Owned and created by Grande Experiences, THE LUME Melbourne is Australia’s and the Southern Hemisphere’s first permanent digital gallery that transforms the world’s finest art into fully immersive sensory encounters. The walls come alive as light ripples across every surface and masterpieces come to life. Curated tastes, aromas and a choreographed soundtrack add thrilling new dimensions to this 360-degree experience.
THE LUME Melbourne embarked on its first adventure with a fantastic trip through the vibrant works of Vincent van Gogh, weaving imagery from 150 state-of-the-art projectors onto a tapestry of surfaces seamlessly and magically bringing the beauty and wonder of his masterpieces to larger-than-life, like never before.
Entry Interpretive Room
The Interpretive space has been designed to be reconfigurable for each iteration of content. For Van Gogh, there are a series of interpretive panels and thematics on the walls so this was a good fit in an LED format.
A total of 22 x ShowPRO LED Profile VW and eight ShowPRO Fusion Wash Q27 LED floodlights are deployed in this area along with one full-colour ShowPRO LED Profile FC holding a Van Gogh gobo.
“Tight optics and natural light was the main brief and we have been really happy with them,” commented Craig Smith, Head of Production & Technology for Grande Experiences
Van Gogh Bedroom
For the Van Gogh Bedroom, there were a few technical hurdles to jump through as the set is built into the perimeter walls so no front lighting was possible.
“The need to avoid structural shadows was a major consideration,” said Craig. “Also, as the visitor can interact in the space, good even lighting that translates to a phone camera was critical.”
This was achieved by using a mixture of three Prolights EclCyclorama 050 soft CYC and floodlights with RGB+warm white colour mixing and three Prolights EclFresnel 2.000W Fresnel lamps.
Main Projection Gallery
Fifteen ShowPRO Fusion Wash Q48 LED floodlights service this area placed throughout the gallery space to wash out the floor. This has two functions; the first is to act as work /cleaning lights when set to a single fader it enables light to flip between work/ service mode and previewing content – without having to be turning the high bay venue lights on or off. Secondly, they deliver creative options for events where say, a walk-in with a lighting floor wash is required before revealing the floor projection on a video roll.
“We have used the ShowPRO Fusion Wash on quite a few projects,” added Craig. “They are great for area wash and they give a punchy saturated wash.”
Café
The fixture choice for this area was required to give a light floor wash to support table pin spots in the café, a very functional and practical solution. As this area is right amongst the projections, the light spill was a major factor so having a subtle lighting solution that can fill out the ambient light was key and is something used to augment the space during events. This was achieved by using 23 x ShowPRO LED PixPAR2s and nine Prolights EclFresnel 2KTW.
Mezzanine
On the Mezzanine, a floor lighting solution for events that was controlled and wouldn’t add too much light pollution to the wall projections around it was required. Using 15 x ShowPRO LED Profile FC with a colour mixing light engine was the perfect solution. This is also a future proof solution so they have the option to integrate colour floor wash into the main show experience.
For control, an MA Lighting dot2 Core with three ArtNodes is used.
“We have worked with Show Technology on several projects over the years,” said Craig. “When it comes to scoping out a project they always have several solutions for what we are trying to light.
“These types of projects tend to need a bit of a multi-discipline approach as it’s a mix of install, touring, theatre and exhibition. As such it helps in the system spec and implementation stages to have a supplier that can work with us to find the right solutions.”
