Augmented Sculpture by GROSSE8 & LICHTFRONT / Passagen 2010 from Lichtfront on Vimeo.
Part of the beauty of projection is its ability to mix light and sculpture, so it’s with great pleasure that I come across this fantastic, organic and origami-like work by Cologne-based Grosse8/Lichtfront. The big accomplishment of this work, evident only as you watch the camera pan around the piece, is that it is made 360 degrees in the round.
The core of the installation is a 2,5m tall wooden sculpture that builds the screen for a 360° projection with virtual content. The projection constantly augments the sculptures outside within a 2:32 min. long, dramaturgically structured edit of video content to a track by musician Jon Hopkins.
The sculpture becomes a mirror of changing realities. As a result, a kind of real virtuality arises to confront virtual reality.
Core77 spots the work, and notes that in comments the crew reveal additional details:
We did it with 4 projectors, placed around the object. The graphics were done in AfterEffects. We worked in a composition that was [cut] into the 4 output movies at the end. Then we played the 4 videos on 2 computer, synchronised by a vvvv patch.
It looks like a rendering, but it’s not: Lichtfront’s augmented light sculpture [core77]
Funny, though, I think they could probably entirely replace After Effects with vvvv; I suspect the use of AE was in order to sync the visual timeline with the music.
Aside from sharing my love of Jon Hopkins, they’re also Vixid users.
And they also answer the question “what do you want all of the furniture in your house to do?” – at least if you ask a rabid visualist. Sure, I think this installation is saying something about visualizing furniture you’re going to buy, but, uh, I’d like the projection mapping to come with the furniture, please!
Virtuelles Design Studio für EGGER by Grosse8 from Grosse 8 on Vimeo.
Lots of other fascinating work on their vimeo account and project page:
http://www.lichtfront.com/