ART MEETS SCIENCE

Panasonic powers 20 video artworks at contemporary visual arts festival

The Biennale of Sydney is always guaranteed to set the fur flying in the Australian art community, but the 19th Biennale this year managed to whip up a perfect storm of controversy. Was the festival being funded by blood money from those peddling human misery? Some artists thought so and walked away from their meal ticket. Was the festival simply too lightweight and inconsequential? If ‘serious art’ means ‘incomprehensible’ or the guarantee of violent jihad on the artist then perhaps.

Never mind. For our purposes, the Biennale of Sydney demonstrates just how much art is intersecting with digital signage, with digital art playing a more prominent position in the roster. If further proof was needed of the rise and rise of digital, then look no further than Panasonic taking up the role of a major partner in the festival, powering no less than 20 video artworks.

Whereas in years gone by, artists have been less than enamoured with the brightness, colour and contrast of projected images, Panasonic demonstrates just how vivid and visually arresting a projected image can be.

One of the major video artworks, Eva Koch’s I Am The River, uses a state-of-the-art

PT-DZ21K three-chip DLP projector vertically-mounted and front-projecting onto a special 13m-high by 7.3m-wide screen (pictured). Set in the industrial surrounds of the Turbine Hall on Cockatoo Island, the PT-DZ21K was chosen for its high brightness of 20,000 lumens and the three-chip DLP technology that produces true-to-life colours. This life-size visual and audio experience recreates the awe-inspiring scale, majesty and deafening roar of an Icelandic waterfall. Truly stunning.

“I’m really grateful to use this flagship projector because it produces an image that is bright enough to compete with daylight,” said artist Eva Koch. “I also used Panasonic LED projectors in my latest permanent installation back home in Denmark and they produce really good images. They’re also affordable and low-maintenance, which is a great help to keep maintenance costs down.”

Panasonic Australia: (02) 9491 7400 or www.panasonic.com.au