FREDRIKSTAD, Norway – projectiondesign has supplied nine of its F32 DLP projectors to British artist Isaac Julien for his latest art installation ‘Ten Thousand Waves.’ On a worldwide tour, the exhibit landed most recently at the Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo. Says Julien, “When you are putting on a piece of work like this, you rely on a fantastic image. You need a certain color depth, color saturation and depth of field. Contrast ratio is also important. projectiondesign projectors give us all this and more.”
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FREDRIKSTAD, Norway – Reinforcing its reputation as a company that is at the forefront not just of technology but of internationally renowned visual arts, projectiondesign has supplied nine of its F32 DLP® projectors to British artist Isaac Julien for his latest art installation ‘Ten Thousand Waves.’ Having been shown successfully in several cities across the world, ‘Ten Thousand Waves’ has landed most recently at the Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo, where it played as part of a wider exhibition called ‘Unfinished Journeys’ until May 20.
Julien is a long-time user of projectiondesign technology and, commenting on his use of the F32 for ‘Ten Thousand Waves,’ he says: “When you are putting on a piece of work like this, you rely on a fantastic image. You need a certain color depth, color saturation and depth of field. Contrast ratio is also important. projectiondesign projectors give us all this and more.”
The AV system for ‘Ten Thousand Waves’ was designed by ArtAV. Nick Joyce, the company’s owner, says all nine of the F32s are running at 1080p resolution.
“The unique thing about this system is that we output uncompressed, high-definition video,” Joyce adds. “We started with 35mm film as a source, then went through a digital intermediate copy that remained completely uncompressed, so the image quality is highly accurate and true to the imagery that Isaac has shot and edited.”
In addition to the projection system, ArtAV also supplied its own media syncronizer, integrated with Blackmagic Design HyperDecks and a 9.2-channel surround-sound system using Anthony Gallo Micro loudspeakers.
Nick Joyce says the nature of the room at the Oslo museum brought another of projectiondesign’s advantages to the fore. “The space in the room was tight to install the work. It’s a listed building and we weren’t able to fix anything at all to the structure of the room. So there were a couple of instances where we had what seemed like impossible projection angles. Being able to use short-throw lenses with the F32s was an absolute must. Without the choice of lenses, the installation simply wouldn’t have worked.”
Inspired by the Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004, in which 21 illegal Chinese immigrants were drowned off the Lancashire coast in the UK after becoming cut off by the incoming tide while collecting cockles, ‘Ten Thousand Waves’ examines contemporary Chinese identity and the story it has taken from the country’s centuries-old mythology.
‘Ten Thousand Waves’ offers three different narratives set in different times in Chinese history, and Julien uses the simultaneous projection of multiple AV content streams to allow these narratives to weave in and out of each other. Once inside the installation, the viewer can focus on a particular story, move from one to another, or step back and allow the diversity of the artist’s content to make its own unique impact.
Maria Dahl Aagaard, Product Marketing Manager at projectiondesign adds, “We are especially proud to know that our projection technologies have been used by Art AV for this installation by such a respected international artist as Isaac Julien at one of the world’s finest cultural institutions.”
Says Julien, “When I show my work to a curator or a museum, I recommend projectiondesign because their projectors just sing with my images. I’ve worked with them for 10 years and have never been disappointed.”
