Mapping the future

Mapping the future

BARTKRESA studio’s Sviatovid, a 5m-high, 360° projection-mapped sculpture debuted in 2019, arriving at ISE in Amsterdam in February, making its US premiere at InfoComm in June and appearing at InfoComm India later that year

OTHER RECENT BARTKRESA STUDIO projects include the transformation of the Space Shuttle Endeavour into Tutankhamun’s tomb. Kresa discusses his work in Asia and the Middle East, collaborations with manufacturers and why laser projectors are a game changer.

Most people think that the projection design and mapping phenomena happened after the year 2000. Actually, it began in 1956 in the Czech Republic, when set designer Josef Svoboda began wrapping the stage with projected images. Then, in the 1960s, professor Guenther Schneider-Siemssen took projectors designed for opera houses outside to create open-air installations. From 1980, Krzysztof Wodiczko was projecting large-scale images of his art and videos onto architectural façades and monuments.

Screens are useful. I love projection. The difference between an LED screen and a projection medium is that with a screen you can see the technology, but, when projection is done correctly, you don’t see the technology. When we work with a building, we turn the projection off and it’s a building. Then we turn the projection on and we can completely transform that space to the point where it feels physical. Quite often, people don’t know what they’re looking at and, because it’s a dimensional sculpture, they ask, ‘how is that a projection?’ Some people think it’s a screen, some people think it’s a hologram. But the point is, everyone is looking.

Bart Kresa and his Sviatovid sculpture at InfoComm India 2019

I brought video mapping to India in 2013. It was a projection onto a beautiful palace, the Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur for a private event. Designing for shows in India is really fun because people are passionate about infusing culture, colour and patterns into the projections. I’ve done projections for other high-end wedding festivities since then, and our designs have always been adventurous.

In September 2019, we created the world’s largest LED display. It was a projection onto the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to mark the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Friends. Warner Brothers Worldwide Television Marketing commissioned BARTKRESA studio to animate a three-minute-long show that wove Warner Bros’ graphics into a high-energy dance set to the Friends theme song, I’ll Be There for You, by The Rembrandts. The show captivated crowds of fans in Dubai, as well as millions of global fans, who turned videos of the 25th anniversary show into a viral hit.

Laser projectors are changing the industry. So far, most of our work is event-based. We only have five permanent installations in the world. Until recently, I didn’t think the technology was good enough for us to leave it. Before laser projectors, every installation that I have seen is great at the opening. A year later, the bulbs have worn out in a different way, the colour shifts and, after a while, you start to see the tiles. LCD projectors used to collect dust which would burn into the LED panel itself and the projection would become out of focus. But now, half of the calls we get are about permanent installations, and we can take on those projects because of improving technology. Laser projection only came out just over two years ago, and it’s exploding. I’m hearing about projects that include 250 projectors, 400 projectors – it’s unbelievable now. Having a sealed engine that can run for 20,000 hours makes a huge difference. Prior to this, on some of the large-scale projectors, the bulbs lasted for 200 hours. With laser technology has also come automatic alignment systems. We like to design and create as amazing an experience as we can, and we like to maintain that experience across time. Some of these projectors have early warning systems that will send you a message to tell you that in, say, 100 hours you’ll need to attend to something. Emergency maintenance is expensive – calling someone you need now, because something broke. When you can schedule it in advance, it becomes reasonable.

Private event at the Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur, India

The Sviatovidsculpture we showed at InfoComm India in 2019 was a quarter section of the original. Sviatovid was a 9th-century, allpowerful Slavic deity with four faces. We had a show in New York the week before InfoComm India with the 360° piece. The full sculpture was still in the US and it was impossible to ship it in time. So I came up with this idea. This is the original quarter piece that was used to create a mould. From that, we created a 360° piece, which took four months to make. The fabrication happens in Utah; the company owner is an amazing guy who loves creating things and it’s the third sculpture that he’s made for us. The technique he uses is also used to manufacture speedboats and racing cars out of strong fibreglass with a very smooth finish. Our sculptures get shipped around a lot, so we’ve designed Sviatovid to travel better. The sculpture we have in the US collapses into 12 pieces and is stored in three crates, which are small enough to be picked up by courier. Now, I’m working on three other projection-mapped sculptures, all using different materials and techniques.

Working with manufacturers is something I love doing. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t! A lot of the functions of software in our industry and features of today’s projectors are influenced by me, such as a focus on increased brightness, quality and being able to do things like put them upside down. Around eight years ago, I invited some Christie engineers to our show and they couldn’t believe what we were doing with the projectors. They asked, ‘why are you using them like this?’ I told them that the only way to do what I wanted to do was to use the projectors in a different way. They’d never thought like this before, because most R&D was based around a screen at 90° to the projector. I’m currently working on artificial intelligence software with the Christie team, and I’m also working with the Panasonic technical division: Panasonic Media Entertainment. To me it’s 50:50 – I need to have the best technology and I need to have the best design. They have to work together.

I’ve started an academy of projection design in Poland. Three things are important to know if you want a place to study: show up, shut up and pay attention. If you can do those three things then we can start talking. Also, I’m opening a studio in Japan with a focus on cultivating the talents of our hardworking artists there. I’ve done a lot of work in Japan; for the last 12 years, we’ve done most of the projection shows for Universal Studios. We appreciate the level of professionalism that exists there. What we do is teamwork; we don’t deal with personality and ego.

BARTKRESA studio’s Gift of Angels at Universal Studios Japan has won multiple awards. This includes a prestigious IAAPA Brass Ring award for theme parks and entertainment. BARTKRESA studio has been working on the annual projection-mapping show, including singers, dancers and special effects, since 2008. In 2015, we unveiled a new edition that incorporated 3D animation and interactive elements with saturated and painterly designs, mapping six façades along Universal Studios Japan’s Gramercy Park zone to create a winter wonderland.

BARTKRESA studio’s Gift of Angels at Universal Studios Japan won a prestigious IAAPA Brass Ring award

MDI (medium dependent interface) technology changed our lives. The ability to send media across a network, combined with developments like 10GbE networks, render farms, the ability to virtualise our computers for multiple tasks – it’s amazing. All these technical advances combined with the growth of the experience economy means everyone wants experiences now – and we can provide them.

www.bartkresa.com