FROM PARIS TO DUBAI, ID SERIES AUDIO FOR CULTURESPACES
FROM PARIS TO DUBAI, ID SERIES AUDIO FOR CULTURESPACES

FROM PARIS TO DUBAI, ID SERIES AUDIO FOR CULTURESPACES

6月 2021 | 未分类 | Art Gallery | ID Series | United Arab Emirates

Inside the famous Dubai Mall, a new popular digital art centre draws on an original exhibition staged in Paris, deploying the same innovative AV technologies used there, including super-compact NEXO ID Series loudspeakers for a thrilling immersive audio system.

A collaboration between InfinityArt and Culturespaces Digital, Infinity des Lumières showcases a variety of contemporary and classic art across 2,700m² of exhibition space. Bringing the exhibits to life is an impressive collection of audiovisual technology that includes 130x video projectors, 58x NEXO ID Series loudspeakers, 47x media servers and approximately 3,000x HD digital moving images.

The new Dubai venue is heavily inspired by Culturespaces’ existing digital galleries and echoes a similar layout and experience as the Atelier des Lumières in Paris, which opened its doors in Spring 2018.  “We worked with Culturespaces on the content creation, so there are certain elements here that are identical to Paris and there are certain elements that we have changed and adapted because we think they will work better for the market here,” explains Infinity des Lumières’ head of AV, Steve Critchley.  French systems integrator Cadmos was heavily involved in the Atelier des Lumières installation, and its experience was called on once again for the Dubai project.

Infinity des Lumières is divided up into two separate exhibitions: the main gallery displaying a series of Van Gogh exhibits comprising 163 digital artworks of the popular Dutch impressionist. Projectors beam the curated and customised multimedia content across the gallery’s walls and floors to immerse visitors fully, and historic artworks take on a new lease of life as they morph their way across the 3,300m² digital ‘canvas’.

“We started by looking at what they’d done in Paris and trying to slot that design into our space,” notes the head of AV. “The gallery in Paris is 2.5m taller, and it is a dedicated space rather than inside a mall, so we needed an entirely new sound design that was appropriate for the location.”

The exterior walls of Infinity des Lumières have been acoustically treated, with the subwoofers placed on suspension springs to dampen vibrations through the floor.  An immersive audio setup provides moving soundscapes in each gallery to accompany the visuals. “We’re running 20 channels of audio through 60 speakers throughout the main exhibition space,” explains Critchley. “Because of the way we’ve built it, we have the option of configuring everything as a 20-point system or we could just run it as a simple left-right stereo output if we wanted to, or anything in between.”

This is made possible by a dedicated Yamaha MRX7-D signal processer for each separate area that can be controlled directly via MCP1 on-wall touchpanels. Audio reinforcement through the galleries is via 43x NEXO ID24T distributed loudspeakers and 15x ID S110 subwoofers placed on suspension springs, while audio paging can be accomplished via the Yamaha PGM1 paging microphone.

Augmenting the visuals inside is a large immersive display on the exterior walls of the centre showcasing dynamic digital pieces from various digital motion artists around the world. An additional 16x NEXO ID14T loudspeakers driven by four NXAMP amplifiers and a single Yamaha MRX-7D deliver the accompanying soundtrack.

Set to attract new and diverse audiences, and expecting to exceed half a million visitors per year, Infinity des Lumières is intended to position Dubai as the regional epicentre of pioneering cultural expression. “Dubai in general is starting to approach some sense of normality and people here are smart in their behaviour. I can’t wait to finally show off to everyone what we’ve created.”

Thanks to PRO AVL MEA: this article can be found in full in the May/June edition, https://issuu.com/blankcanvaspublishing/docs/pro_avl_mea_may_june_2021/36