e-Luminate Festival 2014 - Call for Technical Partners and Artists

"Energy, Growth, Movement" by Susie Olczak, 2013
Photo courtesy Oliver Cross

--> Are you interested in showcasing your technology or products in a new and exciting way?  Or are you an artist with an interest in technology and the cross-over between art and science? The 2014 e-Luminate Festival is the UK’s first event designed to showcase the imaginative and inspirational potential of new art created using low carbon/energy efficient technology  - is looking for more technical sponsors for its 2104 event.
 

This will be staged between the 12^th and 23^rd of February 2014 in Cambridge, UK. In its second year, e-Luminate is now under the Artistic Direction of projection specialist Ross Ashton, known for his work worldwide and his expertise in producing specular public art works.

It has also just been confirmed that leading entertainment technology brands Panasonic and Pulsar have come on-board.

e-Luminate provides a completely unique opportunity for brands, manufacturers and distributors to highlight all sorts of sound, lighting and video hardware and software products and enables artists to use these in new, exciting and inventive ways.

I am delighted that Panasonic and Pulsar have committed to supporting the event. I think that have companies of this calibre on-board already is a great testament to the importance of the Festival and its ambitions.

Cambridge based Pulsar have been instrumental in popularising the use of LED technology in the entertainment and architainment sectors with the development of their ground-breaking Chroma range of LED fixtures. Pulsar featured heavily in the first e-luminate last year and are keen to be involved in their home town again this year.

Panasonic are also embracing the need to produce genuinely greener technology and now offer several ranges of smaller, and more eco-friendly projectors that are expedient on power consumption, yet with no compromise on the brightness front.

Interactive lighting control specialists amBX are sponsoring e-Luminate for the second year running following a great response from their enthusiastic participation last year’s inaugural event.

I also want to find a moving light sponsor. Most moving light brands have at least one LED range and this is an ideal chance for these to be utilised in a completely different and very cool way with stunning results. However,I see this festival to be about more than just lighting.  For example amBX are software specialists and many musical compositions take the theme of light as their inspiration. We are very keen to create works using audio and software solutions and are actively seeking companies which would like to showcase their products in a new artistic environment.

It’s the intention of e-Luminate to team artists up with technology partners enabling them to create a series of vibrant installations which can be enjoyed by the public for the duration of the festival. Artworks will be created on a range of scales from the monumental to the small, with art sited across the city and in the public domain.

It will also raise awareness of environmental challenges related to lighting and energy use;  encourage people to re-evaluate the role of lighting in their day-to-day living as well as for entertainment and fun and emphasise the links between technology and creativity.

Several levels of sponsorship are available.

The call for Artists to take part in e-Luminate Cambridge is open until August 15th.

For more information on sponsorship, please check http://e-luminatefestivals.co.uk/ or call/email Ross Ashton on 020 8293 4270 / ross@e-luminatefestivals.co.uk

 e-Luminate is a Community Interest Company created to open and sustain dialogue between arts, the community, art and technology and inspire people to adopt more energy saving and genuinely sustainable practices.

The series of fabulous new art installations that will feature at e-Luminate 2014 will be both spectacular and entertaining, showing technology literally ‘in a different light’.

Enchanted Town Festival Concept is Launched in Horncastle

‘Enchanted Town’ is a brand new creative concept uniting ideas, local culture and history, music, street theatre, live performance, digital arts and cutting edge  technology in a fun, open and accessible presentation … aimed at engaging all levels of public in a vibrant and fun environment.

The first pilot event was staged last weekend at Horncastle, Lincolnshire, proving a massive success and pulling 4,000 visitors into the town centre for the evening, boosting local businesses and creating a brilliant vibe. Even the weather got into the mood!

Enchanted Town is the brainchild of an innovative collaboration between leading outdoor arts Producer and Festival Director Robin Morley from Magnetic Events, internationally renowned large format projection and digital artist Ross Ashton and ground-breaking sound artist and audio designer Karen Monid.

The event was presented by East Lindsey District Council working with the Horncastle Festivals Committee. It was also the opening event of the SO Festival, 10 days of shows, events and culture taking place across East Lindsey, funded by East Lindsey District Council, Arts Council England and Centrica Energy.

