Illuminated Visions Projection Mapping Show Returns to Cypress College for Fourth Year
The Media Arts Design Program will host its projection mapping show Illuminated Visions in Gateway Plaza Thursday from 6-9 p.m., with submissions from around the world for a competition that includes, for the first time in its four-year history, a student category.
MAD program director Kati Angelov organizes the event each year, and has partnered with companies that support projection mapping to supply prizes for the winning pieces. She says this is one of the few events of its kind on the west coast, but artists across the country and around the world are working in the medium and many submitted pieces for the competition.
“We have submissions are from all over: North Carolina, Minnesota, New York; one from Japan; one from the Netherlands; Indonesia; Czech Republic; Thailand; Slovakia; Hungary; Qatar; Italy,” Kati said.
“I feel like this educates people about what projection mapping is, and gives you a chance to experience art as a community,” she added. She said the fact that it’s one of the few U.S. shows outside of the East Coast is “a really big deal!”
MAD faculty and staff will project the visual light show on the campanile and Library Mural. The show will follow the High School Film Festival that starts at 5 p.m. in CCCPLX-216. Organizers will offer pizza on a first-come first-served basis. Two identical Illuminated Visions shows will run, first starting at 6:45 p.m. and again at 7:45 p.m.
Winners will receive prizes of software licenses donated by media server Resolume and video mapper Madmapper. Three will go to non-students and one to a student winner.
“I feel like this is so special,” Kati said. “A lot of the artists who submit are because we have met but we always get applications from strangers who come out of the blue. It’s just such a nice thing to do.”
Kati says that artists who participated previously have gone on to be recognized in the projection mapping community. Others in the community work in the field, such as judges Bart Kresa, projection designer and founder of BARTKRESA Studio; Carmen Zella, founder and owner of Luminex and founder of NOW Art, a multidisciplinary public art agency; and a representative from PMLA, a Los Angeles projection mapping studio that turns buildings, stages, and other surfaces into immersive visual experiences advanced projection technology. This visibility and representation gives MAD students a look into what their futures could be within their discipline.
“Our show is unique because it’s tied to a school,” Kati said. “We send recordings to each artist to add to their portfolio. It’s an awesome connection for us and our students.”