Asheville Art Museum
Harmony Interiors was asked to install Laurie Anderson's "Hidden Inside Mountains" at the Asheville Art Museum...
Mrs. Anderson is a groundbreaking leader in the use of technology in the arts. Her film includes an original score written herself and features a combination of violins, melody, and electronic sounds that are integral to the experience of the piece itself. In addition, Anderson's talent for creating large scale theatrical works incorporating a variety of media has been featured in major museums including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Now the Asheville Art Museum will be added to the distinguished list of venues showcasing her work.
The Museum knew the space in which Mrs. Anderson's film, had to fit just right so the patrons who would experience it could immerse themselves in the piece and notice little else.
With all this in mind the Asheville Art Museum contacted Scott Varn at Harmony Interiors in order to create a suitable space in which to showcase her film. They knew Harmony's reputation toward seamless integration of media and had seen their work with the Asheville Film Festival.
The team at Harmony is tasked each year with the design of multiple theatre venues for the cities festival and have been featured many times in national magazines such as Electronic House, Residential Systems, and several others. "Being a fan of Laurie Anderson's work since the 90's I felt honored to be a small part of the installation." commented Scott Varn.
After assessing the size, shape, and acoustics of the room, along with the specific requirements for the Anderson's film itself, the Harmony team went to work. First to be addressed was the visuals within the room. For that, Harmony installed a 92" / 16:9 matte white screen and mounted an Epson Powerlite Pro Cinema high definition projector from the ceiling. After video calibration, it was time to create 5.1 surround sound for the audio in the film. Scott and his team elected to use Tannoy wall mountable speakers with dual concentric drivers built in to each speaker for optimal clarity. To maximize the low frequencies in the film's audio, a Velodyne 12" subwoofer was used. To address the acoustic issues in the venue, matching acoustic panels along the walls and room equalization was utilized.
To handle playback of the film itself, a Denon 1730 DVD player was paired with a Denon 2308 / 7.1 channel 100 watt receiver.
The result was just what the Museum had hoped. A full 5.1 surround sound, high definition, projection theatre with the sole purpose of displaying Laurie Anderson's film "Hidden Inside Mountains".
The completed space was designed to use the technology for artistic expression without visual distractions, created by multimedia professionals to bring the artists vision to life.
Laurie Anderson's film "Hidden Inside Mountains" is currently on display at the Asheville Art Museum.
For tickets or more information, contact the Asheville Art Museum
2 South Pack Square at Pack Place Asheville, NC 28802
828.253.3227 or mailbox@ashevilleart.org