INTRO
In IMAGO FLORIS, custom-made animations and videos are projected onto the inflatable costumes of stilt performers. The projections turn the performers into fairy-tale light figures. URBANSCREEN produced the piece for the florists' Fleurop World Cup in Berlin in June 2015.
Lighting a body on stilts means the image has to walk with it. The system consists of a mobile projection with a tracking unit and self-developed software for dynamic positioning of the video content. The performers are free to move while the perfectly fitting projection follows suit.
Key challenges
Tracking stilt walkers in real time
Holding air pressure while moving
Four crafts merged into one figure
FOUR GROUPS
Xenorama created the piece together with three partners. Raummaschine supplied the system, with technical direction by Moritz Richartz, Simon Ulbricht and Hendrik Lüdders; Richartz also directed the documentation of the performance. The stilt groups Stelzen-Art and Oakleaf Creativity built the costumes and performed in them, among them Janine Jaeggi, Martin Sasse, Bettina Eichblatt and Sabine Bechle. On the URBANSCREEN side, Julian Hoelscher was art director and Till Botterweck dramatic adviser. The sound was composed by Beckmann.
The costumes also carry their own light. Internal LEDs illuminate them independently, and a ventilation system maintains the pressure of the built-in air chambers while the performers move.
CREDITS
Created by Xenorama (Lorenz Potthast, Marcel Bückner, Moritz Richartz, Richard Oeckel, Tim Heinze) together with Hendrik Lüdders, Simon Ulbricht, Janine Jaeggi, Martin Sasse, Piet Koenekoop, Bettina Eichblatt
System by RAUMMASCHINE
Costumes by Stelzen-Art & Oakleaf Creativity
Production: URBANSCREEN