all images © Obscura Digital

Video: Empire State Building Projections

Obscura Digital is an interactive technology platform that deals with built environments, live events, and new ventures. The latest work of Obscura Digital focuses on endangered animals and the studio covered the south facade of the Empire State Building probably noticed massive projections of endangered animals covering the 1931 skyscraper. ''Projecting Change: the Empire State Building'' project is one of the world’s most iconic buildings will catalyze a movement to preserve the real treasure of our beautiful planet: its life. Join the race to save these species at racingextinction.com. 

Manta rays, 40 stories high. Blue whales swimming hundreds of feet above the city streets. The vision of Academy Award® winning, Racing Exctinction director Louie Psihoyos and world-renowned visual artist Travis Threlkel (Chief Creative Officer of Obscura Digital) created this interactive projection to attract people's attention to endangered animals. Projecting Change: the Empire State Building is produced by the Oceanic Preservation Society and Obscura Digital, in collaboration with Discovery Channel, Vulcan Productions, Spinifex Group, Photo Ark, the Li Ka-Shing Foundation and Empire State Building Trust.

The New York Times reported that the cost of the project is around $1 million to produce and involved 40 stacked 20,000-lumen projectors. This group is also releasing a film this fall called Racing Extinction, and during Saturday night’s event two film crews in helicopters circled the building to capture footage of the projected images, some of which were from National Geographic’s extensive archive of animal photography while others were created by various artists reports Hyperallergic. 

Project Facts

Projection and Design: Obscura Digital

Video Art Direction: Emmett Feldman, Tim Digulla

Wildlife Photography: Joel Sartore

> via obscuradigital.com