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About Us

Paisley, Caernarfon, Derry-Londonderry, Luton, Hull

2022

Projection-mapping, live music, education and participation combine to create one of the UK’s most ambitious touring outdoor performances.

About Us was a touring large scale public art event combining multimedia installations with animation, poetry, original music and live performance to explore the myriad connections between us, our planet, and the wider cosmos. The live show used animation and projection mapping to transform buildings and landmarks in five towns and cities across the UK into vast canvases on which we tell the story of 13.8 billion years of hyper-connected history.

The show featured an original score by composer Nitin Sawhney performed by local choirs in each location. The outdoor installation incorporated submissions from a UK-wide poetry and computer coding competition for children and young people run by our partner organisations The Poetry Society and Stemettes. Poetry and coding workshops also took place in local schools in each location and the work from those workshops forms a day-time offering of the show. Living portraits of the local residents of each location are displayed on the LED plinths, reminding us that we are at the centre of this incredible story. About Us toured the UK from March to May 2022 and ran for a week in each location.

About us was presented as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It featured free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration.

Unboxed Sponsor Logos

Behind the scenes

Production Photos

Paisley

Derry-Londonderry

Caernarfon

Luton

Hull

Design Process

Creative approach diagram - About Us - 59 Productions

Selecting surfaces

Pre-visualisation of potential locations - About Us - 59 Productions
Pre-visualisation of potential locations - About Us - 59 Productions
Projection surface layers

Site layout

Site Zoning for About Us - Pre-visualisation by 59 Productions
Destination aerial pre-visualisation for About Us by 59 Productions
Journey visualisation - About Us - 59 Productions
Journey visualisation - About Us
Destination visualisation - About Us - 59 Productions

Augmenting the urban fabric

The show was adapted in each of the 5 locations to mapspecifically to the architecture in each space. From 1 key buildingin Paisley to 5 different buildings in Hull, the show can grow andexpand to fit any size location. Due to it’s adaptable nature theshow can be re-worked for a myriad of surfaces.The Lighting, LED and projection worked harmoniously toensure that the lighting was striking and impactful withoutoverpowering the projection surfaces, each element coming in toit’s own at key storytelling moments.

About Us - Paisley 2022
Whale swimming along Caernarfon castle
Whale swimming - About Us - Derry 2022
About us - Whale projection - 59 Productions
About Us - Hull 2022 - 59 Productions

Designing the plinth family

The LED plinths were multi-purpose within the About Us show. Not only were they a key feature in the evening shows, reflecting the human element of the story, they also allowed us to offer a day-time version of the show. This included works produced by local school children, living portraits of local community members and poetry readings created by our partners at The Poetry Society. They were also used as a great marketing tool, showing show information and promotional material for the Unboxed festival.

The plinths not only featured LED but also lighting and sound making them a dynamic storytelling tool.

Architectural Drawing of a Plinth for the About Us project
Plinth visualisation - About Us
Plinth installation on street
Plinth being hoist into position
Plinth structure complete, awaiting screens
Plinth detail
Plinth detail
Person standing looking at one of the finished plinth screens, About Us.
Plinth at night, About Us

The Daytime Show

The daytime show brought together the creative results of a wide-reaching community and schools engagement programme, which took place in collaboration with local organisations and facilitators in each of the five show locations. Using our video plinths as a canvas, the daytime programme featured poems written by local young people, slow-motion video portraits of the residents of each town and city, and the winning entries from a national poetry and coding competition.

About Us, Daytime Show, 59 Productions

Live Choir Performances

In each location, 59 Productions collaborated with local community choirs to bring to life a score written by Nitin Sawhney, commissioned especially for the project. Working with over 350 singers from a range of backgrounds, with musical direction from Osnat Schmool, the show gave voice to the residents of each town and city, giving a local, human scale aspect to the spectacular visuals.

The Choir during an About Us performance, 2022