Ron Arad's Curtain Call at the Roundhouse

Internationally renowned artist, architect and designer, Ron Arad, has invited his favorite artists, musicians, and friends to create unique works for a 360-degree video projection installation at the Roundhouse, London. Bloomberg is the primary sponsor.

Blitz Communications Ltd has been commissioned to provide the technology to bring Arad's design concept to fruition. The installation takes the form of a curtain made from 5,600 silicon rods, 26.5' high, creating a 59' diameter 360-degree canvas for film, live performance, and audience interaction.

Blitz installed 12 Barco RLM W8 projectors, which are mounted on the truss ring above the silicon rod curtain. Each of these projects a portrait image 26.5' high by 16.5' wide, overlapped to produce a seamless 360-degree display at 13,520 by 1,920 pixels. Media delivery and control is implemented using twelve Dataton Watchout display PCs networked to a Watchout control server. While the artist's works have been created at the above resolution and loaded onto the Watchout system, there is also provision for twelve HD SDI external video feeds as part of the program which features a 360-degree live video input via six HD cameras.

A separate 19.5' diameter control area has been created using twelve Panasonic HD 20 series plasma screens, allowing the operator to monitor the live content remotely.

Paul Hutton, managing director of Blitz Communications, comments, "When I first met with Ron, he had installed a test rig in his studio in Chalk Farm Road. He asked if I thought it would work on a much larger scale and I told him that, in theory, it could be achieved. He placed his faith in us and it was our job to deliver a projection and content delivery system that would bring his design idea to life."

Arad says, "When I thought about the design I knew it was going to be unique and different. The Roundhouse is a circular building so the installation had to celebrate this form. I had an idea of how it was going to look but the end result has far exceeded my expectations. It has been a great journey/"

Curtain Call at the Roundhouse is open to the public until August 29.