It's been a while since I last sent one of these newsletters, but I hope to make up for the absence, starting with this combination project profile, travelogue and new product report.

Magical Places 

It's probably true for each of us that in our hometowns there exist locations that have a certain magic to them. Maybe it's the scenic quality, the serenity or, conversely, the energy level that makes those places special. In my hometown, New York, there are many places that hold that kind of magic for me and one of the most special is the area including and around Madison Square Park.

The park itself is a compact jewel comprised of a large fountain, playground, dog run and a large grass-covered ellipse that's been the site of a few of our more interesting media art projects. It also has one of the few new pay toilets in NYC.

Surrounding the park is a series of iconic turn of the last century buildings including the Met Life Tower and the Flatiron Building. These architectural icons have recently been joined by a building called One Madison Park.  The new building boasts a striking design in addition to well-publicized financial difficulties, providing great symbolism for the times we live in.

The area also has a ton of great eating spots ranging from Shake Shack with its ever-present long lines, to Eleven Madison Park, which earns its four-star rating every night. Just opened, there's Mario Batali's 50,000 square foot temple to all foods Italian called Eataly. Let me tell you, Signore, that's a great place to separate the money from your wallet.

During the day, particularly if the weather's nice, the area is bustling with workers from the many offices nearby, tourists from all over and nannies pushing strollers. At night, it's a lot quieter and the setting is much more dramatic, which makes it perfect for a unique light sculpture like the one the artist Jim Campbell just erected with some help from us.

Scattered Light utilizes technology created by Jim's studio, including 1,440 custom made LED light bulbs and purpose-built controllers. The lamps hang from overhead cables,  creating a 3D matrix measuring 20 feet tall, 16 feet deep and 50 feet wide. The lamps are meticulously sequenced to display a moving image that is easily discernable but still abstract. For me, it's that interplay between what is a depiction and what is a 'light play' that makes the piece so mesmerizing.

The suspension structure that supports the piece was one of the more interesting aspects of the project. Shock Studios with help from Geiger Engineering completed the design, fabrication and installation and it turned out to be functional and quite good-looking.  Click the image above to view a video of the art piece, and if you're in the area stop by for a closer look - I think you'll find it compelling.

Not Magical Places

Las Vegas seems to be losing the air of desperation that has cloaked it since the economy went in the tank and I think the same can be said about the recent LDI exhibition I traveled to a few weeks ago. My sense, walking the floor, is that activity and commerce in the entertainment technology business has picked up and that manufacturers who showed up with interesting and innovative products were making good contacts and sales.

For Scharff Weisberg, our immediate purchases at the show were in keeping with our recent theme of buying small lighting fixtures that are cost and energy efficient.  At LDI our lighting company picked up some of the newer offerings from Martin - the MAC 101 and the Entour 350. These are both compact LED fixtures that do an awful lot for not a lot of money.

The MAC 101 is a simple LED moving head wash light. What makes it worth taking a serious look, is the incredibly tight and bright beam, which is rather extraordinary. Due to the fixture's low mass, head movement is very quick and precise and since it's LED it is super efficient.

The Mac 350 Entour is an LED-based profile fixture that pushes the boundaries of light output versus size.  It's small in size, very bright, has a multitude of bells, as well as whistles, and is very attractively priced.

It's easy to imagine a rig consisting of eight of each of these fixtures, a few motors and sticks of truss making an incredibly effective, low-cost show package that could fit in a cargo van and require no more than two 20-amp circuits.

To get more info on the 101 and 350 click on the images above.  Or, visit our shop and we'll be happy to provide a demo.