In a radical move that tested both the limits of how far editors would travel and their patience for utter venue gridlock, Alexander Wang staged his February 8 show at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The venue, which advertises the latest in “solar energy, organic air purification, and eco-friendly building practices,” provided an apt setting for the Prodject-produced show that riffed on extreme conditions and survival. In a clever, high-tech finale, the lights went down and a dozen models walked out, taking their places around the edge of the runway. As the inner circular runway started and stopped, the heat-activated leather clothes on the models stationed in front of the set's metal vents changed colors—from black to blue or from yellow or purple—then slowly faded as they rotated away. Stefan Beckman designed the set.
Diane von Furstenberg took a one-season respite from Lincoln Center, decamping to Spring Studios for her February 9 show, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of her iconic wrap dress. Produced by Bureau Betak, the venue was best summed up in one word: bold. Bold prints and graphics complemented the venue’s soaring windows showing the Manhattan skyline. A performance by singer St. Vincent accompanied the show, which suffered from only one downside: the move in venue meant a reduction of several hundred seats.
"My team at V Squared Labs and I are always pushing the envelope with existing technology to generate new forms of experiential visual art. The Volcano is our next experimental design integrating lighting, reflection mapping, and sculptural form," says Vello Virkhaus, founder of the Los Angeles-based visual arts studio. The impressive “Volcano” sculpture, which was designed for electronic music dance group Krewella’s current tour, consists of crystal-like structures made out of one- and two-way mirrored acrylic plastic with reflective backing that creates a mapping effect. Each crystal is also equipped with LED elements, resulting in the illusion that the structure is morphing from within.
V Squared Labs teamed up with DJ Dillon Francis to create a new stage show featuring a unique Frank Gehry-inspired structure. The empty spaces within the 3-D video DJ booth are lined with a highly reflective mirrored vinyl to bounce video out into the audience, creating an almost psychedelic effect. Virkhaus describes his team’s colorful, twisted work as "Jeff Koons meets Atari 8-bit on a slice of pizza."
For Beyoncé’s world tour in 2013, stage designer LeRoy Bennett of Seven Design Works created a wall of light that could rival the Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks: LED strobes and custom mirror fixtures provided a range of illumination, from explosive bursts to a sparkling glow. “Beyoncé was looking for a show that was less video-based, unlike past tours, and more light-orientated,” says Bennett, who has also designed stages for other notable entertainers, including Bruno Mars and Paul McCartney.
Bennett describes his stage design for Nine Inch Nails’s recent shows as “an advanced version of the Lights in the Sky tour,” referring to the band’s 2008 tour, which featured transparent screens and light structures. As the band’s longtime lighting designer, Bennett upgraded the technology this time around, adding a custom-built LED screen developed by video production company Nocturne. In addition to the tour stage, Bennett also created a roadworthy version for the band’s festival appearances—one that was ground-supported and didn’t rely on on-site production restrictions. The concept was based on the Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense. “You start with an empty stage and build from there through many reveals and dynamics, then into a full-blown rock show.”
Inspired by a sci-fi spaceship, Richard Milstein, owner of Miami-based design company Skylab Industry and creative director of the Ultra Music Festival, designed a mesmerizing main stage for the electronic dance music show in March at Miami's Bayfront Park. Nicknamed “the Vortex,” the stage expanded outward with curved columns of LED panels and lights forming a conical shape for added depth, resulting in a hypnotizing effect.
Produced by Insomniac Events, the Electric Daisy Carnival is known for elaborate scenery, carnival rides, and world-renowned DJs. In 2013, Mountain Productions engineered the main stage for the tour’s Sin City stop, which was held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in June. Able to withstand 90-miles-per-hour winds and constructed of 50 miles of scaffolding, it was the largest structure ever built by the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania-based staging company. The animatronic owl, provided by the Attraction Services Company of Santa Clarita, California, included a “nest” where the DJs performed.
“With JT at the helm as creative director for the show, we worked very closely on translating his vision of the 20/20 albums, which he described as ‘visual music,’ into a very sensory live experience,” says New York-based stage and scenic designer Josh Zangen, who drew inspiration from modern art, futuristic environments, electronic dance music visuals, and even a fly’s eye for the stage design. The largest and most technically challenging element of the production, Zangen says, was the bridge: a 120-foot-wide piece of the stage that extends out over the audience, 250 feet above their heads, to the opposite side of the arena. Developed with Tait Towers, a stage set supplier based in Lititz, Pennsylvania, the bridge allows Timberlake to “connect with as much of the audience as possible in a completely new way”—without wires or flown elements. The 20/20 Experience World Tour wrapped up in January.
For a dramatic award show, take a cue from live music acts and punch up your stage set with wild visuals. "Reflection mapping” is an innovation from V Squared Labs that uses mirrors, light, and sculptural form to dramatic effect—and it's just debuting on the live event scene this month. The visual arts studio teamed up with electronic dance music group Krewella to create the visual technology as a stage set for the band's tour. Dubbed “the Volcano,” the set comprises mapped crystal structures, with crystals made out of one- and two-way mirrored acrylic plastic outfitted with reflective backing to create an interior mapping effect. Each crystal is also equipped with either LED, video LED tape, or both, inside, creating complex reflection effects that appear visually to change the structure from within. V Squared Labs founder Vello Virkhaus and lead designer Amanda Hamilton collaborated with fabricator and technical engineer Stefano Novelli to bring the vision of ”'reflection mapping” from pencil sketches and creative reference point into the real world. Want to try something similar for an award show? Hamilton said there are future applications for the concept: “The effect of contained infinite reflections is a technique we'd love to explore further, as controlling chaos is an exciting challenge.”
GWS Technology showed its newest transparent LED displays. The lightweight, see-through panels can be used alone or combined for large displays. Each unit has power and data ports built in.
Creative Technologies and Production Club created a variety of animations in the world's largest inflatable dome for the sixth event in the traveling electronic dance music-focused Dot Party series—created by Minecraft mogul Markus Persson—which took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in June. The 69-foot-tall, 200-foot-diameter dome held 2,500 people who partied to DJ Snake and Skrillex and was lit up by a 360-degree mapped projection that featured constantly changing animations.
Orlando-based Totally Mod Event Furnishings recently launched First Class Session Seating, a new line of seats designed to provide comfort and convenience during long meetings and conferences. The seats are designed with lumbar support, memory foam construction, individual arms, and a built-in swivel desk.
