As freelance contractors prior to forming LumiGeek, John Taylor and Joe Martin were brought in to project manage an installation of over one linear mile of Element Labs VersaTubes on the facade of the Hunt Building in downtown Dallas.
The system contains over 90,000 individually controlled LEDs.
As part of the Red Bull Ascension event on the rooftop of the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, NY, LumiGeek was asked to collaborate with AKAirways and Leo Villareal to make their sculpture interactive with event participants.
An array of ultrasonic range sensors were installed on the wall below each column of pixels. The range finder measurements, coupled with audio from a microphone, were used to create an interactive layer over the colors and patterns.
The concept of fusing robot and botany led Jill Coffin to collaborate with John Taylor and Daniel Bauen to create Breeze.
A mature Japanese Maple tree was carefully wired with monofilament down to nitinol (nickel titanium) wires to create silent motion.
A 360-camera hidden in a lantern suspended over the tree was used to detect motion of observers. Computer vision algorithms were used to trigger relays to actuate the the various branches near the motion in the room.
The tree appeared to reach out to people passing by.
In 2006, the annual SXSW music festival was changed forever by a guerilla marketing activation by Red Bull. The beverage company rented a 10,000 square-foot warehouse in downtown Austin during the music festival, performed extensive renovations to bring it up to code, and threw a massive week-long, invite-only party.
The Red Bull House had all the elements now commonplace in SXSW marketing activations, a main stage, a gaming lounge, an internet cafe, a room for DJs, open bars, pool tables, arcade machines, and even a basketball court.
Over half a decade prior to forming LumiGeek, co-founders Joe Martin and John Taylor teamed up to bring amazing interactive technology and art to SXSW. It was undoubtedly the first time that technologies (such as PlayMotion’s stereoscopic computer vision and projection environments) were debuted at the technology mecca.
It was the curation of this event where Martin and Taylor found that they could work together under the pressures of a highly intensive production environment, yet still showcase delicate and cutting-edge technologies.
As homage to the Mayan god of lightning, Cauac stands claim to being the largest pair of Tesla Coils in existence.
At over 15′ tall and 30′ apart, Syd Klinge has mastered the art of lighting the air ablaze with arcs of man-made lightning.
For several years, one of which included a tour through Australia, the coils had a cluster of custom LED lights in the star-points around their bases.
The EMF collapse as the coils turned on or off would reset the circuit boards, causing a coordinated blink as the lightning disappeared.
As an Atlanta-based blacksmith, Jeffrey Loy has been producing beautiful sculptures with LED lighting for over a decade. In 2003 he began collaborating with LumiGeek co-founder Joe Martin to bring dynamic solar powered LED lighting to his creations.
Together they produced pieces that lit the Atlanta skyline during the then-nascent West End arts scene, appeared in group shows in Richmond, Virginia and Austin, Texas, and helped celebrate the opening of the monumental Atlanta Greenway project. These pieces were a striking combination of old-world blacksmith techniques combined with cutting edge LED architectural lighting and control systems, with a focus on seamlessly blending technology and craftsmanship into a single vision.
Jeffry and JoeJoe later had an interactive installation piece entitled “Pupula Arboretum” in the curated Activating Spaces show in the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art in Jacksonville, Florida.
This massive art piece marked a seminal moment in Burning Man history, changing the scale at which artists pushed the limits.
Atlanta-based sculptor, Zach Coffin, brought in JoeJoe Martin to build a custom 3-foot LED beacon so the sculpture could easily be found at night in the vast expanse of the playa.
