LUMA Projection Arts Festival Hosts 3-Day Celebration of Immersive Storytelling
in Binghamton NY, September 7-9, 2018

Art and Technology Merge in Huge 3D Experiences on Historic City Buildings

Opera & Beer, Theremin Concert, Orchestral Light Show, Lights Out Dining Experience
and art exhibitions enhance festival

Binghamton, NY, June 12, 2018 –  A town in upstate New York will be transformed by world-renowned projection mapping experts and thrust onto the global art scene for the Fourth Annual LUMA Projection Arts Festival. LUMA will celebrate its bold commitment to shaping the future of storytelling with cutting edge technology from September 7-9, 2018 bringing art lovers and tech enthusiasts alike to Binghamton, NY to witness artists from around the globe.

Binghamton’s LUMA is the only visual arts festival in the U.S. focusing primarily on projection mapping.  It made its debut in 2015, drawing a crowd of 30,000 people to a city of just 45,000 for a one day festival. As a result of growing interest from the global arts community, LUMA has expanded this year’s schedule to a full weekend and will showcase the work of artists worldwide to its largest audience yet.

“LUMA is mixing various mediums that bridge the lines of fiction and reality,” stated Tice Lerner, production director of LUMA. “We are creating a new artistic medium that you can’t experience at home, even in Virtual Reality. You must go and immerse yourself. There is so much tech in front of us and creative potential, but LUMA is the playground for letting that potential loose.”

The LUMA Festival transforms historic architecture in downtown Binghamton, NY into an outdoor art gallery, making virtually anything a canvas that alters the way visitors interact with the city’s urban core. Using high powered video projection, advanced 3D computer animation, live music, moving lights and more, artists will unveil original immersive stories. Projection mapping is by no means a new phenomenon, but the precision, creativity and scale that LUMA integrates has yet to be seen in America.

The artists featured this year are global innovators who are known for pushing creative boundaries. Artists include:

• Max10sity (Budapest, Hungary) is a world-renowned force in projection mapping. Their work has been seen in dozens of countries with recent projects in Tokyo, Jerusalem and Moscow.
• Light Harvest (New York, New York) is recognized industry-wide for its award-winning special effects, spectacular cinematography, and compelling storytelling. They have worked with Burning Man, Dumbo Arts Festival, HBO’s Game of Thrones and more.
• Onion Lab (Barcelona, Spain) is known for its bold reimagining of projection art and lighting installations. Constant innovators, they introduced stereoscopic mapping to LUMA in 2017.
• Favorite Color (Binghamton, New York) is a hometown firm with a worldwide client list. Showtime, Major League Baseball and Disney all rely on their sleek productions. At LUMA, they flex their artistic muscle.

Additional Programming and Partner Events

In addition to the illuminating exhibits, the three-day festival will tech-infuse or remix many of Binghamton’s top-notch cultural institutions like Tri-Cities Opera, Binghamton Philharmonic, downtown’s densely packed restaurant district and the center city art galleries:

• LUMA Storytellers Conference
  LUMA is more than an art exhibit; it serves as the harbinger of the future of storytelling. In 2018, the festival will unveil LUMA Storytellers Conference to be held on Sunday. Top storytellers and innovators from various mediums such as projection mapping, film, digital art and more will unite to inspire the next generation of storytellers towards embracing new technologies and new approaches. This cross-pollination of thought leadership will compel programmers, writers, dancers, engineers and more to create new forms of expressive and immersive art.
• Transfiguració de la nau (Transfiguration of the Nave)
  This immersive experience transforms a two centuries old church through the hypnotic interplay of light and orchestra. Transfiguracio will feature 44 members of the Binghamton Philharmonic performing a newly commissioned expansion of the original as first presented in Girona, Spain. LUMA is proud to present Transfiguracio’s American debut.
• Opera & Beer
  Join a rowdy crowd of foot-stomping, hand-clapping opera lovers and the opera-curious as they celebrate the craft beers of Upstate New York to the rousing sounds of some of history’s most recognizable melodies performed live. Tri-Cities Opera’s crew of classically trained vocalists stroll right up to your table mid-aria and may even share a pint.
• Sight Unseen: A Lights Out Dinner Experience
  Your most important sense at the dinner table is taste–so why bother with all the rest? In 1997, a French restaurateur held the first lights out dining event. The rest is highly delicious history. Shut off your phones, settle in to your table, and enjoy your meal in complete and total darkness. Relish every bite free from distraction while your servers outfitted in infrared goggles take care of everything else. Held at participating restaurants.
• Pneuhaus
  Where air, art, and architecture intersect, there you’ll find Pneuhaus. Explore these serene, large-scale, inflatable environments designed to heighten the interplay of light, structure, and space. By artfully compounding relatively simple technologies, Pneuhaus redefines public space in extraordinary, joyful, and inspiring ways.
• E-Styles
  Kids create wired LED bracelets they can wear throughout the festival during a PBS SciGirl-designed workshop built for 5th to 8th graders. Use conductive thread, felt and LEDs to create soft circuits with e-textiles, all while learning science that makes it go. Hosted by NPR/PBS affiliate WSKG.
• Eric Ross: Music From the Future. In Concert (Theremin w. Projection)
  Eric Ross has enraptured crowds all over the globe with his skill on the Theremin, an electronic musical instrument. In this special hometown performance at the historic Christ Church, Ross performs an extended set synchronized to curated video projections by his wife Mary.
• Afterglow
  Afterglow is LUMA’s late night party for the 18+ LGBT community, produced in cooperation with UHS PrEP. Celebrate after hours with pop friendly beats and what is sure to be a wild night of drag featuring LED and fiber optic fashion.
  

In addition to the LUMA partnerships featured above, the festival continues to seek content proposals for 2018 and beyond. Artists, producers and technologists should apply online at LUMAfestival.com

LUMA is proud to acknowledge the support of its newest technology sponsors IBM and McIntosh Labs. LUMA is presented by VISIONS, with support from New City Video & Staging, Dataton, Show Sage and Red Barn Technology. Additionally, support was provided by Market New York through I LOVE NEW YORK, the New York State Division of Tourism as a part of the Regional Economic Development Council awards.

Guests of all ages are encouraged to participate in this deeply engaging celebration. For further developments and the latest festival information, please visit LUMAFestival.com

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About LUMA Projection Arts Festival

Founded in 2015 by a street photographer, a film editor, and an event planner, the LUMA Projection Arts Festival is a cutting edge visual arts festival held in Binghamton, NY, just 3 ½ hours from New York, Harrisburg and Philadelphia and 5 ½ hours from Cleveland, Boston and Toronto.  LUMA’s mission is to advance the future of storytelling through the emerging practice of projection mapping by giving artists a space to push the boundaries of their own work in front of an open-minded and engaged audience. Support for this festival was provided by Market New York through I LOVE NEW YORK, the New York State Division of Tourism as a part of the Regional Economic Development Council awards.