LED pixel blocks build exotic music club backdrop


Two of the four linear walls in London's new club, Kabaret’s Prophecy, are clad in Barco’s proprietary MiPIX system, which can display intelligent lighting effects, 3-D logos or graphics and full video content.

Kabaret’s Prophecy, a new exclusive London club, opened its doors in June to reveal a unique visual interior based on a technological breakthrough. The venue’s design and brand consultant, David Collins, has created a monochromatic space with maximalizm as a theme. With a capacity of just 100, the subterranean club will play host to a display of avant-garde visual art, which will redefine the concept of environmental design.

A vast, sculptured, moving image backdrop – constructed from modular intelligent LED pixel blocks – upon which graphics and animations, triggered from a real-time generator or MIDI keyboard, are superimposed to create an ever-changing mood tableau.

Two of the four linear walls are clad in Barco’s proprietary MiPIX system, which can display intelligent lighting effects, 3-D logos or graphics and full video content. These moving images can curve around the contours of the walls and wrap themselves into the alcoves. David Collins enlisted Chris Levine, an acclaimed light artist, to help realize his vision. Levine’s past projects include design and direction of laser elements on Massive Attack’s 2003 100th Window tour.

This technology brings together the creative team of video system specialists, Creative Technology (early adopters of MiPIX blocks-), and environmental graphics engineers and live performance video specialists, United Visual Artists (UVA). UVA will provide all playback, software, programming and operational personnel, while Creative Technology was responsible for the design and integration of the MiPIX wall. Each MiPIX measures 4x4cm and CT will deploy almost 3000 to create two vast canvasses measuring 17.2mx1.2m.

Mounted in a 19-inch rack will be a Pentium 4 PC fitted with a dual head NVIDIA graphics card, allowing control to be implemented either via the computer keyboard or an M-Audio Oxygen 8 two-octave USB MIDI keyboard controller, plugged into the computer. It all adds up to a system that, by flooding the room with warm or cold colors, will provide an ever-changing architectural canvas.

For more information, visit www.ctlondon.com

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