ACTIVATE

Projection by Jessica Greenberg, featuring music by Carey Campbell.

Turning a static environment into a animated and interactive presence. Improvised, adaptable, totally ephemeral. Shaped by the audience. Responding to architectural form, bringing light and energy to a public art space, welcoming the community. Activating a piece of architecture into a responsive instrument that the audience can play.
The Dumke Arts Plaza has a built in “percussion garden” with large chimes and mallets that people can play. I used this existing structure to create a mini interactive playground with audio responsive projection mapping on the iconic “Beacon” structure.

I have really enjoyed staging various projection art pop-ups in the Nine Rails Creative district over the last two years at different outdoor locations around the Monarch and the Dumke Arts Plaza. My primary work is in theatre design, which is a very different process and medium. It has been rewarding to apply my skills in a new way and in a different context. My work as a theatre designer is often invisible; the audience rarely thinks about the work I do on a conscious level, and I almost never get the chance to speak directly to them. I first taught myself these new skills during the pandemic when live theatre was shut down, and I was looking for alternative creative avenues. I've since found this projection art medium to be a wonderful way to engage directly with the community, activate a public space, and also provide students with a contained hands-on learning experience.