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Projecting Northern Lights inside York Minster

UK: In addition to ensuring that congregants can see and hear clearly during services, A/V technology can serve houses of worship in many other ways. One way in which York Minster, the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, utilised the power of audiovisual technology recently was to host an ‘installation performance’ to raise money for the protection and restoration of the sanctuary’s priceless historic glass. The installation, commissioned by the York Minster Fund, comprised video projection and sound. It was developed by artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid and titled Northern Lights, forming part of York Minster’s Northern Lights Dinner fundraising event, which in turn was part of a 4-year fundraising campaign. The display lasted 10 minutes and was witnessed by an audience of 700 during the dinner, while a further 3,300 people had the opportunity to see the Northern Lights during a subsequent two days of performances. The seating was removed from the nave to make way for the dinner and left clear for standing audiences over the following two days. The visuals, created by Mr Ashton, were inspired by medieval stained glass

and the soundtrack was composed by Ms Monid featuring haunting voices reading in Old English, Old Norse and Latin with three pieces of music from the Minster’s recorded catalogue. ‘The aim was to encapsulate the medieval mind and imagination and communicate it in a meaningful, accessible way that people could engage with,’ explains Ms Monid. The visuals covered the whole 65m x 20m nave vault (ceiling) and the 800m 2 west wall of the sanctuary. Eight Panasonic PT-DW 17K projectors supplied by The Projection Studio beamed the blended imagery onto the ceiling and another three were used for the wall. A cradle was custom-built for the nave projectors ensuring they were directed 15° off vertical, up to the roof. The trio of wall projectors were rigged on a structure beneath the organ on the opposite end of the nave. The mapped projection was controlled by Dataton Watchout software, programmed by Richard Kenyon. Rock-tech Projects, led by Phil Adlam, provided the rest of the technical infrastructure, including audio, lighting, rigging, power distribution and cabling. The rental company’s biggest challenge was taming the cathedral’s long reverberant characteristics to provide intelligible surround sound for Northern Lights. Hill Pro Audio speakers were positioned around the venue among other cabinets to provide spatial sound effects to complement the projections. ‘We were very pleased with the show and were quietly confident that it would be received well by the public,’ says Mr Ashton. ‘But we were all completely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and extent of the response, and with just how much people appreciated seeing such a

well-loved landmark in a completely different light through the piece. We are extremely proud to have been able to work inside the Minster and it’s a testament to the great team of people around us that it’s been such a success.’ As Neil Sanderson, director of the York Minster Fund, noted, Northern Lights exceeded expectations by raising £1.4 million. ‘The combination of projected imagery, spoken word and music perfectly complemented the cavernous space of the Minster. Using imagery of the medieval windows, the installation brought a whole new audience to the eternal truths they contain,’ he says. ‘The reaction of the sell-out crowds was testament to the quality of Ross and Karen’s work.’

www.rock-tech.co.uk www.theprojectionstudio.com www.yorkminster.org