D-Mines goes En Voyage with Claude Monet
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This is thanks to some genius imagineering and teamwork between international video mapping, immersive experience and digital art creative studio, Dirty Monitor, and ChillHoYeah Hong Kong, a new company with a passion for art, technology, and experimentalism.
This collaboration was commissioned by exhibition organisers ChillHoYeah, a co-promoter with Dirty Monitor for En Voyage with Claude Monet which will run for three months at this site.
This is the first full scale project by D-Mines, Dirty Monitor’s brand-new creative content production management division headed up by Benjamin Bauwens, who has previously worked at ArKaos and as a video specialist for PRG. He enthused, “This is a hugely exciting idea set to revolutionise the way art can be appreciated – not just by traditional art lovers, but by new, different and diverse audiences who may not necessarily ever think of visiting a traditional art gallery.”
En Voyage with Claude Monet takes elements from 200 of the painter’s ephemeral and multi-layered masterworks. Many were painted during his extensive travels around France, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and more. Others included a selection painted in his famous garden in Giverny which was replete with perspectives, textures and colours and an amazing water lily pond.
These elements are digitally blended into one large 360-degree digital canvas in a projected show that runs for 36 minutes. It is accompanied by a specially composed soundtrack commissioned by Dirty Monitor and composed, produced and performed by the Echo Collective.
The show narrative is guided by a voice-over that follows trails and thoughts running through Monet’s letters and an interview he did whilst travelling, revealing inspirations gathered on these various trips.
Dirty Monitor’s creative lead Audrey Ballez, explains, “Monet’s life was full of ups and downs with an identity quest and a need for recognition of his art, but also marriage, birth, death and remarriage … So his life is a mine of interesting material to explore in terms of putting emotion at the heart of the immersive show.”
The screen measures 5.7m high and is 94m in length, arranged in a large rectangular format. The screen material is a special SB Blackout PVC sourced after much research and trialling from fabric specialist Showtex. It is stretched taught across custom frames also supplied by Showtex.
The projections are achieved using 14 x Panasonic PT-RCQ10 machines which support uncompressed 4K signal input via HDMI or Digital Link terminals which streamlines the 4K playback eliminating the need for any re-encoding. These are all rigged on a central truss in the roof of the venue for optimal positioning.
For supporting projections across the entire gallery floor, six of Robe’s ProMotion digital moving head effects and video projectors were picked to content and images around the space, which is a first for an immersive installation like this. The ProMotion’s internal media server is utilised to store and play back this bespoke material resulting in a neat and streamlined and self-contained solution, explained Ben. A 7:1 surround audio installation was installed by locally-based Shalom AV Technology.
After Hong Kong, En Voyage with Claude Monet will move on to other destinations in Southeast Asia, the US and around the world.
