OVERVIEW:
In the fall of 2013, Artists Braden King and Matthew Moore created an exhibition entitled, “Cumulus,” a to-scale sculpture of aqueduct piping constructed from repurposed lumber, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

To give visitors a visual sense of what the Aqueduct meant for the development of southern California, King and Moore were looking for a solution to project imagery of clouds, California freeways, car chases filmed on the LA River, and Google Earth pictures onto the sculpture to help engage the viewer’s thoughts on water, nature, intervention, consequence, conservation and the evolutionary nature of landscape. To do this, King and Moore needed projectors capable of running for the duration of the exhibition – more than three months – with little to no maintenance while sustaining high brightness.

SOLUTION:
King and Moore turned to Casio and its portfolio of Short Throw LampFree® projectors for the project. Casio provided six XJ-ST155 projectors for the duration of the exhibition that provided a cost-effective, bright and easy-to-use solution.

Casio’s Short Throw projectors are equipped with the company’s revolutionary LASER & LED Hybrid Light Source, which combines a laser, fluorescent element and LEDs to generate high brightness, while eliminating the need for expensive projection lamps that often need replacement. Due to the LampFree® technology, Casio’s LASER & LED Hybrid Light Source provides a reduced total cost of ownership and allows users to count on a 20,000 hour estimated life span.

EXHIBITION:
The Cumulus exhibition enjoyed an extremely successful run at the Grand Central Art Center in San Diego, California. Almost 12,000 visitors experienced the exhibition and Casio’s projector technology in person.

“This piece wouldn’t have been possible without the support from Casio and certainly the technology they provided for us to be able to realize the installation,” said Braden King, filmmaker and visual artist, Cumulus. “I’ve been really impressed with how resilient and durable the projectors have been.”

The LampFree® technology proved incredibly cost-efficient. For the duration of the three-month exhibition – which equaled approximately 625 hours for each projector for a total of 3,750 hours for all six units – not a single bulb needed to be replaced. This represented a potential savings of thousands of dollars if the artists had chosen traditional mercury lamp projectors for the project.

“We were very excited to partner with established artists like King and Moore to help them advance the practice of visual art and experimental installation work with our projectors,” said Matt Mustachio, general manager of Casio’s Business Projector Division. “Our Short Throw projectors’ high definition video projection ability and LampFree® technology enabled King and Moore to highlight the industrial nature of their work and Cumulus’ imagery in the most efficient and effective way possible.”

To see how the Cumulus exhibition came together using Casio projectors, please click here for a short video presentation.

In addition to their use for the Cumulus installation, Casio’s Short Throw projectors are also outfitted with a number of capabilities that illuminate any room and aid in the creation of lively presentations. They feature increased I/O connectivity, auto brightness adjustment to save power and reduce eye fatigue, energy-saving modes, computer, HDMI and video inputs and the ability to display 3D content from a 3D capable computer. They also include RJ-45 wired LAN, wireless presentations and MobiShow. For more information about Casio’s portfolio of LampFree® projectors, visit www.CasioProjector.com.