Evoke (2007)

Interactive projection on York Minster facade that responds to the voices of crowds.

A specially commissioned project for Illuminating York 2007 in northern England, Evoke is a massive animated projection that lights up the facade of York Minster, one of Europe's largest Gothic cathedrals. The patterns and textures are generated in real-time, responding to the public, who use their own voices to "evoke" colourful light patterns that emerge at the building's foundations and soar up towards the sky, giving the surface a magical feeling as it melts with colour.

The cathedral, built to link conceptually earth to the heavens, has been a site for the conveyance of words, dreams and aspirations for hundreds of years. The facade is designed to orient the gazes of passers-by upwards. As an attempt to continue this tradition, the patterns of Evoke were generated in realtime by the words, sounds, music and noises produced collectively by the public, determined by their particular voice characteristics. The colours skim the surface of the Minster, pour round its features and crevasses, emerging finally near the top of the facade where they will sparkle high overhead.

Evoke at York Minster, 2007
Evoke at York Minster, 2007

People with voices of different frequencies, rhythms or cadences were be able to evoke quite different magical patterns upon the surface of the building - a staccato chirping will result in a completely different set of visual effects to a long howl for example, blending old and new to continue animating the facade of the Minster.