JUNE | AGENDA
Interview: Anthony Rowe
Access talked to the founder of Squidsoup
about his recent collaboration with electronic
band Four Tet, which involved innovative
uses of LED technology
How did your work with Four Tet come
about? We met Kieran Hebden/Four Tet
through a mutual friend. We had been touring
an immersive installation called Submergence
that uses a 3D array of individually controlled
LEDs to suggest movement and presence in
physical space. It was shown in art galleries,
pop-up events, indoors and outdoors, but we
wanted to explore other uses for the idea.
Kieran was looking for a light show for his
latest album (Morning/Evening, 2015), a
meandering Indian music-inspired work, and
the fit seemed good.
What was the brief and who’s idea was it?
The brief was totally open – it was to be a
collaboration relying on serendipity and
experimentation and we’d see where it led.
The only rule was that whatever we did
needed to be flexible and loose enough to
allow him to improvise at will. The earlier
gigs (Manchester International Festival, the
Roundhouse, Sydney Opera House) were
conventional stage setups, but at the ICA
Kieran was in the round, in the middle of the
light array, and with the audience around
him. This was more in keeping with our
approach and background in installation art,
but also worked well for Kieran I think, as it
got him nearer the audience, breaking down
boundaries between audience and performer,
as well as performance and installation,
virtual and physical space.
What were the challenges? At Alexandra
Palace, there were software challenges to get
the system to run fast enough to cope with
a large array of lights recreating a real time
particle system in 3D space. And hardware
challenges too: the LED strands were dangling
among the 10,000 audience – anyone could
yank a string and break it. We needed to be
able to cope with that without it causing major
failures. And then practicalities – installing
a large and unusual system in the round in
a venue that is set up for a traditional stage
setup caused a few unanticipated issues.
What technology and creativity is involved?
The hardware is a DMX variant running a 3D
array of individually addressable LEDs. The
array consisted of around 40,000 points of
light, 240 DMX universes, 120 power supplies
and a ton of other kit to create a 30m x 30m
x 5m high volume of light. The software is a
bespoke system we developed over the past 10-
12 years consisting mainly of a particle system
running in a volumetric virtual space that is
then mapped onto the LEDs. All the visuals
were triggered and rendered in real time.
What sorts of other projects are you involved
in? Our main work is creating immersive
installations. This is where this project came
from, and where most of our other work sits.
Beyond Submergence, we have a piece called
‘Wave’ that consists of over 500 individual
orbs, each with its own speaker as well as
LEDs, processor, sensors and wifi connectivity.
Read in full at accessaa.co.uk
Creativity, control and chaos
Deborah Armstrong, founder of
event design company Strong & Co
We’ve witnessed festivals change from
counter-cultural, often underground
events to a mainstay of the UK music
and events industry. We feel a constant
pressure from the very digitalisation
of life to apply new and efficient
administrative control systems to
events that were conceived : by Anarchy.
Festivals are hugely logistically
challenging, they need to be organised
and safe. There’s a danger that too much
automation, tick boxing and prescription
can result in the oxymoronic ‘organised
fun’ rather than in the formation of
a truly meaningful experience.So
here I am standing up for the right of
everything not to be too orderly.
Saying that, people are often surprised
by the depth of organisation we apply
even to small installations - we produce
multiple linking spreadsheets because
the best creativity needs a certain level
of structure in order to thrive.
But when those very control systems
start to impinge on the ability of
organisers to produce new exciting
elements, to create a wonderful
experience – the very thing that they
were bought in to enable – then it’s really
time to question if the balance is off and
how to address it. The very best festivals
balance the ‘yang’ of control with the
‘yin’ of chaos. The very best festival
organisers know that their systems
must have room for uncertainty and
play. Read in full at accessaa.co.uk
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