Throughout its eight year history, this column has been focused exclusively on individual designers. What better way, we reasoned, to explore the mysterious, lonely process of turning a blank page (or computer screen) into a living, breathing and vibrant design than to delve into the creative soul of the person responsible for making that magic? […]
“I apologize for such a long letter, I didn’t have time to write a short one,” Mark Twain reportedly once told a friend. The 19th century American humorist liked to recount this story to emphasize the power of minimalism. In his case, this involved paring language down to its core to make more powerful points […]
Asked to describe his impression of Global Citizen’s Vax Live, The Concert To Reunite The World, Tom Kenny answers with a simple six-word phrase, “Full of Grace, Full of Light.” The globally televised event, which raised $302 million, enough to procure 26 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, was certainly all of that. There was […]
With its vintage Moorish architecture, complete with domed ceilings and towering minarets, the Saltair Pavilion looks as if it popped out of a vintage movie. The building and its predecessors, the first of which was built in 1893, has indeed been featured in multiple films and music videos. It’s even been the subject of a […]
There are no demarcations in the red hot center of the creative process where different visions hurtle toward one another at blistering speeds, surrendering much of their individual identities along the way, to give rise to something new and truly unique. Over the past 25 years, this Munich-based designer has become accomplished at navigating his […]
It was hard for Matthieu Larivée to believe the words he was hearing from Chantal Chamandy when she called one day in 2007. Larivée had created lightshows for a few theatre concerts by the Egyptian-born Québécois singer, and now on the other end of the line, there she was asking him to design a show […]
There is a story to be told every time someone walks on a stage – and we aren’t referring only to theatrical productions either! Concerts, comedy routines, talking presentations and lectures, all need to involve an unfolding narrative, it they are to engage the audience on the deepest level. Lighting should contribute to the telling […]
The outdoor stage at the Avondale Brewing Company was smaller than the ones Pigeons Playing Ping Pong normally plays on, probably not much more than 30-feet in length. But adaptation is the order of the day as live music gradually returns throughout much of the USA. Anyway, the size of the stage didn’t matter much; […]
During the dark cold days of the COVID-19 lockdown, this Kansas-City based designer found one small consolation. Cut off from his busy pre-pandemic touring schedule, he was, for the first time in many years, able to sit back and, as he puts it, “listen to music recreationally.” For Cathcart, the act of listening to music […]
Anticipation accounts for 90-perecent of his job as a lighting designer, says Peter L Spadaro III. Good thing too, considering this Nyack, NY based LD’s improvisational approach to design. Working for a diverse range of clients like Stick Figure and Matisyahu, Spadaro busks virtually every show, but that’s just the tip of his creative iceberg. […]
Some of Europe’s leading concert venues made a significant upgrade during the coronavirus lockdown, and when audiences return, they aren’t going to hear a thing about it. From France to Norway, these sites have enhanced the listening experience by installing our new generation of silent and ultra-quiet fixtures. At the stunning Frank Gehry designed Luis […]
Like love itself, creativity is one of the most elusive of all human qualities. Difficult to define and impossible to measure, it dwells within the realm of infinite space that resides in each of us. This award-winning Nashville designer never tires of exploring this endless labyrinth, viewing it as a journey of open-ended possibilities and […]