Chauvet fixtures capture the spirit of of flight
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“People have always dreamed of flying,” said Mathias Roelandt. “You think of someone like da Vinci studying the flight of birds and insects over 500 years ago to draw flying machines and know that the idea of flight eventually became a reality that continues to evolve all the time. We humans always want to do something that’s never been done before. That’s the spirit that’s reflected here in this space. It is inspirational, and worth celebrating.”
Roelandt and his brother, along with their team at IIIMAGINE, including lighting operator Michiel Goedertier, did indeed celebrate flight by turning the museum’s Aviation Hall into an electronic music space for three captivating performances. Setting up a stage amidst the aircraft they wove the entire hall into their shows with the help from over 60 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by AB Sound.
This was not the first time that the IIIMAGINE team has transformed an out-of-the-ordinary location with music and light. Prior to their show at the Aviation Hall, the brothers and their team performed at venues like the historic Liège-Guillemins railway station, and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels, where they performed between Rubens paintings.
“We feel we have more freedom to explore ideas in spaces such as The Aviation Hall compared to a black box stage,” said Roelandt, who performs music in addition to creating the light shows. “On a conventional stage you have only two things: the music and whatever physical limitations there are on the stage itself. In a space such as this, however, your options are much more open.
“Rather than having to create imagery as we do on a conventional stage, we are able to draw very rich imagery from our surroundings,” continued Roelandt. “Our music and lighting reflect the space we are at. So, the entire show would be different at an aviation museum than it would be at an art museum.”
Key to helping IIIMAGINE creating an engaging atmosphere at Aviation Hall were the rig’s 18 Maverick Force S Spot and six Rouge Outcast BeamWash fixtures. Evenly positioned on both sides of rectangular-shaped hangar-like hall at the top of the wall where it meets the base of the building’s half-circle 60m high ceiling, these fixtures covered the space in light. Alternating between white and colour palettes they sent currents of energy through the hall as they flashed to the beat of the music.
“These Force S Spot and Rogue fixtures have a great output, so we relied on them to light up the entire space, including the planes and the people dancing,” said Roelandt. “In this show, it was important to light up more than the stage, the lighting had to be all around everyone.”
Highlighting the stage and endowing it with extra energy were the rig’s 15 Color STRIKE M fixtures. Arranged tightly around the stage, these motorized strobe/wash units filled a variety of roles in the design. In addition to backlighting the performers, they worked to shake up the entire building with intense strobe flashes.
At other times, the Color STRIKE M fixtures along with the rig’s eight WELL Panels, Maverick Force S Spots and Rogue fixtures energized the big space by bathing it in vibrant colours, typically red or blue mixed with white. “We avoid using more than three colours,” said Roelandt. “It tends to get too busy when you do.”
