As it draws near, the gallery fills with a cloud of smoke onto which an image of the steam train is projected to create a ghostly apparition. Reminiscent of the Lumière brothers, the train rushes towards the viewer before fading to black. The smoke effects are being produced using Cirrus Low-smoke machines supplied by The Effects Company.
The smoke is unusual in that it is a mixture of Liquid CO2 and a standard glycol-based smoke fluid. Synchronizing and controlling all the elements of the installation is a Pulsar Masterpiece 108 control system, specially adapted for the purpose by the company’s Andy Graves, who also built a custom interface to work between the video and control set-up.
Beck’s Futures 2002 will be exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London from 29 March to 6 May, before setting out on a tour of the UK and Europe.
