E/T/C Sets UK Cathedral Projection Record

A leading specialist in high power projections has commissioned artwork to feature on Durham Cathedral.
As part of the four day Lumière Durham Festival of Light event, Ross Ashton at E/T/C UK designed projections for Durham Cathedral, curated and co-ordinated by Artichoke.
Ashton's work, titled Crown of Light, covered the entire north fascia of the Cathedral including all sides of the three towers, and was the largest installation of the festival, and arguably the biggest cathedral projection to date in the UK.
The Cathedral dates back to 1093 and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in the country.
It is a designated UNESCO world Heritage Site along with nearby Durham Castle which faces it across Palace Green.
Ashton received an initial brief from Artichoke's Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb about the narrative and direction of the show. Taking these as a creative starting point for the storyboard, he then developed his own ideas.
The story encompassed the history of the Cathedral including the Lindesfarne Gospels, noted for their amazing accompanying imagery and spectacular Celtic calligraphy. Ashton's piece also explored the building as an architectural space and its relationship with and historical significance to the City.
He and Paul Chatfield evolved the Pigi projection artwork over a period of two weeks, simultaneously collaborating with musical director Robert Ziegler who compiled a soundscape for the 16 minute show, and sound designer John Del'Nero who designed the audio system.
The projection system utilized seven Pigi 6KW machines with double rotating scrollers, positioned at various distances around the Cathedral - the longest throw distance was 150 metres and the shortest just 20 metres.
This was meticulously calculated to eliminate any shadowing from the numerous trees dotted around the Cathedral Gardens - and was also one of the major creative and technical challenges of the project.
The projectors were in six different positions, fitted with five different types of lens, ranging from a 10cm wide angle lens to an 85cm long throw lens. The seven different positions each covered a separate zone of the Cathedral's architecture.
The PIGI film scrolls were all approximately 15 metres in length, and the Pigi artwork was assembled and pre-corrected for perspective and keystoning in Photoshop.
The show was programmed into E/T/C's PC-based OnlyCue controller and operated by Karen Monid. It featured some fabulously smooth movement dissolves, transitions and other subtleties for which the OnlyCue and PIGI combination is known and loved.
Ashton commented: "It was a huge honour to be asked to create and present this piece. Durham is one of the country's signature Cathedrals - it's a wonderful site with a fabulously rich history and is a very special location in which to work".
This show proved a massive success, drawing up to 75,000 people into the city centre.
Collectively, they created an imaginative and stimulating environment for the enjoyment and engagement of people of all ages, interests and backgrounds.
The Festival of Light will now become a regular event for Durham.
(BMcN/BMcC)