Organisation: This is Loop
Location: Canary Wharf, London, UK
Who is This is Loop?
This is Loop is a collaborative artistic partnership between artists Harriet Lumby and Alan Hayes. Based at their Somerset studio they have established a reputation for creating large scale experiential installations utilising reflections and illusions. Their art focuses on the intersection of technology, science and art.
The Project
This is Loop created an art installation which was designed to represent a neutrino or 'ghost particle'. Specifically, the interactions of neutrino's as measured by the T2K experiment in Japan.
Geist specifically is a large-scale sculpture in an octagonal carousel, 6 meters in diameter. Each of its faces is a 3x3m window which contains individually addressable LED modules that start flickering and glimmery in the presence of people. This is specifically designed to be reminiscent of neutrinos interactions with atoms.
Execution
This is Loop used a Advatek PixLite® A4-S Mk3 to control all of the LED pixel dots integrated into Geist. They chose this controller for a number of reasons but primarily because of the ease of installation. But This is Loop were also specifically interested in the onboard digital fusing and the industry leading dithering offered by the A4.
Gamma control also played a role in the artists' choice, as it enabled them to create extremely delicate fades in their programming with almost imperceptible stepping.
Advatek's Role
The dithering, gamma control and ease of installation drew the artists and helped execute their project. But the extra functions the PixLite® A4-S Mk3 carries as standard are what kept their interest. For a touring application like Geist having playback functionality built into the unit via an SD card slot provides excellent flexibility in case of any different equipment suffering a failure.
Results
The success of the project was evident in the final execution. Hayes had this to say.
In the live public art and events industry, the show must always go on and having this kind of redundancy is absolutely vital. To be able to purchase a single unit that offers this as standard is just perfect.Alan Hayes – Artist at This is Loop
The collaboration between Advatek and This is Loop delivered a seamless and visually stunning experience at the Geist installation. Setting new benchmarks for touring LED sculptures.
