Who are you? What the heck is "interactive light art"?
I'm Aron, a visual artist and designer based in Los Angeles. I grew up in Alabama and learned all I know about light and art at an early age from both my photographer father and later at my fine arts high school. Since then, I've been pursuing this fascination of light around the country and creating as many works of art as possible, with as many various media as possible. My uses of light as an artistic medium range from light on a stage to photgraphy, and light painting to developing interactive art installations. I posses a hunger for creating and sharing light as art that drives me to seek new forms and artists all the time, as much as humanly possible.
Paint The Town Red is an annual fundraiser for the Jefferson-Shelby chapter of the American Red Cross. It is a digital street art festival that brings artists from various disciplines to downtown Birmingham for a night of visual spectacle and entertainment.
This year, I'm bringing a giant Laser Graffiti installation and an interactive Kinect hack to this festival. Laser Graffiti utilizes a system that tracks a laser pointer and "paints" onto a surface wherever the pointer goes -- in our case, on a 5-story brick warehouse. We're going to give participants the opportunity to make their own work of art, leaving their own mark on downtown Birmingham. The Kinect hack will use a video camera, depth sensor, and custom applications to allow participants to interact and create their own art using their bodies as the brush and canvas. Participants of all ages will be able to interact with a digital version of themselves projected on a large building. I'm extremely excited about bringing these art forms back to my hometown and using it to allow the community to unleash their own artistic potential for a night of fun and creativity for a great cause.
Why do I need your support?
These installations are bigger than anything I've done before with thousands of square feet of projection and an expected 4,000+ attendees. The event is also happening 2,000 miles across the country from where I live in Los Angeles. The festival is able to cover most equipment rentals, but due to it being a fundraiser there's not money in the budget for much else. Even so, I believe in this cause and believe in spreading art to as many people as possible, and so I'm covering all other expenses out of pocket to help them raise more money for the Red Cross. This includes:
- Airfare (~$450)
- Accomodations (~$200)
- Local transporation (~$100)
- Laser pointers, cameras, depth sensors (~$150)
- Assorted cables, coffee, occasional food (~$100)
My goal with this campaign is to help offset the cost to bring this wonderful installation to Birmingham next month. However, I have a larger goal here, and that is that any money I raise beyond my initial goal will go directly to the Red Cross. Ultimately, the reason I'm doing this installation is to bring art to my hometown and benefit a good cause. I've always loved the ability of art to give back to a community, and this is a prime opportunity to make a big difference in the Jefferson-Shelby area of Alabama -- a place near and dear to my heart.
The Impact
Paint The Town Red is a fantastic event that brings creativity and beauty to downtown Birmingham for one night in a fashion not usually seen -- all for a great cause. I have put on several smaller-scale events of this nature in the past few years in various cities, but this is the first time I've been able to put my art toward something this large with a direct line to supporting an organization as influential as the Red Cross. Not only will we be making art and bringing a community together, we'll be helping the Birmingham community in the process. I fully believe that art has the power to strengthen bonds, heal wounds, and bringing together thousands of people to witness a spectacle together is where my heart lays. Bringing what I've learned back to my hometown and helping those that live there at the same time -- this is art doing good, and this is why I'm so passionate about this project. With your help, we can make a difference in this world of ours, and we can do it in a way that's, frankly, really damn cool.
