As technology advances in the creative fields, light has become an artistic tool as expressive and accessible as the paintbrush or the pen. Creative lighting design can elevate a live performance, invigorate architecture and public spaces, or stand on its own as a unique and immersive visual experience. Lighting solutions that can adapt to a range of settings and applications are key to executing impactful and memorable lighting design.
With durable fixtures, vivid colors and reliable automation, Martin Professional by HARMAN provides the tools necessary to bring bold and distinct creative lighting to any setting, from an outdoor public space to an intimate concert hall. Additionally, with the aid of advanced software and user-friendly digital control, creators and designers can refine their creations down to the pixel or millisecond.
The following examples show how lighting designers, production companies and venues from all over the world are using Martin solutions to enhance landmarks and performances and produce unforgettable visual experiences.
Øresund Bridge, Sweden
At more than five miles long, the Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, a vital connection point between Sweden and Denmark, and the titular main location for the Nordic crime drama The Bridge. To commemorate the Øresund Bridge’s 20th anniversary, Light Bureau fitted the structure with Martin Exterior Wash 300 and Exterior Wash 310 fixtures to vibrantly and efficiently illuminate the iconic passing for years to come.
“Martin really went above and beyond to provide us with all the relevant data in a transparent manner, including how the fixtures were tested, what types of materials are used, the availability of spare parts and educational information,” said Mikkel Toksværd, Director of Business Development, Projects, Sales and Communication, LiteNordic. “This enables us to perform full onsite support and routine checkups that will guarantee a long lifespan of the lighting solution no matter the conditions—sea, snow or storm. When you get that level of partnership from a manufacturer, you know that you’re all in this together, and everybody involved is equally as proud of the project.”
Piispantorni Building, Finland
In the town of Kaarina, the recently renovated Piispantorni building’s façade is now home to “Big Blue,” an 82-foot-long mural of a life-size blue whale by artist Mauri Kosonen. To elevate the mural’s impact and appeal, Turku Energia and Studiotec Oy implemented an animated underwater-inspired lighting design created by Antti Viertamo in collaboration with Deniz Seifulla of Signify Finland and Anssi Mäkinen of Sitowise. Using Martin Exterior Projection 1000 fixtures, the team immersed “Big Blue” in a vibrant, shimmering ocean of light.
“The owner wanted to enhance the new façade of Piispantorni with a lighting design that reflects the seaside nature of the city,” said Jami Lehtonen, Sales Manager, Studiotec Oy. “The design features animations that look like ocean waves, which goes perfectly with Mauri Kosonen’s ‘Big Blue’ whale painting. The motion of the waves is created entirely with Martin Exterior Projection 1000 fixtures, which were chosen because of their exceptional power over distance and built-in animation engines. The lighting design was created specifically with that fixture in mind, and it did not disappoint—everyone involved is very happy with the final result.”
Airport Festival, Denmark
Aairport Festival, Denmark’s first music festival dedicated exclusively to electronic dance music, held its inaugural weekend in early 2020 with some of the biggest acts in the European EDM world. LiteNordic, Sound & Light and lighting designer Mikkel Stoklund Moltzen created a dynamic lighting design for the festival using Martin VDO Sceptron and Dotron creative LED video fixtures powered by the Martin P3 System Controller platform.
“The venue had a very high ceiling, so my goal was to bring an intimate club vibe to the room with a ‘fake ceiling’ made of lighting fixtures,” said Moltzen. “We chose Sceptron and Dotron fixtures because of how simple and easy they are to use, along with their ability to plug and play with the Martin P3 System Controller. The festival’s production team and I were extremely satisfied with the way the Sceptron and Dotron fixtures integrated with the main video screens and tied the room together.”
Illuminate: COVID-19, New York
In late 2020, the Illuminate Cities Project unveiled their debut art installation Illuminate: COVID-19 in New York City, which visually displayed the pandemic’s impact across the five boroughs in an informative and aesthetically striking manner. Requiring a versatile and data-driven lighting solution to bring their concept to life, co-founders Alexandra Payne and Domingo Abrusci selected Martin VC-Grid LED video tiles and P3-PC control software.
“At first we were talking about using fiber optics, but we began running into this problem where we needed to be able to light up very different areas sometimes, or data that's in very different geographic subsets, so we needed something that was super flexible on the backend,” said Payne. “I got Ken Romaine from Martin on the line and said, ‘I'm not a lighting person. I don't know anything about the backend of this. Can you walk me through how these tools work, what they do and what the cost is?’ And he was super helpful.”
“We really wanted to build something that would serve multiple purposes: to drive awareness about these issues and cause people to question the underlying structures that brought us here,” explained Abrusci. “We also wanted something that could be a form of art as a memorial and an access point so that people could engage with data about themselves and have their experience reified.”
Shanghai Circus World, China
Lovingly known as the “Golden Pineapple,” the ornate domed theater at the heart of Shanghai Circus World is one of China’s premier cultural landmarks and performance venues. As part of the theater’s renovations in 2018, Guangzhou Bai MingHui Lighting Technology Co. LTD equipped the lighting rig with a range of Martin lighting solutions capable of complementing any type of event or performance.
Featuring a variety of cutting-edge fixtures including the Martin MAC Axiom Hybrid, Quantum Wash and Viper AirFX, the new lighting rig provides a colorful and engaging visual experience for audiences. With the capability to produce rich colors, clean white illumination, tight spotlights, smooth washes and exciting aerial effects, the “Golden Pineapple” is now equipped to elevate any performance with dynamic lighting displays.