DALLAS — On October 18, the entire 19-block area of the Arts District here was used as an outdoor canvas for an immersive contemporary display of light art dubbed Dallas Aurora. Themed “Light of Convergence,” the project’s goal is to presents light art to the public in unique and unexpected ways, creating a visual interplay with the existing buildings, streets and surfaces of the arts district area. Participating artists showcased nearly 90 works involving lighting, projection, sound and performance art.
Dallas Aurora, spearheaded by Shane Pennington along with co-founders Joshua King and Veletta Forsythe, was modeled after all-night events known as Nuit Blanche that take place annually in some of the world’s greatest cities.
These events are renowned for their innovative interpretations of the art festival concept, which also incorporate live music and entertainment.
“We provided equipment, time and materials to create all the gobos for the event’s corporate sponsors,” says Rick Hutton of Dallas-based InLight Gobos, “and strategically positioned the projectors to display the logos on buildings throughout the district. Multiple logos had to fit within the available area of the district’s buildings, some having throw distances of over 200 feet.”
Dallas-based Syncrolite added some punch to the event, helping to entice the 35,000 visitors. Syncrolite provided 10 of their XL xenon lighting fixtures.
All of the XLs were positioned on the sidewalk, across the street directly opposite One Arts Plaza. The 10 fixtures were grouped into two banks with five XLs in each bank on either side of Flora Street — the main thoroughfare of the event. The XL xenon lighting fixtures were chosen to light the 250-foot-high building. Each XL beamed a mix of bright white light and changing colors.
Work began on the project six months earlier. Syncrolite’s Dave Keighley, executive vice president/COO, submitted to Aurora organizers his design for the system along with CAD renderings to show what the building would look like using Syncrolite’s lights. “Aurora loved the design and we were officially accepted as one of the exhibits for the event,” Keighley said.
Troy Eckerman programmed the lights for Syncrolite, which sent a team of six to support the installation, including Steve Washington, Jesus Vigueria, Pete Martinez, Arturo Ruiz, Shawn Rodney and Isaac Cantu.
“There were no real issues,” Keighley said, after the event. “We had a very slight sprinkle of rain around 6 p.m., an hour before the event opened. It was a relatively simple setup and, between our Syncrolite team and the event organizers, everything worked smoothly. It was a great success and seen by more than 30,000 people.”
“Those 10 XL fixtures really lit up the sky and did some beautiful color washes on the One Arts Plaza building,” added InLight’s Hutton. “Aurora was a perfect way to support local light art and give back while showing what InLight Gobos can do.”
Dallas Aurora
Gear from InLight Gobos:
13 Custom “B” size color gobos (corporate logos)
2 Custom “B” size black & white gobos (corporate and artist logos)
8 750W ETC Source Fours w/ 19° ED Lens Tubes
4 750W ETC Source Fours w/ 26° ED Lens Tubes
2 750W ETC Source Fours w/ 36° ED Lens Tubes
1 750W ETC Source Four w/50° ED Lens Tubes
6 8” Pipe and base
Gear from Syncrolite:
10 8000W XL xenon lighting fixtures
