Largest Projection Mapping Spectacle on Earth

Yes, this happened.

It was just before the pandemic in 2019. While I was travelling to China, with my other art projects, it came to my attention that the city of Shenzhen, and the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture have been organising a worldwide contest for the projection in the city centre. Long before the contest I decided to see the place with my own eyes. It was located in the centre of the Futian district right in front of the Shenzhen museum. And long before I started doing it, I was sure I was going to make it.

3D projection mapping art - an experience of an artist

This experimental and world’s largest immersive experience was a video mapping surface allowing to create all sorts of large scale optical illusions. The challenge was to understand the scale and propose a vision that would spread across the horizon of the city centre, and to also be in sync across the whole spectrum of the video projection. The final result was supposed to be delivered by the winner of the competition. I decided to look at it as an artist first and a director second. I have taken the approach to not only use projection mapping as a means of delivering multimedia, but also to consider it as a VR experience in which electronic music and projection surface, go hand-in-hand and are equally important.

This is something people are not always conscious of: what we experience with our eyes stimulates our senses, but what actually stimulates our emotion is the sound and music. I would say music in any installation or three-dimensional augmented reality project makes at least 50% of the emotional impact, artists and advertisers want us to immerse ourselves in. I think the key to understanding experimental and audiovisual projects is to treat each part of it really seriously, and never think of any element as just a decoration.

Digital art versus surface transform inspirations

In the world of digital art, the leap from 2D to 3D through projection mapping stands as a creative revolution. This innovative art form uses everyday video projectors to turn common objects of any 3D shape into interactive displays, blending digital and physical realms. Projection mapping first emerged as a tool for concerts and theatrical productions, using mapping software to warp and blend projected images seamlessly onto irregularly shaped surfaces, creating optical illusions that animate static objects. As a producer and creative technologist, one can employ advanced video projectors and projection mapping software, to add extra dimensions and the illusion of movement, flawlessly mapping 3D projections onto landmarks and industrial landscapes. This technique not only illuminates but also mimics the real environment, allowing the audience to interact spatially with the projected art. This complex project workflow demonstrates the potential of projection mapping to transform surfaces and perceptions, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in digital art.