Morley, Ashton and Monid have previously worked together on a number of projects, including the very popular ‘Enchanted Parks’, an annual public art event taking place in Saltwell Park in Gateshead since 2007, produced by Morley and presented by NewcastleGateshead Initiative and Gateshead Council.

This comprises a number of commissioned temporary public art works – for which Ashton and Monid have produced signature pieces - involving unique projections and immersive soundscapes encompassing local elements and themes. It attracted up to 35,000 people over 5 days in December 2012.

The idea behind ‘Enchanted Town’ or Enchanted City’ is that it can be transposed to any location.

With the aid of visual magic, interactive street theatre and any number of other activities – including contributions from local artists including a video film group - it will pull both visitors and business into an urban setting, enriching the location by allowing all to enjoy the surroundings and be entertained in imaginative, new and different ways.

The centrepiece of the Horncastle Enchanted Town event was two large format video projections works created specially by Ashton, complete with bespoke soundtracks from Monid, which took their starting points from some well-known local personalities – primarily the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and botanist Sir Joseph Banks.

The first, ‘Spiritus – Ring Out Wild Bells’ was projected onto the bell tower of St Mary’s Church.

 The stunning 14 metres high by 8 metres wide images were beamed from a doubled up pair of Barco CLM HD8 projectors rigged in portrait format and installed in a specially constructed tower.

When creating the images, Ashton took the splendid wooden angels holding up the church roof as his visual starting point, and created an animated story around them, which played out on an 8 minute loop.

Tennyson’s ‘The Wild Bells’ was first published in 1850, the year he was appointed Poet Laureate. Monid’s compelling and beautiful soundtrack used quotations and passages from the poem together with other elements.

The second projected work “The Magical Spying Glass” utilised the Banks Building as its canvass. The building is named after naturalist and botanist Sir Joseph Banks, born in Lincolnshire, who accompanied Captain James Cook’s first great voyage to the Southern Seas (1768-1771).

Ashton’s eye-catching content unfolded a fantasy tale inspired by that voyage, with Banks starting off as the Great South Sea Caterpillar. It also incorporated legendary sea monster, the Kraken (the subject of an irregular sonnet by Tennyson). Artwork was based on some of Banks’ botanical drawings taken from the Cook voyage together with various cartoons and caricatures of Banks by 18^th century satirist, James Gillray – among other materials.

In the 3.5 minute projected movie, Banks was transformed from the caterpillar into a South Sea butterfly and flitted around a garden composed from his own drawings, ending up in New Zealand, where he went underwater and came face-to-face with the Kraken! This gave Ashton plenty of leeway to create a colourful and amusing allegory.

The single Panasonic EX12 projector was located in the Travis Perkins showroom about 25 metres way, which was the optimum position to make up the 13 metre wide image.

Monid again composed an intricate and fun soundtrack which added to the drama and sense of spectacle, enthralling onlookers.

The projection and sound equipment for both installations was supplied by locally based Enigma Effects.

Portfolio Holder for Culture, Leisure and Tourism at East Lindsey District Council, Councillor Adam Grist, commented that they were “Absolutely delighted” with the response. “To see so many people in the town centre enjoying the acts and illuminations and supporting local businesses was wonderful”.

Robin Morley said “The response exceeded our expectations in terms of visitor numbers for the first Enchanted Town event”.

“It was a real pleasure to work with Ross and Karen again who are absolutely at the top of their game, and having international artists of their calibre involved certainly boosted the success of the whole project and in creating a truly magical event”.

Ross Ashton stated, “We really enjoyed working in Horncastle – the setting is fabulous and it proves that you can hold events like this in the UK - at any time of the year - and people will come out and enjoy”.

Robin Morley concludes that they are already being asked to consider ideas for next year’s Horncastle Enchanted Town.

twins

Archangel - Raphael, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.

Angel Feathers Spiral, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.

Archangel - Gabriel, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.

twins, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.

crucifixion 3, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.

