Colombia. Sonic Design is an interdisciplinary team in Colombia that specializes in updating unique architectural projects and large events around the world. Sonic Design's creative team recently designed and built a multisensory car art, Jaguara, and incorporated Elation Cuepix 16 IP LED matrix panels into the design to help spread their environmental message.
Jaguara is a collaborative project of an interdisciplinary collective of artists, designers, scientists, musicians, ancestral connoisseurs, ecologists, communicators, teachers, technicians and artisans from different areas of the American continent. Sonic Design director Leo Vilar works around the world on projects that focus on Colombia and led the team that created the Art Car vehicle that portrays a jaguar emerging from the Amazon River.
"Through this ingenious celebration of the jaguar, we want to raise awareness about the vulnerability of the jaguar's main refuge, the Amazon rainforest. Jaguara is inspired by the symbolism and powerful spirit of the jaguar, which represents, for most ancestral American tribes, the connecting force between the world of gods and the world of men. At a time when our life tendencies disrupt the balance of our planet and threaten our existence, Jaguara comes to remind us of the essence of living in balance," Vilar explained.
The art cart
As design director for Jaguara, Vilar wanted to create an Art Car with a unique character that would clearly show the ancestral power of the Amazon rainforest and its vital role in preserving the balance of our global climate. "Many times technology takes us away from nature, but this project tries to work backwards. Through a very well achieved design, complemented by cutting-edge lighting and sound technology, we wish to raise awareness of the vulnerability of our most precious life support systems and the critical moment we are living in now," he said.
Jaguara debuted from August 26 to September 3 in Burning Man at Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Burning Man, an annual gathering that explores various forms of artistic self-expression, embraces a special spirit in which a powerful community of conscious people come together to create a memorable, life-changing experience. A unique and special team came together to share ideas and create Jaguara in the spirit of Burning Man, including the global social impact organization PlayaSkool, led by Jon La Grace, a long-time member of the Burning Man community and key to the success of the project," Vilar added.
During the daylight hours, Jaguara was an oasis of tropical forest, colors and art, accompanied by sounds of nature, indigenous songs and tribal rhythms. Together with PlayaSkool, Jaguara organized talks by Colombian anthropologist Carlos Castaño Uribe about the Chiribiquete National Park in the Amazon rainforest, recently declared by UNESCO as a world heritage site, and the cosmic maloka of the jaguar.
In the evening, the Art Car turned into an electro Latin music party with DJs, musicians, and performances from the counterculture movement in South America. Projection, lasers and other effects enhanced the multisensory experience, a colorful multi-table jaguar head emerging from the Amazon River.
Cuepix 16 IP LED
Vilar served as Project Director and one of the many hats he wore was that of a lighting designer. The key element of Elation used in its design was 64 Cuepix 16 IP LED matrix panels used to recreate a traditional "jaguar man" figure, a symmetrical and schematic design placed in the center of the Art Car.
The Cuepix 16 IP is a powerful 4x4 LED matrix panel with IP65 all-weather protection capable of projecting high-impact color or white light, treats or pixel map effects. Vilar first saw the device at the Prolight and Sound show in Frankfurt last April and says that in addition to the quality of the light, he thought the Cuepix 16 was a beautiful-looking light.
Cuepix panels were used for colorful backlight as well as audience light. The artwork Vilar assigned in pixels through Cuepix's panels was inspired by traditional Colombian beaded shaman bracelet designs. "Using Cuepix was a more artistic way to create pixels instead of the more typical LED display," he said, adding that he ran the devices during the day but dimmed them by up to 1% at night.
Art with a purpose
Jaguara debuted in Burning Man but it is a concept that will continue to be communicated in different artistic manifestations. Vilar says the concept will change subtly as they work with local artists to bring the project around the world. "The important thing is to bring the message of awareness of nature to people. It's good to make art with a purpose and we hope to inspire people around the world to join the conversation and get involved. There are many men and women who offer creative alternatives and have new visions for the world. Jaguara wants to enlighten them and generate an echo for their positive actions."
The Jaguara project was well received by the Burning Man community, according to Vilar, and technically the designer says the project worked very well. "It was a great experience and we received amazing feedback, nothing but good feedback," he concluded.
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