Miami students map out their path to BLINK festival
Largest public light and art event in the country is Oct. 17-20 in Cincinnati
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Published
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Miami University students in Ben Nicholson's capstone class will have a project featured during the BLINK projection mapping festival Oct. 17-20 in Cincinnati. Miami's sequence will be projected onto the YWCA Building.
Miami students map out their path to BLINK festival
•
Published
•
Classes for Miami University’s fall semester started on Aug. 26. For students in Ben Nicholson’s capstone course, that meant they had to hit the ground running.
The reason? A chance to participate in BLINK, a projection mapping festival held every two years in Cincinnati that is the largest public light and art event in the country.
“This is just a really unique experience,” said Stella Hudson, a junior Communication Design and Emerging Technology in Business and Design (ETBD) double major. “I’m not aware of a lot of student groups able to do something like this.” Hudson worked as the creative director on this year’s project.
Miami’s project, entitled “Giant Step,” will be featured on the YWCA Building at 898 Walnut Street from Oct. 17-20. Visual artists from across the globe are partaking in this year’s festival, which carries the theme “city of the future.”
Work on the project has ranged from graphic design to video editing to musical composition and more. Students involved with the project include Callie Ashby, West Cannon, Adam Edwards, Aric Engel, Paige Falter, Jj Garvey, Angel Hardy, Alex Harrison, Jude Hoy, Stella Hudson, Van Johnson, Stella Kinoshita, Gus Kirkpatrick, Greyton Manne, Boston Meeker, Irene Nicholson, Hannah Potts, Ethan Schmidt, Christian Smith, and Sam Sweeney.
“They have risen to the occasion and are putting in the time,” said Nicholson, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design. “This is not a normal class. You are going to use a few weekends to get this done. They have really embraced that.”
The narrative of Miami’s 5-minute BLINK sequence looks at the forces of nature and technology as they push and pull against one another through various art styles during the progression throughout time.
To start, the class looked at previous project mapping techniques before developing different concepts. Once a direction was decided on, the class presented it to BLINK director Justin Brookhart.
“That hands-on learning is what I think is the most valuable part of the college experience,” Hudson said. “There are skills you have to learn in the field while you are doing it. This experience has taught me so much about perseverance.”
Projection mapping considers the existing architecture or design elements of a building and brings those surfaces to life through video projection. Miami will share the YWCA Building with another artist, George Berlin of George Berlin Studios.
In 2022, a dozen Miami students in NIcholson’s class had their work, “Isolation/Unity/Community,” projected onto the Hanke Building during that year’s BLINK Festival.
Paige Falter, a junior ETBD and Film Studies double major with a minor in Games and Simulation, attended the festival two years ago. Falter worked as the student lead producer on this year’s project, managing deadlines to ensure everything was done in a timely manner.
Originally from Cincinnati, Falter is eager for family and friends to witness the effort that has gone into “Giant Step.”
“BLINK is one of my favorite things that Cincinnati does,” Falter said. “I want to see how people react. We put so much work into it. I really hope they like it.”
To test the project, the team utilized a cardboard cutout version of the YWCA Building, using a smaller projector to simulate how “Giant Step” would look.
“The most rewarding part of it was seeing people be excited by something they made,” Falter said.
“Not only was this project good for learning how things work in a professional environment but also for learning how to work on a tight deadline. Communication is important. There were so many skills that came out of it in a short time frame that I almost feel like a different person.”
More than 80 projects by hundreds of artists are expected for this year’s festival, which attracts “over 2 million people who walk the city’s blocks in wonder and amazement,” according to the BLINK website.
Jude Hoy looks forward to experiencing the crowd response in real time. Hoy, a junior and EBTD major, served as tech lead on the project.
“I can see the reactions in person, which is a much different experience than pushing a video online,” Hoy said.
BLINK spans 30-plus city blocks in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. This is the fourth edition of the festival.
“It’s a great experience for them if they’re going to go into live production, whether it be film and television or installation art or even projection mapping,” Nicholson said. “It has a real and compressed deadline.
“From a personal standpoint, this group has some of the smartest, most caring, and unique people you will probably meet at Miami. We are a really unique blend of art mixed with technology. We have sort of a gamer mindset sometimes and a fine arts mindset sometimes.”
Added Hudson: “It’s been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, if you will, put into this project. To finally have our moment and see our creation come to life, I’m just really excited to see the audience’s reaction and how people will receive it.”
