Tübingen, Germany based visual artists and large format projection specialists Casa Magica created a spectacular daily evening show – Lux Eucharistica – for the 2013 International Eucharistic Congress, staged in Cologne’s iconic Cathedral, organised by the German Bishop’s Conference.
The stunning projections were produced using six large format projectors fitted with single scrollers, manufactured and supplied by PANI/Hardware Xenon. These were supplemented by lighting from four Robe ROBIN DLS profiles and a single ROBIN MMX WashBeam, all sourced from Dortmund based Niclen.
Casa Magica’s Sabine Weissinger and Friedrich Foerster won a competition to present a dynamic projection and visuals show in the space, in which they first worked in 2004 – also the first time the Cathedral had experienced such an installation.
For the Eucharistic Congress, the drama and ethereal nature of projected light again filled the space, highlighting the magnificent Gothic architecture and the presence and role of light in religious symbolism.
The evening show took the form of an hour long artwork combining the projections, lighting, a-capella singing, organ music and the spoken word.
The projectors were positioned symmetrically, four around the transept and two at the start of the long central nave in the west. Fitted with special wide-angle lenses, the field of projection covered all the structures on both horizontal and vertical planes.
“Support lighting was absolutely crucial to the look and feel of the work and to fill in some of the areas around the projections,” explains Sabine Weissinger.
A couple of months earlier she had contacted Robe’s Sales Director Harry von den Stemmen and asked if he could recommend a rental partner to supply the lights.
The four ROBIN DLS Profiles were located at the edges of the main altar platform in the transept, while the MMX WashBeam was at the far end of the choir.
Robe fixtures were chosen for their small size and light weight and because they wanted truly multi-functional luminaires. The requirement was to keep the technical installation as unobtrusive and concealed as possible so as to fuse with the surroundings.
Originally, when they submitted the visuals scheme, the lights also had to be spiked each day and re-rigged the next, so again portability was key. In the end, this didn’t have to happen.
The main task of the Robe fixtures was accentuating the crossing columns in steep, narrow, clearly defined up-light, providing side lighting to the speakers on the altar platform, and intermittently filling the nave with coloured light where the projection left some shadows.
The MMX WashBeam was chosen as a ‘special’ capable of producing a very tight collimated beam of light that cut through and traversed the entire length of the Cathedral – around 160 metres – accurately hitting a spot on the west rear wall.
The installation was a huge success and adds to Casa Magic’s innovative and ground-breaking portfolio.
Says Harry von den Stemmen, “It was a complete honour that our products were chosen to accompany such an amazing, unique and completely fantastic work. We hope very much to work with Casa Magica again in the future”.
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