Tucked away in the Arts District of Las Vegas, a unique installation is taking shape. Ed Shaw of NEICO and Brett Bolton are working tirelessly to create the first of its kind audiovisual art installation in the Entertainment Capital of the World. With the support of Avolites, Group One Ltd, AG Light and Sound, X-Laser, GLP, Robe and Notch, NEICO presents SPLNTR.
Shaw has had a love for projection since working with 1024 Architecture on the BOOMBOX, one of the first worldwide touring productions of its kind. The spark for SPLNTR came earlier this year when he saw a projection project named “POETIC AI” by Ouchhh in Paris and decided that having never seen anything like this in Las Vegas before, now was the time to develop his own idea for an installation. After speaking to a few people, the vision became a reality and he had the go-ahead with some help from Avolites.
“We were looking for an alternative to a trade show that was more appealing to our clients and designers,” says Stephen Baird-Smith, sales manager for Avolites. “At the same time, Ed had the idea for an interactive installation. We’d worked with him and NEICO before on the OMNIA and JEWEL projects, so we knew we would work well together. It was the perfect opportunity to bring it together.”
From here, Shaw created SPLNTR – a totally immersive experience where the visuals and audio are completely controlled by the individual as they move through the building. Working alongside Brett Bolton, his team of artists at NEICO, Tom and Satoko Wall of blinkinLAB, Spencer Heron of Rebel Overlay and combined artists from Notch, his vision started to take shape. The visuals were inspired by Shaw’s personal taste but also with the aim to show the audience something different.
“It’s content and a style I don’t get to produce very often in the dance music industry,” explains Shaw. “A lot of visuals you see nowadays are very polished, glossy, 3D environments, and I wanted to bring it back to a more artistic interpretation of my ideal visuals.”
The event will be held in CMXX Las Vegas, an event space in Downtown Las Vegas in the Arts District from November 21-23. The space is a huge warehouse with white walls just waiting to be projected on. The event will be open to the general public but is aimed at designers who not only want to see beautiful content, but also the power of the technology behind the scenes. Entry will be free and attendees must be at least 21 years of age or older to enter.
For this, a large amount of kit was needed, which the team of co-sponsors brought together to make this unique experience come to life. Avolites provided the main bulk of media control for the nine HD projectors needed for the installation. This included six Q3 media servers for the individual walls, another for the custom Notch content, and two pre-production Ai servers dedicated to realtime generative graphics. X-Laser is bringing in its Skywriter HPX M-5 and M-10 lasers and all truss, with cabling and data networking provided by AG Light and Sound.
Although the team of co-sponsors have not worked together previously on the same event, their love of innovation and focus on designers drew them together. “When SBS invited us to be a part of SPLNTR, my mind began racing with the possibilities,” X-Laser President Adam Raugh enthused. “We began focusing on our Mercury laser control system in 2017, and Avolites was the only console manufacturer that was willing to help us develop that product in a way that best reflected what lighting designers needed and how to best leverage the modern console workflow. The Avolites team truly understands and embraces innovation in a way no other lighting control system manufacturer does and it’s an honor to be a part of the movement they’re leading with SPLNTR.”
“When we at Notch heard about all the great collaborators involved in this event, we immediately said, ‘Yes! This is going to be a lot of fun!’” Sarah Cox of Notch agreed.
“There was great response from our co-sponsors,” continued Baird-Smith. “There was a real appetite to get involved with something different and exciting.”
NEICO specializes in motion graphics and live events for the entertainment industry. It produces content for multiple venues worldwide, including Las Vegas nightclubs OMNIA, Hakkasan, and JEWEL. This year, NEICO has also toured with artists like Above & Beyond, Deadmau5, and Gorgon City.
The team of co-sponsors is also putting together an exclusive area for industry professionals to see each company’s latest technologies. Find SPLNTR at: splntrart.com / NEICO: projectneico.com / Avolites: avolites.com / Notch: notch.one / X-Laser: x-laser.com / AG Light and Sound: ag.tc / GLP: glp.de / ROBE Lighting: robe.cz
