Eyes blink, minds boggle: The stunning effect of projection mapping O (Omicron)

Date
21 June 2012

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The Hala Stulecia (Centennial Hall) in Wroclaw, Poland, was aptly named as a celebration of the 100 year anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig (thanks Wikipedia). Now, as its own centennial rolls around in 2013, AntiVJ have been commissioned to install a permeant projection map in its extraordinary, very modern concrete dome.

The building, a feat of architectural engineering that at the time had not been seen since the Pantheon in Rome 18 centuries before, has stood the test of time and taste and it’s from this remarkable cultural longevity that directors Romain Tardy and Thomas Vaquié endeavoured to create O (Omicron), their vision “of a future with no precise time reference. A timeless future.”

Referring to science fiction works – Metropolis and the original Tron – allowed the duo to not dwell on the past while keeping in mind what its architect Max Berg must have thought at the time: “What could have been his vision of the monument in the distant future?”

AntiVJ have created a blindingly mesmerising display of minimalism on a colossal scale – tracing the architecture and then dismantling it with strategic strokes of light and acoustic synchronicity. The effect is deliberately futuristic, a stunning realisation that moves the building forward in time to its next 100 years. “The use of these references was not simply formal” they say, “the vision of futuristic totalitarian societies seemed to echo back real moments in the history of the building, warning us against the dangers of an idealised vision of the future.”

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Bryony Quinn

Bryony was It’s Nice That’s first ever intern and worked her way up to assistant online editor before moving on to pursue other interests in the summer of 2012.

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