Deichtorhallen Hamburg hosted PROOF – an exhibition of three major artists spanning three centuries and three continents – from February to May 2018, with the help of Digital Projection’s E-Vision Laser 10K projectors.
PROOF was curated by Kate Fowle, chief curator at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, collaborating with Robert Longo, whose own work is featured in the exhibition alongside that of Spanish artist Francisco Goya and Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein. New York-based artist Longo explores contemporary issues such as terrorism, refugee movements, modern warfare and symbols of power in his drawings ranging up to 7.5 metres in size.
In PROOF, his work came together with that of Eisenstein (1898 – 1948), who dealt with Russian history in classic films such as ‘The Battleship Potemkin’ (1925) and ‘Ivan the Terrible’ (1945); and Goya (1746 – 1828) who chose the medium of printmaking for his socially critical series of works and haunting images of war.
Ivo Schob, technical director at Deichtorhallen, commented: “Using projection was a key part of the curatorial concept of Fowle and Longo. By slowing down the seven most important films of Sergey Eisenstein to 1% of their normal speed, visitors would be drawn to the very special aesthetic in his filmmaking.
“Displayed in 4/3 format and projected side by side on the 45 metre back wall of the exhibition, the films were played in super slow-motion – with each single picture of the film shown for six seconds, served by a Mac Mini and integrated into a separate network – acting as a centrepiece to the exhibit, and creating a truly unique experience for visitors. The 4/3 display format meant that the black areas of the 16/10 picture needed to be absolute black: when we tested Digital Projection’s E-Vision Laser 10K projector, it stood out as the best product for what we wanted to achieve.”
Digital Projection’s German event-distribution partner ETHA International & Co. KG supplied the laser projectors to project manager Frank Zahn from local AV company Musik- und Soundservice Schwerin, who integrated the projectors. On top of its performances, ETHA selected the E-Vision Laser 10K because it was the only projector with a very wide horizontal lens shift which, coupled with a wide 80.75 – 0.93:1 zoom lens, made the installation possible.
Andreas Voss, Digital Projection’s DACH regional sales manager, explained: “A total of seven E-Vision Laser 10K projectors were specified for this exhibition. This projector is the perfect fit for professional and art venues such as Deichtorhallen that contend with high levels of ambient light, ensuring that the audience experiences the content with saturated colours, bright imagery and the all-important dark area detail, which were all crucial for this exhibition.”
Schob concluded: “We were really pleased with how the E-Vision Laser 10K projectors performed – with excellent light distribution and ‘black areas’, they were the perfect fit for our aesthetic needs, and also delivered in terms of reliability which is key for a high footfall, high visibility setting. Operationally, they were also easy to handle with clear, intuitive menus.
“It is fair to say that these projectors played an important part in the success of the exhibition which was extremely well received. Visitors were full of praise for the projections – especially the large size and quality – an overwhelmingly positive response. We would turn to Digital Projection without hesitation for any future large scale projection installations.”
