In the dying hours Monday 17th August 2009, Quadratura set out into the dark streets of London for an entirely different kind of public performance that would see graffiti artists Banksy and codefc, as unwitting collaborators.

Using PatchBox, our custom video mapping software, we were able to literally draw layers of video onto the existing architecture without worrying too much about projector placement.  We then used PaintBox and a graphics tablet to mask out and colour in, the graffiti; all in real-time.

“Our aim is not to comment on the legality of graffiti; we respect the artists involved and wanted to enhance and animate these existing works using the tools and techniques at our disposal to create a completely different vision and play around with their original meaning”, says Alex May.

“We explored the ideas of reactivating static street art in our ‘Statues Alive’ event last year, where familiarity with art that you perhaps pass by every day lessens its impact. By using video projection we can show these works in a new way and re-energise them”, adds Martin A. Smith.

Signing off the night’s activities, Quadratura took the opportunity to project the somewhat ambiguous statement “No Graffiti/No Problems” on the ‘ungraffitiable’ wall under the Westway on Portobello Road.

Video to follow later today.

After several months of planning, Quadratura will be hitting the streets of London late tonight armed with a van load of men, video projectors, laptops, cameras, and mischief in mind.

Utilising our unique video mapping system we will be visiting six undisclosed locations and creating a series of video compositions projected onto the unsuspecting architecture.

Speed is all important if we’re to succeed without drawing too much attention to ourselves, and this is where our software tools come into their own, being able to map video to the architecture within seconds, combined with drawing light freehand with a graphics tablet.

We’ll be posting up images and video later in the week but you can follow our progress live on Twitter and see the works as we complete them between 10pm and 2am.

Mick Jones' Rock and Roll Library

Quadratura were at the private launch of Mick Jones’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Public Library on the 15th July 2009, taking care of the video projections.

MICK JONES ROCK N ROLL PUBLIC LIBRARY:
2 ACKLAM ROAD, Portobello Green,
London, W10 5XL
(Ladbroke Grove Underground)
18th July to 25th August 2009,
11am-7pm. Wednesday-Sunday

An original audio/visual composition by Alex May and Martin A. Smith interpreting the Art of Sally McKay. Commissioned by the GV Art gallery, this film is part of the “Chasing Shadows” exhibition running from 14th May to 20th June 2009 (Tuesday to Friday 11am to 7pm, Saturdays 11am to 4pm)

http://www.gvart.co.uk

Quadratura have been commission to produce an audio/visual work based on the art of Sally McKay.

It will be on show at the GV Art Gallery in London:

14th May to 20th June 2009
Tuesday to Friday 11am to 7pm, Saturdays 11am to 4pm

http://www.gvart.co.uk/viewings.htm

Animation Decathlon

It’s been a little under 7 weeks since the Animation Decathlon took place at Kensington & Chelsea town hall, and work continues on the project.

Sometime in the next week or two will see the release of a short documentary about the project with interviews with the principle people involved and footage of the event.

Following that will be a ‘making of’ documentary where we go into the process, technicalities, and challenges we faced bringing the project to fruition.

We’re also building a touring installation version of the game that will be sent around schools, and we’ll also be giving talks about the project.

There are also discussions taking place about staging other Animation Decathlon’s in a couple of interesting places!

http://www.animationdecathlon.org/

Chasing Shadows

Quadratura has been commissioned to create an audio/video art piece based on the artwork of Sally McKay that will be on show alongside her paintings, drawings, and sculpture at the GV Art gallery in London.

“Sally draws the human form, creating life-affirming and dynamic drawings, paintings, sculpture and etchings. Unlike artists working from a static model, Sally actively seeks to represent figures in motion using dance as her stimulus.”

14th May to 20th June 2009
Tuesday to Friday 11am to 7pm, Saturdays 11am to 4pm

http://www.gvart.co.uk/viewings.htm

Interactive Cafe Installation

Quadratura has also been commissioned to create a highly interactive and immersive audio/video art installation as part of the renovation of The Big Fish Cafe in Hove Lagoon.

The cafe is in the process of being transformed into a vegan establishment by new owner Heather Mills.

Our installation aims to be accessible and playful for visitors of all ages, further exploring our interests in architectural video mapping techniques and physical and psychological interactivity.

Almost Grown?

Quadratura is going to be 1 year old this month!  While the global economic turmoil rages on, we find our fears  going into 2009 of nurturing our young company through such turgid times somewhat allayed.  While we can’t quite yet stretch to having Bentley’s as the company fleet, we’re very busy working on commissions and are in discussions and writing proposals for projects as far ahead as Christmas 2010 and beyond.

We couldn’t have achieved so much in our first year without the help and support (and commissions!) from the people we have had the pleasure of working with.  Thank you, you know who you are!

If you were not one of the 800 people who turned up last year to see our Kaidan Ghost Story event, or would just like a reminder, we have this video of a walk around the main part of the installation, recorded by Zoe Snell.  It’s filmed on a phone, so the quality isn’t all it could be, but it captures the flow quite well.

On Saturday, March 21st we held our Animation Decathlon event at Kensington & Chelsea town hall.

Thank you to everyone who came along and entered into the spirit of the proceedings!

We’re compiling all our photos from the evening and will have them on-line in the next few days.

In the meantime, you can see some images at the BBC London web site:

Quadratura’s Animation Decathlon @ BBC.co.uk

Quadratura will be doing live visuals for Hawklords at The Roundhouse

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/the-space-ritual-2009-2925

UPDATE: This gig has been cancelled/postponed

Quadratura is hard at work preparing for our next public art event, the Animation Decathlon

More details when we get time!!