Emerge | Commons
This year I was fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute to the performance schedule of ASU’s conference about art, science, and the future. This is the second year that Emerge has happened at ASU, with the final night being a culminating festival of performance and art. In the Fall of 2012 I worked with a group of artists […]
Sparrow Song
One of the effects that I’ve used in two productions now is where lines appear to draw-in over time in a video. This effect is fairly easy to generate in After Effects, and I wanted to take a quick moment to detail how it actually works. This process can start many ways. For Sparrow song […]
¡Bocón!
Arizona State University’s production of ¡Bocón! was the first main stage production I had the opportunity to work on during my first semester at ASU. Written by Lisa Loomer, ¡Bocón! tells the story of Miguel who flees the military occupation of his home town in Central America. He is determined to find refuge in City of Lights, Los […]
Soot and Spit
Summary Soot and Spit looks at the life and art of James Castle. James’ word of art was enveloping and transformative, art that continues to be celebrated today. ASU’s world premiere of the Charles Mee play took place in the Spring of 2013. Staged as something between a musical, a dance show, and a theatrical […]
Neuro
What’s at the heart of the relationship between Theatre and Science? How might we shape and change conversations about scientific advances and discoveries with plays, interactive experiences, or good story telling? These were just a few of the questions that recent Arizona State Interdisciplinary Digital Media and Performance MFA graduate Boyd Branch has been wrestling with. In preparation for this thesis project […]
House of Escher
Summary A mind-bending new theatrical work based upon the surrealistic art of M.C. Escher, Poe’s gothic stories, and quantum mechanics. This piece of interactive theatre asks the audience to participate with the performers in choosing what direction the play will take. With twelve different productions possible and only six performances, each night was explored a different […]
Before You Ruin It
In the Spring of 2012 I was asked by the director of the School of Film, Dance, and Theatre to consider designing the media for a new work being staged at ASU called Before You Ruin It. The show is built around the history of Infocom, a software company best known for its best selling […]
Wonder Dome
Intro Recently I was a part of the thesis project of Daniel Fine and Adam Vachon. Both of these gentlemen are about to be graduates of Arizona State University. Dan’s MFA is in Interdisciplinary Digital Media and Performance, and Adam’s MFA is in Performance Design with his concentration being in Lighting Design. As they approached their final […]
TERRA TRACTUS | The Earth Moves
TERRA TRACTUS: The Earth Moves continues the Projects2k tradition of tremendous and multifaceted performance making. This year we look at the geological history of the Earth, and the Stony Creek Quarry itself, as they evolve through ancient history to our projected future through elemental, tectonic, and man-made forces. (from the Projects2K website) In April of […]
Transparent LCD
Obscura Digital Transparent LCD (T-LCD) screens are glass displays whose backing and light source have been removed. Instead of generating light, they require an external light source such as the sun to see the displayed images. Obscura creates cutting-edge media specifically for T-LCD screens, where the world beyond shines through and intermingles with the media […]
_MANTARRAYA
Engulfed in an ex[p]ansive and r{i}ppling landscape, mAn T a RR AY a, questions the notions of the ephEmeral and the corp0real. A coLLaborative performance, this (re)active and gene(r)ative installation extends the reach of the musician beyond the [b]oundaries of acoustics and into the realm of \pro\jection, allowing for the /m/anipulation of light and a.r.c.h.i.t.e.c.t.u.r.e, […]
eGlass
Obscura Digital eGlass (aka “switchable glass”) is glass whose light transmission properties are altered when voltage is applied: it’s transparent when electrically charged, and opaque when not. When eGlass panels are segmented and arranged into a grid, a window becomes a pane of individually-addressable “pixels”. Obscura can programmatically animate these pixels and project media onto […]
Obscura’s 2018 Winter Party
Obscura Digital Obscura’s annual Winter Party is renowned for being one doozy of a shindig. Not only is it a showcase for the incredibly talented performers in our network, it’s also an opportunity for Obscura’s artists and technologists to show off their skills. Nearly everything that’s on display is created for the event, based on our chosen […]
AT&T Stadium
Obscura Digital In partnership with AT&T and the Dallas Cowboys, Obscura has reimagined the stadium experience, empowering fans with a groundbreaking new platform that enables them to amplify their collective spirit to unprecedented levels. When the Cowboys took their field for the 2014 season, fans noticed something different about AT&T Stadium: The AT&T LiveFX Board. […]
Salesforce
Obscura Digital Salesforce approached Obscura with the opportunity to create imaginative media for the 108’ long LED video wall in the lobby of their flagship San Francisco office. Our creative teams worked closely together to envision and produce work that transforms a passageway into a mesmerizing hyperreal environment. From capturing California’s Redwood National Forest in […]
Shantou University Sports Arena
Obscura Digital Obscura designed and built a dynamic immersive media platform for the 6,000-seat 24,000 m² (258,333 ft²) Shantou University Sports Arena, including a multi-channel projection system, video software control system and media library. Launched in August 2016, this permanent installation is one of the world’s largest immersive projection systems, with a total of over […]
MGM Cotai
Obscura Digital “Windows of the World” at the MGM Cotai Spectacle atrium is Obscura’s largest and most ambitious project to date. We created over 26TB of media that will play 24/7 on a massive 25-screen LED array spanning the atrium’s 900-meter perimeter — the world’s largest area of permanent LED screens. The result is an […]
theMART
Obscura Digital Obscura partnered with Vornado Realty Trust and architecture firm Valerio Dewalt Train Associates to design and implement a permanent projection system to illuminate theMART building in Chicago with large-scale visual artistry on a nightly basis. 34 4k30 Boxer projectors cast over 1 million lumens of light on the building’s 2.5 acre façade, making […]
Matthew Ragan 