The popular Fête des Lumières - a rich fusion of light, colour and architecture - has been taking place for over 150 years, and this year's theme was 'Light in motion: dynamic light, interactive light'. Staged in Lyon's imposing central square, the Place des Terreaux, Skertzò (renowned for their work with light and projections) created the 'Zone d'ombres' (Theatre of shadows) show. This centrepiece show of the festival used 16 PIGI DDRA (automatic rotating double scroller) projectors and four live mime artists, performing to a specially composed soundtrack by Patrick Abrial.
The live performers were positioned on platforms in front of specific projectors, creating shadows and interacting with the projections being beamed onto the building fascias. Projections were aimed at three surfaces surrounding the Place des Terreaux. The main horizontal surface was the 120m long by 25m high building of the Musée des Beaux Arts, and the two side surfaces were 50m long by 25m high.
Many months of meticulous research went into compiling and designing the artwork by creators Hélène Richard and Jean-Michel Quesne, who as Skertzò are one of France's best known light and projection artists. Controlled by E//T//C's Onlycue software, triggered by timecode from the audio, the show was on continuous loop, running from 5pm to 1am for the four nights of the festival.
Other creations for the festival included the innovative Thienot Hladiy Workshop's 'Vigil of the Angels' - an off-beat improvisational performance staged on a barge, which featured two Pigi'S 700 4kW HMI double scroller projectors beaming images onto the river banks and various buildings as it travelled up and down Lyon's two rivers - the Rhône and the Saône.
German visual artists Casa Magica's projected creation, 'Tissage Automatique', used a PIGI 6kW Xenon projector with double rotating scroller, a PIGI single scroller with a Pani 6k and a Cameleon moving light projector to produce the effect of textures of fabrics, woven together with the 'loom of light' illuminating the cathedral façade. The PIGI equipment, supplied by E//T//C's Austrian distributor Rezac High Power Projection, was controlled by Onlycue software, triggered by timecode from the soundtrack.
(Lee Baldock)
