A large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures was featured in The Banyan Tree installation at Bangalore, India’s Sixth Sense Festival produced by Swordfish. The array of Claypaky products included Tambora Flashes and Battens, Panify 2 motorised lighting platforms, B-EYE K15s, Valero Waves and Sharpy X Frames.
The venue for the multi-day festival was a century-old glass factory, a unique backdrop for launching India’s first and largest multidisciplinary immersive experience. The Banyan Tree, a site-specific installation by Production Designer Stephen Bontly, presented a story of mutual relationships and symbiosis between elements. It was formed from the elements that we have adopted into our identity: windows, mirrors, lights, smoke and lasers. The stylised high-tech tree fused light, sound and technology inviting visitors to step inside and watch the environment come alive around them.
Known as The King of Trees and an important symbol in Indian culture, The Banyan Tree “was an interactive art piece that became a stage backdrop during live events surrounding the exhibition,” Bontly explained. Lasers around the tree’s perimeter connected to the core made of mirrors, prisms and glass. People interacted with the space using lidars: mirror and light panels moved, LED screens activated, lasers bounced and smoke created atmosphere.
“I used lidar sensors to track the audience; they were placed around the room to trigger sounds and voice messages. The audio then communicated to software I built to trigger lighting effects throughout the tree,” Bontly said. “The piece was controlled by the visitors, and no one moment was the same during the interactive show. In between, a timecoded story highlighted all the features on the tree just to make sure everyone got to see its full potential. I couldn’t let it stop there; The Banyan Tree was also able to switch into live mode giving the control to my team and I during the live performances.”
He chose a wide array of Claypaky fixtures for their looks and functions. Eighteen Tambora Flashes featured in the core of the tree filling the need for larger bulb, short bar fixtures. “Even running them at 5%, they delivered quality colour,” Bontly noted. Eight Tambora Battens encircled the tree. “I was more interested in getting the tight beams from the longer bars than their uniform tilt,” he added.
Panify 2 motorised lighting platforms held clusters of prisms into which Bontly shot lasers. “The tree was two parts: a flown element that was the tree canopy and top of the trunk plus a ground-supported trunk,” he explained. “This allowed me to stack the Panifys vertically, facing one another” using a custom steel plate Bontly designed. Four Panifys created the tree canopy and two were positioned in the trunk. The second trunk fixture had encircling glass panels. “With total control of the direction of the prisms, we had a lot of fun just spinning them around and redirecting beams of light,” he recalls.
Five B-EYE K15s were aligned in the trunk, two facing up and three down from the canopy. “With the washes’ zoom set to 0%, they lit up the centre quite well and did wonders for chase effects,” Bontly recalled. “The two closest to the centre illuminated the Panify elements so well – they were the two most important lights of the piece. These core lights really illuminated the structure of the piece, which was important for the overall concept.”
Four more K15s were installed on the ground for concerts. “During the shows, we really got into the pixel engine on the K15s, giving us another level of detail not easily obtained with simpler fixtures,” he added. Six Valero Waves were also ground mounted for live performances.
The 36 X Frames were symbolic as much as they were an atomspheric choice. “As it related to the Banyan Tree concept, it symbolised the roots that drop down from the branches. In the interactive output, when people would approach the area, they would illuminate the floor beneath. As far as the look, I always love the uniform grid arrays over a large space. It really makes the space super dynamic and fun, running chases across a warehouse will never get old, especially from the dance floor,” Bontly said, noting that the Tambora product line colour matched quite easily, while the K15s “fell in line with the Tamboras with almost zero difference. We landed on a good, synchronised look,” he added.
Bontly relied on the Mumbai production company Light N Light and Sahil Phodkar for support, but he reported that “the Claypaky fixtures worked flawlessly”. He credited Swordfish and Bharath Muniram, his Production Manager, for “holding the project together and funding the dream. I could not have done it without these teams,” he concluded. “We built [the installation] for three weeks, and they kept it maintained for another 10 days.”
