Blog | Roundhouse
This blog by Associate Producer Tim Wilson documents the production process as the team prepares for the opening of the installation on 9 August.
No content here, but just a bit of insight into early stage tests into 360º imaging...
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After Christian Marclay won the Golden Lion last month at Venice, we knew we had to raise our game. We hired two RED cameras to create his piece, which is being edited now. We shot with SDNA and Ross Birkbeck.
Featuring the great experimental and jazz pianist Steve Beresford, - http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mberes.html - the piece will turn the entire Curtain, the full 8m high by 20m diameter screen, into one continuous, overwhelming keyboard. It may not be 24 hours long but I think this is going to be every bit as mesmerising as the Clock..
Christian's piece will also form part of the regular content - you can see it at any time the exhibition is open, except 12-2pm, when Ron is presenting his own work..
SDNA - sdna.tv
Ross Birkbeck - inbex.co.uk
I said before how much I like animations and the creation of illustrated worlds. I studied in Havana when I was younger, so when Javier Mariscal brought out 'Chico and Rita', a beautifully made exploration of music and love in Cuba, it shot to the top of my list. Imagine my delight when Ron invited Javier to bring some of his latest work to the Curtain.
You'll see three films by Javier as part of the regular Loop - every day, except from 12-2pm. Here's some tasters - posted for you in tame, square box format, you'll just have to do the imaginary leapfrogging to conceive of a 360' full wrap-around version... Or just come along in August!
There's also some Moroccan-inspired kaleidoscopic images coming through but they aren't quite ready yet. I'll let you know...
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Part of the reason this project is so exciting is because it brings together fields of talent and types of artist from such enormously different backgrounds. Hussein Chalayan's work as a designer and a leader of the fashion world doesn't instantly jump out as a contender for Ron's curtain - but wait till you see his spellbinding film 'Kaikoku' replicated on the big, no, strike big, TITANIC Curtain.
From a static camera point, the catwalk shimmers from out of nowhere, propelling the models in a ghostly island of light. Multiply this around the space and imagine being eerily surrounded by the beauty of Hussein's creations. This one's going to be quite special - and its the longest piece, at 17 minutes, so I'm sure you'll get to see it.
'Kaikoku' will be part of the regular content loop showing during almost all our opening hours, except 12-2pm each day, when there's something from Ron himself... More on that later!
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The great Babis Alexiadis is back. A nicer man, nor a more talented animator, couldn't exist. He's reworked some of the content from Fat Girl Gets a Haircut, which played to astonished houses earlier this year at the Roundhouse. Check out the flying scissors.
I'm a big fan of animation and it's exciting to see what Babis has been working on finally. Soon I'll get you the shots from David Shrigley's work - onwards and upwards!
Babis' work will show as part of the Content Loop every day. You can just come in at any time and see this during our advertised opening hours.
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Joe Hardy won the brief on Ideastap with his idea about making the Curtain interactive. His work is in development with installation expert Evan Raskob at the moment. Here's Evan on the Future Of Sound: and Joe's website is at egb7.com
Here's a mockup of Joe's work, titled Range, which responds to audience positions in the Main Space and changes the opacity of the Curtain as you move towards or away from it.
We're currently building plans to operate this with infra red flood and responsivity. Ideastap are supporting Joe's work - thanks Laura Macfarlane for helping to set that up! Go see what else the 'Tap are up to at ideastap.com
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Ron's team of architects and designers, powered by the Rolls Royce Twin Deluxe team of Julian Gilhespie and Michael Castellana, have sent over a few items I wanted to share with everyone.
Here you can see the Roundhouse Space as is, and the mockup in purple of the bare structure (see how small the people are!), as well as the command centre of plasma screens, which will sit underneath the balcony, and finally the crossed yellow beams of the 12 Bahco projectors. Is it coming together in your minds?
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Like some horrific Day of the Triffids, Mat’s piece follows on from his work that examines the human relationship to the natural world. A 360′ panorama of wild flora and fauna from jungles and murky forests, a growing illness spreads through the natural world.
Mat and his team have spent an incredible amount of time creating this film from scratch; it’s about ten minutes long and we’ll be showing it as part of the regular content loop every day.
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE – FREE OF CHARGE
Listen up – on Tuesday 9th August at 7:15pm (just past our advertised closing hours) Mat’s hosting a special performance. It’ll last for a good hour, and the tribal drums that are going to accompany the film are going to make a visit to the Roundhouse well worth it. Blain Southern, his gallery, will be there too, and luckily we’re able to invite you all.
TweetUnplug and Pack Up!
Saturday 13th August, 7-10pm
BRING YOUR OWN BEAMER
A favela of images made by you, shown on Ron’s Curtain!
Come down with your laptops and projectors – and sound too, if you like – and we’ll provide the plug sockets. We’ve got space for forty images at least, and there’s a few hours to fill, so we want a hundred video artists to come along and take up the opportunity to show your work in the Main Space at the Roundhouse.
Bring Your Own Beamer is an international movement in displaying film-makers work in conjunction with each other. Rafael Rozedaal set the group up at byobworldwide.com and they have been in over fifteen countries. Here, at their most prominent venue to date – The Roundhouse Main Space – Ron Arad is hosting a Bring Your Own Beamer event on Saturday 13th August.
Ron invites anyone with a laptop and projector to come to the Roundhouse and we will provide power for you to project your films onto the 60 metre by 8 metre high circular screen that he has designed. The installation is a world first and we want to see hundreds of images projected onto it.
Artists who show their work will be sharing a platform with Ron, one of the worlds foremost designers, and alongside a month of programming top artists like Christian Marclay (winner Golden Lion, Venice Biennale 2011), David Shrigley, Alison Jackson, and Mat Collishaw.
TO REGISTER JUST SEND YOUR NAME AND CONFIRMATION OF WHAT YOU’RE BRINGING TO byob@roundhouse.org.uk
See you there!
TweetWanted to share one of the early elements sent in by Gabi Klasmer and Shira Klasmer (if you don’t know them, check out gabrielklasmer.com and also shiraklasmerphotography.com)
This visual describes the time arc that they’re going to be partly focusing on. Their piece, which will show on the Curtain every day as part of the loop, will be 7 minutes long – about the average. It’s a mixture of Gabi’s work as a painter and Shira’s as a photographer.
They’ve been working partly in Israel and partly in England to finish the show in time. More on this as it comes..
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