2013 in FOCUS: Collaboration, Education & Inspiration

2013 Mailout Images_Collaboration_Education
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I hope 2013 has been as colourful for you as it has for me. I started the year with a 3 month old baby and an opera to design projections for and by the year’s closing, there have been four shows plus two more as a mentor; the opening of a tour; the birth of a digital production course; the launch of an online forum and many new connections with a host of exciting collaborations in the pipeline for 2014.
Collaboration…

has been one big theme this year in my work. I have always believed that creating Live & Theatrical Events hinges on close collaboration across departments but this year, with my new ‘associate’ not yet able to feed herself, I sought collaboration among my fellow projection designers on the first two of this year’s projects: Faust at the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia (co-design with Ian Galloway) and the Neon Neon tour: Praxis Makes Perfect, produced by NTW and Barbican (co-design with Timothy Bird). There were also new collaborations with a host of content suppliers via a remote studio set-up for The Energy Show at the Science Museum and new associates on Hippolyte et Aricie at Glyndebourne.

Education…

has also featured this year and among various activities, I have been working with Mountview Academy to devise the new Digital Production module; providing mentoring to budding video design undergraduates and Linbury Prize entrants and was a speaker at WSD 2013.

Inspiration…

was found around every corner with new designers, suppliers, new media servers, new platforms, new perspectives and new projects.

One outcome of this inspiration, prompted by questions of students and of previous and current collaborators, is the newly launched  forum for discussion, reference and best practice in all things relating to the use of live video, which I hope to expand and add to through my continued collaborations with fellow video & projection designers and with anyone who has questions to ask.

Thank you and see you in 2014!

So, I wanted to say thank you to you all for sharing this year with me, in both conversation and deed.

And what better way to mark the end of this year than with a little treat? Here is some micro-projection-mapping prepared in collaboration with sound designer Sebastian Frost, who I worked with this year on The Energy Show at The Science Museum.

The piece was originally designed as an example for my students demonstrating how to create an idea using ‘projection-mapping’ without the help of tools outside of their range or budget and without the help of media servers and as a talking point for which effects work better than others but I got a bit carried away thinking about it on my bike rides through Finsbury Park to lectures and as the idea grew I decided to make it a Christmas Card for you all.

As you’d expect, it’s designed to have most impact when watched live but let’s hope you enjoy it all the same!

Micro Map LEAF thumb

Take me to the movie on Vimeo

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