Face Britain makes it into the Guinness Book of Records 2013

Face Britain at Buckingham Palace

Face Britain 1, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
 
Just a note to say that 'Face Britain', the magnificent work by over 200,000 UK school children and all the great people at The Princes Foundation for Children and The Arts has made it into The Guinness Book of Records for 2013.

Well done to everyone.  
Its on the bottom of Page 8 if you want to see it.

The Princes Foundation for Children and the Arts
www.childrenandarts.org.uk

Artist – Ross Ashton
www.theprojectionstudio.com

Website – Overthrow
www.overthrowdigital.com

Image Handling – Photobox
www.photobox.co.uk

Mosaic Software – Boris Glazer
www.mazaika.com

Equipment & Installation – Creative Technology
www.ctlondon.com

Glass House for Enchanted Parks 2012 at Saltwell Towers

Glass House - Red Angels, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
Projection Ross Ashton
Sound Karen Monid
Created for Enchanted Parks 2012, 'Glass House' is a celebration of the works of William Wailes. The entire visual element was made by reworking photographs of his original stained glass to fit the architecture.Saltwell Towers, the home of the renowned Victorian stained glass artist William Wailes, began construction in 1854. That same year, the industrial heart of Gateshead was destroyed in the Great Fire. The fire and subsequent devastating explosion, triggered by chemical reaction, opened the way for the rebirth of Gateshead. This rebirth is echoed in the destructive fires of the glass furnace creating the pure colours of stained glass.‘Glass House’ celebrates Wailes’ work, juxtaposing the chemical reactions involved in Victorian stained glass making against the Great Fire of 1854, the rebuilding of the city with the revival of the Gothic style of his work. It utilises images of Wailes’ windows, including his tributes to his own children, with glass sounds and spoken texts taken from diverse sources such as accounts of the 1854 fire and the enthusiastic reception of Wailes’ work at the 1851 Great Exhibition in Crystal Palace.

Thanks to:The original photography of the stained glass was by Shaun Thubron.St. Nicholas' Cathedral, Newcastle and numerous other churches of the North East for granting us access to photograph Wailes' works in situ.The Saltwell Park Volunteers Group for donating their time and vocal talents.The award-winning Enchanted Parks is an innovative after-dark arts experience which transforms Gateshead’s Saltwell Park into a magical night-time winter wonderland. Visitors can explore the park through atmospheric themed installations, light, sound and performance in this event for the whole family.Enchanted Parks is organised by NGI and Magnetic Events.

See Karen Monids blog entry here.
NGI Interview with the artists - Blog entry here

Winter in Venice...And Gateshead!

The Last Supper by William Wailes

I'm working on a couple of projects at the moment.
The first is Glass House for Enchanted Parks which will run from the 5th to the 9th of December 2012.
Glass House celebrates the work of William Wailes.
We have gathered together the works that exist in the churches around Newcastle and Gateshead and all the images that will be projected will be made from these images, reimagined as decoration for the house which he designed and lived in.
The soundtrack will feature the voices of the people of Gateshead and will mix phrases and quotations from numerous texts such as the descriptions of Victorian manufacture & colouring of glass printed for the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, where Wailes exhibited his work through to accounts of the Great Fire of Gateshead.
Karen Monid spent a day in Saltwell Park to especially record the voices of local residents.  These powerful words and phrases will be fused with other sounds to create a sculpture of ‘poetic music’ which will underpin the images that will be projected.
The idea of glass being born from fire and chemical reactions is juxtaposed with the history of Gateshead’s destruction and rebirth.

Then its off to the Venetian Hotel in Vegas to deliver the next installment of The Light of Venice.  Created for their Winter in Venice festival, its a take on Vivaldis 'Four Seasons'  with a soundtrack created by Karen Monid based on this famous work.  More on this later after it installs next week.

Autumn from The Four Seasons

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Winter In Venice 2012

Light of Venice - Canaletto 3, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
The Projection Studio will be delivering the next instalment of Light of Venice for the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, later this month.
This is designed for their Winter in Venice event and will be a five minute version of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi as reinterpreted by Karen Monid.
Its sounding and looking great at the moment but I will post actual images later in November.