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The Creators Project At Nuits Sonores: The Installations

The Creators Project contributed to the visual part of the music festival with incredible artworks from our Creators.

Conductor

United Visual Artists

After their artistic and technical tour de force for the Main Stage of Coachella, United Visual Artists imagined a new radical artistic gesture for the French music fest. This gateway is a rough analog and digital sculpture rising 16 meters high, with light design by UVA and sound composition created with music composer Scanner. Those 72 aluminium cubes stood in all their majesty at the main entrance of the Marché Gare, allowing Conductor to set the mood and atmosphere of this giant party arena.

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As the entry point at the crossing of all the human flux moving in and our of the venue, this allegoric gateway perfectly fulfilled its function. At night, the young crowds packed at the entrance and were immediately caught within the vortex of Conductor. Erected at the center of the festival, it became the focal point of all attention, and with people surrounding it and walking through it at all times during the night to join the stages, it eventually transformed itself into a futuristic lighthouse leading the crowds to the safe shores of the party.

Technology used: Aluminium, perforated metallic canvas, LEDs, custom software, sound.

The Grid

AntiVJ, My Routine, and Renato Saleri.

The grid is a brand new project made up of three “Architectones” to be dispersed throughout the Marché Gare. These architectones established a link between the music (on stage), the audience, and the historical architecture of the Nuits sonores primary location. The structures are made up of modular steel parts covered in architectonic fabric. The architectural design was drawn up by My Routine, the architectones created using an interactive program developed by Renato Saleri and AntiVJ took care of the mapping videos. My Routine is made up of Laurent Graber and Antoine Trollat, two Lyon architects who’ve worked on the design of the Nuits Sonores since 2005. AntiVJ is a visual design collective known for their architectural mapping, light sculptures, stage design and fascinating audiovisual shows.

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The three modules of TheGrid, lined up on the main circulation path of the Marché Gare, all along the four main stages, created a perspective and and a feeling of depth in the venue. By consciously inscribing itself within the identity of this postindustrial place and dressing it up with lights and animation, AntiVJ proved that a clever and respectful stage design, both impressive and discrete, was possible.

Technology used by My Routine :
Autodesk Autocad Lite, Sketchup, Javascript, Macbook Pro, Dell notebook, Buffalo servor, iPhones, Nikon D90

Technology used by AntiVJ:
Light (projected and reflected), AntiVJ custom software (mapping toolkit, media servor, real-time stereoscopy), traditional image editing suite (C4D, After Effects, Flash, Photoshop), traditional analog material (transparent canvas, polystyren, cardboard, plaster, paper, scaffolding), beamers, video matrix, MIDI controllers, DMX controllers, 3D stereoscopic screens.

72

Trafik

Trafik is a Lyon-based graphic design and multimedia agency made up of Pierre Rodière, Julien Sappa and Joël Rodière, all working on interactive and multidisciplinary projects. 72 is an interactive light installation specifically designed for Nuits sonores, and which is currently traveling to be displayed at our Creators Project residency at the Gaité lyrique. Once in place, the moving light, made of LED panels, creates a graphic and visual perspective that modifies the whole exhibition space. Using an iPad, the audience could play with the light, allowing them to toy with perspective and space.

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Located in the main lobby of the MAC, 72 looked like an odd yet familiar gateway. The people passing by could not only stare at it in awe, but interact with it and control it in real time with an iPad. The motions of their fingers on the touchpad, be it whirls or waves of frenzied flickers, were immediately transposed to the six LED panels.

Technology used:
Macbook Pro, iMac, Windows PC control tower, Windows PC notebooks, iPad, iPhone, beamers, LED panels, DMX lights, Xcode, Visual C++, OpenGL, Custom software.

Punch

Hojun Song and Lumpens

The Punch machine is born of a collaboration between two of South Korea’s most innovative visual artists. Lumpens is an animator specializing in interactive video art who notably worked with EE on their music video for “Curiosity Kills.” Hojun Song is an artist and the engineer behind The Strongest Weapon In The World, The Open Source Satellite Initiative (OSSI) and the Unbreakable Machine, fantastic projects that delighted the audience during our 2010 series of events.

These two creative forces have teamed up to bring us this innovative arcade game. The Punch machine reacts to the physical impact of the user setting in motion an overhead visual experience. Each punch produces a different image and recorded score, allowing festival goers to have some fun between two ecstatic gigs.

Technology used:
After Effects, openFrameworks, Arduino, Agilent DSO1024A Oscilloscope, Canon 7D, Solid State Relay, Custom modulator, 7 segments preview, beamer.

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Modular Ship

Superscript²

The Modular Ship structure that took over the first stage at Nuit sonores can embrace different shapes, and is adaptable to any environment. For its installation in Lyon, its shape was inspired by the architecture of the main stage of Marché Gare.

The light animation system can be controlled through multiple parameters, including sound reactivity, generative content and graphics, multiplying the project’s creative possibilities. This modular aspect was demonstrated with a genuine mastery by Superscript², who used it to create more than a hundred visual identities for all the acts that performed on the stage during those three nights.

Technology used:

Structure:
Prolyte modules, 176 MiStrip modules (1 484 mm / 112 LED)

Equipment :
1 Mac pro 12-core + Apple LED Cinema Display
1 MIDI Controller (Akai MPD 32)
1 small mixing table (Beringher XENYX 502)

Photos : Oram Dannreutner and United Visual Artists.