PALIMPSEST

PALIMPSEST

17 September 2009, PITTSBURG, USA

17 September 2009, PITTSBURG, USA

FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

One of the key moments at the Festival of Light 2009 in Pittsburgh, was a projection work "Palimpsest" by Mr. Ross Ashton, ETC Company.

Mr. Ashton joined to a team specially invited by Mr. Marguerite Jarrett Marks, curator and organizer of the Festival by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Mr. Ross Ashton had given cart Blanche. He wanted to create a visual show, which shakes its spectacular and stunning, and at the same time has a distinct narrative element.

The result is a 5-minute presentation — a kind of visual "poem" about the requirements and the human desire to comprehend the world and what surrounds it, to transfer this knowledge from generation to generation.

The venue was approved — at the disposal of the administration of the Festival was a 6-kilowatt projector with dual scroller, which found the roof of an office building in Pittsburgh Opera downtown Cultural District.

Final image (30 meters in width, 20 meters in height) was projected onto a concrete wall at Penn Avenue

"Take part in the Festival — an honor — recognizes Mr. Ross Ashton. — The free surface of a projection provided me with ample opportunities for creativity, to create work that would be striking to behold, attracted the attention of people.

However, I also had to be able to impose on communication, in which the audience could participate — I was trying to make sure that passers-by stopped and watched and wondered, watching the development of the plot. "

Palimpsest — a manuscript on a piece of parchment on top of erased original text, so it is, by definition, implies the potential existence of several layers of information.

Mr. Ashton's work explores different methods of communication, ranging from early cave paintings and petroglyphs, to the hieroglyphic writing, invention, mathematics and calculus, to the medieval monasteries — centers of teaching in medieval Europe, rationalism, and finally to a binary code and computer language.

Binary code has a special significance as the language that nobody speaks, but who, in a sense, everyone understands.

Festival of Light is the third consecutive year, and he enjoys extraordinary popularity with the public. Numerous light shows took place during the G-20 summit.

According to the calendar of events presentation will end in mid-October. The next project of Mr. Ross Ashton is The Rhein Festival 2009, which was held in October.

Mr. Ashton will need to create video projections at the statue of "Germany» (Niederwalddenkmal), located in the German city of Rüdesheim am Rhein.

In November, he is working on the celebration of St. Andrew in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Responsible for the show programming is Mrs. Karen Monid.

Photographer:Mr.George Thomas Mendel