Genius Loci Weimar 2015 -
Atrium Weimar

TASK

On a facade length of 450 m, video projections were to tell the challenging story of the former Gauforum during the Genius Loci Weimar 2015.

As in every year, the 2015 festival combined the historical spirit of Weimar and the contemporary technique of video mapping. But unlike previous years and those yet to come, it was to be the largest outdoor projection ever hosted by Genius Loci.

The competition included the "Atrium Weimar" along with two other buildings steeped in history. The 40,000-square-meter facility was built during the National Socialist era as the third Gauforum. The special challenge of this installation was not only the size itself, but also the fact that the huge installation was located outside.

Now it was up to the video and media artists* and MXWendler operators to confront the controversial site with the medium of video on the huge facade surface.

SOLUTION

The Italian creative studio mammasONica won the competition and performed the video performance "Zoetropolis" on the façade of the former Gauforum in August 2015. A single MXWendler FXServer system was used to operate the video mapping installation. The result was the largest outdoor projection in the EU during the UNESCO Year of Light and all GLW festivals!

On a facade length of 450 m, the MXWendler operators set up a medium-term permanently installed video mapping installation, which asked the audience for an all-round projection of 270°. In only two days, which are usually available for outdoor projections, the team installed the 14 Head FXServer including projectors.

For this arena, 14 Barco HDF and HDX projectors ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 lumens were used. The electricity costs for one week of setup and show amounted to about 1,500 €.

The then-new FXServer 5.2 series with multi-GPU logic was capable of running the 14 projectors from a single system.

During preparation, the show was simulated via monitors. Content with a resolution of approximately 10,0000 x 2,000 was played from a modern SSD drive with a data throughput of more than 2GB/s.

Due to the massive mapping work, the keystone setup was performed in a simple and proven 2D workflow. The mapping of the entire area took two nights.

The audience was overwhelmed by the video mapping installation. To this day, it is presented at universal lectures as an example of how to deal with places with challenging and difficult histories.

Applications

FXServer
Multi-Monitor-Configuration
EDID Management

StageDesigner-FX
Keystone
Playlist

Support und Services
24/7 Support-Hotline
Mapping Service Operator
Show Service Operator

Credits

mammaSonica/IT (Video)

Henry Sowinski (Photography)