Fractaltribe
ten year anniversary
Kyle packing up the Institute of Fractilian Antiquities for display at our ten year celebration
a decade of Fractaltribe
As 2018 came around the coner, the hunger for a quality experience to honor our years became palpable.
the challenge
Theres plenty of reasons the tradition of leaving the performers view unobstructed has lived strong, but I wanted to experiment with removing the element of the dj centerpiece.
to honor ten years of passion, creativity and dedication was a tall order. With a festival on the way, we had limited resources and funds when a new-to-us venue opportunity in nyc emerged. I was tasked with assembling our years of classic Fractaltribe deco and designing a new projection-mapped stage that could fit in the new space and be repurposed at fractalfest.
additionally, I wanted to design something relevant to a conversation that had been ongoing between crew members for sometime: A structure that removed the performer as the highlight and gave center stage to the music and art, with the caveat that the guy behind the decks still needed to see what was in front of him.
the design process
I set out with a pod enclosure design skinned in a sheer fabric mesh, a technique I had used in the past which gave a fair amount of transparency while performing well as a projection surface. In order to repurpose this structure at fractalfest, it would have to adhere to the ceiling clearance of the nyc venue and also nest inside one of two permanent stage structures we had on the festival grounds. It needed to be modular enough to transport easily to the big apple and assemble into a sleek structure with a large amount of surface area to project onto. the result ended up resembling a jellyfish…and so it was named.
the jellyfish build
lead designer and project/build manager: aaron fractaltribe
carpentry: eli cutler, paul dutil, dan flanagan, dave custodio
cnc machining: Justin kline
fabrication crew: Ben vilner, tovia shapiro, mel blair, nikhil Korwar
the install
The team mobilized for a 2-day install at club polygon in brooklyn. graced with good weather, we utilized two outdoor areas for a total of three fully decorated spaces.
the day arrived
That’s me, thoroughly enjoying the event after working my butt off to build it