AV Stumpfl has supplied the tallest screen in the world, a 40m-high projection surface to the Gasometer Oberhausen, a former gas holder-turned-exhibition space in the Ruhr, Germany.
The record-breaking installation forms part of Planet Ozean (Planet Ocean), a new exhibition focusing on the beauty of the world’s seas which opened at the Gasometer on 15 March.
The highlight of Planet Ozean is the large-scale immersive work Die Welle (The Wave), centred on a custom AV Stumpfl Flex Contrast PRO projection screen that rises 40 metres into the sky from the Gasometer’s central gallery. Conceived and implemented by Ars Electronica Solutions, Die Welle allows visitors to experience a photorealistic ocean world featuring gigantic crashing waves, life-sized whales and sea jellies, and huge schools of ocean fish.
“The Wave sculpture that we have developed here, in close collaboration with Ars Electronica Solutions and the composer Rupert Huber of Tosca, enables a completely new, immersive experience that would only be possible here in the Gasometer,” comments Nils Sparwasser, curator of Die Welle.
The computer-generated content for Die Welle was created from scratch by Ars Electronica Solutions, which began by simulating a virtual oceanic basin with a volume of over six million cubic metres of water. Using seven 30,000-lumen Epson laser projectors, the final product is projected onto a vast interlocking screen surface.
Sigma System Audio-Visuell (Sigma AV) was responsible for integrating the AV equipment, overseeing projector positions and housings, cabling, sound, and installation according to Ars Electronica Solutions’ specifications, while geo – Die Luftwerker planned and constructed the ‘Wave’ itself, handling the trussing, static calculations, and installation and positioning of both screen surfaces (again according to Ars Electronica Solutions’ spec).
Photo credit: Thomas Wolf, Gasometer Oberhausen / Dirk Böttger, Gasometer Oberhausen