Brief for Project Mapping Commission Client: Leeds College of Art Job description: Projection Mapping Project Light Night 2015 Date: April 9th, 2015 Contact: Tom Hammond (Partnerships & Professional Engagement Officer) tom.hammond@leeds-art.ac.uk Light Night Light Night is an annual multi-artform festival, which takes place every year in October at numerous venues across Leeds city centre. It is a celebratory showcase for the huge range of diverse and thriving creative activity taking place in Leeds all year round, and gives visitors free access to art and venues that they might not normally see. In 2014 an audience of 50,000 people attended Light Night with 50 different events spread over 30 locations in the city centre. 2015 will be the tenth year and will be linked to the International Year of Light. http://www.light2015.org/home.html http://lightnightleeds.co.uk/ Light Night aims to Bring new audiences and welcome more young people and their families into cultural venues in the city. Deliver an annual multi-artform festival across multiple venues happening on one evening in Leeds city centre. Grow new audiences for all artforms and increase access for people from diverse backgrounds who would not normally attend arts activities. Enable and support artists and arts organisations to collaborate, show new work in new and/or unusual spaces and develop their audiences. Leeds College of Art Leeds College of Art is one of only a few independent art schools in the UK, our students enjoy a small, close-knit community in a creative atmosphere where anything feels possible. We believe this is the best environment in which to grow as an artist or designer. To a great extent, our reputation goes before us: Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth studied here, as did, more recently, Marcus Harvey, Damien Hirst, Danny Sangra and Omar Kashoura. We work extremely hard to remain a leading centre for
art and design education, choosing from among the brightest international potential to produce some of the most sought-after creative talent. In the Guardian Education League Tables 2014 we were the highest ranked independent art college in the UK. Context In 2014 the College moved away from its usual curated large exhibition to create a projection mapped piece of work that emphasised the Vernon St building and celebrated its notable alumni. The projection mapping project was a new venture and a test to see if it was feasible to use the building as a huge canvas to project work onto. The projection was well received and many people viewed the work or stopped and played the interactive drum machine. The film footage was used on our website and has since been used internally and externally. The evening was successful and to build upon this Leeds College of Art would like to commission another projection mapping work for 2015. http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/news-events/events-exhibitions/2014/10/03/lightnight-ways-of-seeing/ Brief The College requires an experienced professional projection mapping artist or talented designer to complete a unique body of visual work to be mapped onto the Leeds College of Art Vernon Street site. The brief for the projection mapping work for Light Night 2015 is an open brief in terms of content and creativity but a link to the College or one of the International Year of Light themes would be welcomed. The themes for the International Year of Light are varied and include Art and Culture, Light in Life, Light in Nature, Light Sources of the World, Lasers etc. The project team is open to the integration of live music and possibly a dance performance into the project. We are interested in meaningful themes as well as a display of interesting imagery and graphics. The projection mapping worked well in 2014, although the red brick meant the colours were saturated at points. The College will explore covering some of the windows for the night which will increase the amount of white space. This body of work should be looped (around 10-15 minutes) and any work created for the project will be used for future promotional purposes. The work will run from approximately 7 10.00 pm on Friday, October 9 th. The work will be filmed on the evening and the footage from this will also be used for other publicity and marketing purposes internally and externally.
The Leeds Light Night team will have light installation pieces in Millennium Square and ideally testing will take place at the same time to avoid any noise clash. Purpose The College would like the exterior of the Vernon Street building to appear to come alive with animated forms, transforming it into a dynamic construction. The projections should be meticulously mapped to fit the specifications of the building and there is an option for the use of sound (live or pre-recorded) to complement the piece. What are we trying to achieve? Provide a unique spectacle that represents the progressive nature of Leeds College of Art. Create a body of work that inspires a response from the general public passing the building. Provide memorable, thought provoking visuals that will provoke discussion from spectators. Who are we talking to? The projection should appeal to the wide target audience and have crossgenerational appeal for spectators passing the building on Light Night. Last year children took part as we had a drum machine linked to the visuals. The piece should also match the Institution s values in regards to having elements that are challenging, innovative, unconventional, radical and experimental but it is important that the work does not include any elements that would cause offence to the general public.
Copy The set copy is open to artistic freedom but a creative application of the Leeds College of Art logo at the beginning and end of the loop is mandatory. The College logo and identity lends itself to be animated as it is based on the original mosaic on the Vernon St building see Fig 2. Eligibility The successful candidate will have prior experience of completing large scale projection mapping projects and collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders. Applicants do not have to be based in Leeds but visits to the site will have to be made to test the projection. Format and technical requirements The body of work will be projection mapped onto the Vernon Street building. Last year the projectors were based opposite the site on triangular pavement and the projectors were set up in the back of a van, although permission was granted to use a small scaffolding tower. The projection should hit the direct front of the Vernon Street building where the mosaic sign is situated however a degree of flexibility is allowed as, depending on content, the image could be also projected on the ground and off the sides of the leading wall (See figure 2). Figure 2
The successful artist will complete a site visit with College staff and the projection will define the coordinates for where the object is placed in relation to the projector. During this visit the orientation, position and lens specification of the projector will be discussed and photographs will be captured. Last year we used a Panasonic PT-DZ271K 20K WUXGA projector (20,000 lumens). Video mapping software should be used but the specific programme is the choice of the successful artist. Submissions If selected to present, please allow at least 15-30 minutes to present examples of previous projects, ideas for the project including a storyboard and an outline timing plan and budget, please allow time for questions. Timescales Deadline for submissions 8.05.2015 Shortlist of applicants 19.05.15 Tendering Interviews 28.05.15 Site Visit (w/projection resource) TBC Project Development Final Test Regular updates 2nd or 8 th October 2015 (Depending on when the Millennium Square installation is testing.)
Budget We are looking for submissions around 6-7k for artists fees. An additional budget of 3000 is available for equipment and technical support to be provided by the artist. Approval Process The successful artist will be selected by members from Senior Management and the Partnerships and Professional Engagement team, plus relevant staff. On selection a full project plan will be required with regular milestones and update meetings to see the progress of the work. Entries are to be submitted to tom.hammond@leeds-art.ac.uk by 8.05.15