Not everyone gets to have their lights gracing a 55 ft. tall, 60 ft. wide, 50 tonne
spider made from re-imagined industrial waste and Robe is hugely proud that
Arcadia Spectacular chose to invest in its moving lights to ensure this masterpiece
of imagination, engineering, resourcefulness and fully immersive performance will
have its own lightshow and the highest production values.
The Spider, which started its journey at the Glastonbury Festival circa 2010 when its
first incarnation was crafted with love, enthusiasm and some glorious craziness by
Pip Rush and Bert Cole, is now gaining widespread international acclaim. As the
Arcadia performance concept leads to more and more high profile bookings around
the globe, the time was right for them to be self-sufficient in terms of production
hardware.
Sixteen of Robe’s BMFL WashBeams are right at the heart of the lighting rig.
Eight are a special custom version of the luminaire which is a collaboration between
Robe and Light Initiative, with a bespoke LED ring around the front of the BMFL.
These are used for the three sets of Spider’s eyes (with two spares!) The eyes are
set in reconditioned reverse thrust units modelled out of scrapped Rolls Royce jet
engines. The bespoke LED is fed with video content stored on Arcadia’s AI media
servers and combined with the vast array of effects from the BMFLs, bring a whole
new dimension to the eyes.
Twenty Robe Pointes join the show, with four each mounted inside the three legs of
the structure (previously Customs & Excise scanning machines) and six more
Pointes rigged beneath the DJ booth for lighting the core rave / dancefloor area.
Then there are nine LEDWash 600s which multi-task but one of the main functions is
for six of them to follow spot the aerialists in The Landing Show and to provide vital
rigging and safety lighting during the complex and stunning Metamorphosis show.
The supply also included a substantial amount of architectural LED fixtures from
Robe’s sister company Anolis. Like Robe, the brand is manufactured in Europe and
has a great reputation for quality and robustness.
The Anolis elements were mainly completely customised lightsources to illuminate
various parts of the Spider. Three different fixtures alone are involved in lighting
the legs with 24, 36 and 48 lengths of ArcLine double Outdoor Optic – all fitted
perfectly into different leg cavities for a sleek, streamlined look.
Anolis ArcPad 48s and ArcLine Mini Outdoors are used to highlight the crane arms at
the top of the spider. The fixtures are mounted on the edges facing back into the
arms – and again are perfectly ensconced.
One of the objectives was to ensure the structure looks great – lit smoothly and
evenly – for the countless images and videos that are posted throughout cyberspace
so it looks every bit the fantastic spectacle and fully immersive experience that
every Arcadia Spectacular really is.
