The Latest In Reality Warping Projection Mapping Projects

As projection mapping becomes increasingly ubiquitous, more visual artists and architectural designers are combining their talents to bring these massive multimedia installations to every surface and setting imaginable. It seems like these days an event just isn’t complete without at least one projection mapping project involved. Not only do the techniques these artists bring to the table make us rethink visual design in relation to architecture, they also make us rethink how projected visual media can augment surfaces and objects in general. Every week there is a multitude of projects popping up on the internet, so for those of you keeping track, here is a list of some of the most exciting from the past couple weeks.

Shangri’La Projections

The massive panoramic structure was built on site for the Glastonbury Festival by Darkroom Motion Graphics in collaboration with VJs Rebel Overlay and Video Olympic. The facade, which looks kind of like a prefabricated skyline, stood behind festival attendees while VJs and musicians took the stage on the opposite side of the field. The projections featured a range of abstract red, white and green shapes and colors resembling something akin to a projection mapped graffiti city. Less abstract images such as birds and people dancing and running were also featured.

Mapping on Trees

It seems these days everything is being projection mapped, so why not trees? Visual design team Apparati Effimeri was founded in 2008 and often work on urban environments in noninvasive ways, exploring how to give life to preexisting shapes. This time they are enhancing the life of a tree giving it a video overlay and perhaps updating it to our progressively digitized era. The projections transform the trees into coniferous clouds that slowly lose their original forms and flicker away into the darkness. The project reminds us of a recent installation we saw from art and design duo Kimchi and Chips in which they similarly created volumetric patterns on a tree.

Baskerville

Arts & technology collective Seeper, who mapped the IAC center for Vimeo Fest last year, organized a week of workshops for young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders last June. The workshops were housed in an immersive, response learning environment that was specifically designed to engage individual people based on their educational needs. Included in the workshops was a performance based on work submitted by the children who participated.

Luminous Flux

Prague-based collective the Macula recently mapped the Liver Building for its 100th anniversary and also for the grand opening of the New Museum of Liverpool. The visuals appear to go through a history of facades that begin with a castle attacked by a cloaked specter to more abstract mechanical buildings such as a train station. It chronicles key moments in the city’s history, including World War II and hometown rock and roll heroes, the Beatles, making for an interesting narrative display that is unique to both the occasion and the location.