that spoke to you…or at the very least whispered in your general direction. I appreciate everyone that comes by to support all of us here at the Brewery. Hopefully we’ll see you again in the fall. Dates will be announced shortly. If you didn’t get a chance to visit I’ll have my newer stuff up on art.vaughnhannon.com soon. Thanks again.
There have been many, many trips to Burning Man and many, many plans to create something or other to display in the middle of the desert. As it goes time disappears and distractions mount. Participating in our theme camp was the primary focus for a long time. This year, at the last minute, I managed to pull together a little art project that would sit as a monument to my current obsession with the game of Go (igo, wei qi or baduk depending on your country of origin). The game originated in China some thousands of years ago and was nurtured and modernized by Japan. This structure was to be a nod to the Chinese and Japanese style of architecture without attempting to mimic any one structure specifically.
The plans had been rolling around in my head. I wanted to minimize the use of any screws or nails and make it as transportable as possible. I mocked up a little model in 3D and then set to figuring out the details…some of which didn’t emerge until actual construction.
Here it is, mostly finished. I did add four hanging pieces of fabric in the entryways to add contrast and motion.
Nearly complete less a few additional details.
There is more to do and I plan on finishing some of the details I had planned but did not have time to complete. I’ll also modify the structure a bit so it can live out on the open playa next year should I be accepted and placed by the Artery of Black Rock City.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my friend Jeff for assistance in the planning and producing of this project…thank you sir. And, of course, Becky for the encouragement and support in the sometimes crazy things I try to do. Thanks dear.
