Project underground

'Art on the Underground'

The typical conditions in which art is presented are usually carefully controlled, with lighting, noise, temperature and cleanliness all considered and mitigated.

So when Transport For London approached ADi to install a new art piece within one of London's busiest transport hubs, they needed to carefully consider how to approach the challenge.

"The PT-RZ970 is reliable and requires low maintenance what is extremely important due to a difficult access for servicing in the location"

King's Cross has for centuries been a popular meeting point. Today, over 95 million people move through the underground station every year. For any AV installation in this kind of environment, the level of ambient light, atmospheric dust levels and health and safety were major considerations.

A new commission

'Art on the Underground'is a visual arts showcase project that aims to entertain and inspire millions of daily commuters travelling through the Capital.

Curator and technical programme manager Niamh Sullivan has over ten years' experience in the delivery of public art commissions. And when 'Art on The Underground' wanted to launch its new Broomberg and Chanarin commission ADi was on hand to advise, before undertaking a design and installation programme.

As Mark Wayman ADi Audiovisual co-founder says, "There was a need for a projector that in combination with an optical screen, would produce an image with sufficient brightness and contrast for the ambient light levels present in a foyer with overhead lighting."

The underground environment was crucial when considering challenges for the AV equipment. As Mark further explains, "The equipment also had to tolerate the level and type of iron dust present in an underground station foyer."

As a result, the dnp Supernova Infinity Screen was chosen as the central media display. The 5m wide dnp screen was accompanied by a Panasonic PT-RZ970 projector, supplied and installed by Visual Displays Ltd.

London travellers can see the screen at the main ticket hall when walking through King's Cross.

“The effect is simply amazing. When we commissioned this large display we had no idea it would look this good.”

The content is a 12- minute video called "The Bureaucracy of Angels", made by Broomberg and Chanarin.

Situated in such an area of high footfall, it was important that any AV solution was reliable.

"The PT-RZ970 is reliable and requires low maintenance, which is extremely important due to a difficult access for servicing in the location," says Mark Wayman.

The RZ970 supports easy installation thanks to DIGITAL LINK, which supports the transmission of uncompressed Full HD video and control commands through a single CAT 5e or higher STP cable up to distances of up to 150 m (492 ft).

The Art of projection

The PT-RZ970 projector has proved very popular in both education and museums environments. At King's Cross the projector's dust-resistant structure with airtight optical block was of particular importance. In addition, the dual-drive laser optical engine ensures reliable 24//7 operation with light source failover protection.

As Mark Wayman explains, "It's a laser hybrid combining high contrast, reliability and a sealed optical block.

"Because the RZ970 has a relatively low throughput of air compared with other laser hybrid projectors, there is lower likelihood of any damage caused by dust.

"So far the projector has performed extremely well. Both the client and Iwere impressed by the quality of the image produced by the projector in combination with the optical screen," adds Mark.

"Both the client and Iwere impressed by the quality of the image produced by the projector in combination with the optical screen"

Reviewing the project, VDL director Greg Jeffreys, said there had been many boxes to tick. “The client wanted a 5m seamless screen surface with high colour rendition for HD video that was compliant with stringent fire and safety regulations. The unsurpassed quality of dnp Supernova optical screen technology in combination with the Panasonic projector, delivers on all levels. I am delighted that so many people will get to see what is achievable with projection screens of this size.”

And Niamh Sullivan clearly agreed. Summing up the impact, she said,“The effect is simply amazing. When we commissioned this large display we had no idea it would look this good.”

The projection can be seen between 28 September and 28 November near the Eurostar exit of the station.