Watching the progression in such a compressed time frame was remarkable, Falter said.
“I’m so proud of the product we made,” Falter said. “People really impressed me with their talent, how mature everyone is, and how willing they are to persevere to get things done.”
The reason? A chance to participate in BLINK, a projection mapping festival held every two years in Cincinnati that is the largest public light and art event in the country.
“This is just a really unique experience,” said Stella Hudson, a junior Communication Design and Emerging Technology in Business and Design (ETBD) double major. “I’m not aware of a lot of student groups able to do something like this.” Hudson worked as the creative director on this year’s project.
Miami’s project, entitled “Giant Step,” will be featured on the YWCA Building at 898 Walnut Street from Oct. 17-20. Visual artists from across the globe are partaking in this year’s festival, which carries the theme “city of the future.”
Work on the project has ranged from graphic design to video editing to musical composition and more. Students involved with the project include Callie Ashby, West Cannon, Adam Edwards, Aric Engel, Paige Falter, Jj Garvey, Angel Hardy, Alex Harrison, Jude Hoy, Stella Hudson, Van Johnson, Stella Kinoshita, Gus Kirkpatrick, Greyton Manne, Boston Meeker, Irene Nicholson, Hannah Potts, Ethan Schmidt, Christian Smith, and Sam Sweeney.
“They have risen to the occasion and are putting in the time,” said Nicholson, an assistant lecturer in the Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design. “This is not a normal class. You are going to use a few weekends to get this done. They have really embraced that.”
The narrative of Miami’s 5-minute BLINK sequence looks at the forces of nature and technology as they push and pull against one another through various art styles during the progression throughout time.
To start, the class looked at previous project mapping techniques before developing different concepts. Once a direction was decided on, the class presented it to BLINK director Justin Brookhart.
“That hands-on learning is what I think is the most valuable part of the college experience,” Hudson said. “There are skills you have to learn in the field while you are doing it. This experience has taught me so much about perseverance.”
Projection mapping considers the existing architecture or design elements of a building and brings those surfaces to life through video projection. Miami will share the YWCA Building with another artist, George Berlin of George Berlin Studios.
In 2022, a dozen Miami students in NIcholson’s class had their work, “Isolation/Unity/Community,” projected onto the Hanke Building during that year’s BLINK Festival.
Paige Falter, a junior ETBD and Film Studies double major with a minor in Games and Simulation, attended the festival two years ago. Falter worked as the student lead producer on this year’s project, managing deadlines to ensure everything was done in a timely manner.
Originally from Cincinnati, Falter is eager for family and friends to witness the effort that has gone into “Giant Step.”
“BLINK is one of my favorite things that Cincinnati does,” Falter said. “I want to see how people react. We put so much work into it. I really hope they like it.”
To test the project, the team utilized a cardboard cutout version of the YWCA Building, using a smaller projector to simulate how “Giant Step” would look.
“The most rewarding part of it was seeing people be excited by something they made,” Falter said.
“Not only was this project good for learning how things work in a professional environment but also for learning how to work on a tight deadline. Communication is important. There were so many skills that came out of it in a short time frame that I almost feel like a different person.”
More than 80 projects by hundreds of artists are expected for this year’s festival, which attracts “over 2 million people who walk the city’s blocks in wonder and amazement,” according to the BLINK website.
Jude Hoy looks forward to experiencing the crowd response in real time. Hoy, a junior and EBTD major, served as tech lead on the project.
“I can see the reactions in person, which is a much different experience than pushing a video online,” Hoy said.
BLINK spans 30-plus city blocks in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. This is the fourth edition of the festival.
“It’s a great experience for them if they’re going to go into live production, whether it be film and television or installation art or even projection mapping,” Nicholson said. “It has a real and compressed deadline.
“From a personal standpoint, this group has some of the smartest, most caring, and unique people you will probably meet at Miami. We are a really unique blend of art mixed with technology. We have sort of a gamer mindset sometimes and a fine arts mindset sometimes.”
Added Hudson: “It’s been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, if you will, put into this project. To finally have our moment and see our creation come to life, I’m just really excited to see the audience’s reaction and how people will receive it.”
Watching the progression in such a compressed time frame was remarkable, Falter said.
“I’m so proud of the product we made,” Falter said. “People really impressed me with their talent, how mature everyone is, and how willing they are to persevere to get things done.”
