The Rite of Spring

Directed by Keiichi Matsuda (Arcade)
Produced by James Alliban (Arcade)
Performed with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

Commissioned by the Groninger Forum for Timeshift 2013, in Groningen, Holland.

A sound-responsive sculptural laser installation, commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Stravinsky’s masterpiece. Arcade installed 50 lasers in the auditorium, and linked each one to an individual instrument. The lasers responded to what each musician played, spatialising the music, and turning the entire auditorium into a dynamic forest of sound and light.

The installation was purely responsive, and no computers were used during the performance. Each instrument was connected to a small piezo (contact microphone), which ran to a circuit board, and then to the laser diode itself, housed in a custom enclosure.

The design aimed to extend the architecture of the auditorium using sculpted light. We created a set of apparatus using machined MDF, in order to support the various lasers, mirrors, and other components within the auditorium space.