"Letters to Andy Warhol" Exhibition, Munich

Two unique US brand icons took centre stage at the exhibition at the "Isarforum" on Munich's Museum Island. "Letters to Andy Warhol" was a collaboration between the "Cadillac" automobile brand and the Warhol Museum, which is dedicated to the Pop Art artist. The museum's archive was the source of five surprising letters, which were then interpreted in exhibits by renowned artists, designers and musicians. The exhibition was rounded off by works of art by Andy Warhol that thematise "Cadillac" and underline his special relationship with iconic American brands.

Coinciding with the "Letters to Andy Warhol" exhibition, a branch of the New York "Cadillac House" opened its doors at the former Isarforum cinema during the summer months of 2017. It was based on the original venue, which opened in New York's SoHo district the previous year. The new venue is a mix of a multi-functional, creative meeting place, gallery, showroom and café, and was designed to present inspiring works from the worlds of art, fashion, culture and cuisine. In Munich, visitors also had the chance to see two historic Cadillac models and gain an insight into the current portfolio at a scale of 1:1 and in the latest spectacular 3D technology. After about three weeks, various works proposed by "Stroke" replaced the "Letters to Andy Warhol" exhibition and filled "Cadillac House" with new attractions. "Stroke" is a German fair for emerging contemporary art, which attracted around 180,000 visitors in the last seven years. "Cadillac House" also staged a vernissage exhibiting the works of five largely undiscovered artists. The works had been selected as winners by the "Talenthouse" jury, a platform for artists which boasts 800,000 members worldwide. Up-and-coming European artists were called upon to reinterpret the subject of "Cadillac" in a style based on that of Andy Warhol.

We were engaged to plan and realise the lighting, audio, video and technical infrastructure (power supply and W-LAN). One task was the synchronised projection of images onto seven media surfaces. This was achieved using Multi-Display software and the Watchout media server system along with four high-performance client computers. The surfaces consisted of 28 seamless displays, with one media surface comprising four 46-inch displays, for which we then provided a HD signal with 1:1 resolution. The overall resolution was 26,880 x 2,160 pixels at 50 frames/second. A further computer was used to implement the multi-channel audio as well as the data transmission to a high-resolution LED wall. Four wallpaper displays with a depth of five millimetres showed a photo booth installation via streaming media adapters; three further 46-inch displays were used for a virtual reality installation.

The exhibition rooms were lit with neutral-white light from silver or white spotlights adapted to fit in with the American museum's clear-cur design and lighting concept. The right setting was created for the exhibits with S4 mini-LED ellipsoidal spotlights. The various exhibition zones were provided with their own individual sound, which is why the signals for the 40 or so loudspeakers could be routed accordingly.