Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Connecticut, USA
June 2023
Hako is on exhibition at Stepping Stones Museum for Children from June 2023 until June 2024. Appearing in the museum’s Lights On! exhibit, Hako engages children and families in the mesmerizing and transformative qualities of projections. The projection mapping show that brings Hako to life features three sections--art by BARTKRESA studio, art by Stepping Stones, and art from the 2020 Hako Workshop.
In 2020, BARTKRESA studio selected 40 artists and technicians from around the world to participate in a remote projection design workshop. Their experience yielded several animated loops, depicting everything from unique characters to experimental textures. This show includes the work of several Hako Workshop participants.
ISE 2022
Barcelona, Spain
May 2022
BARTKRESA studio presented Hako at ISE 2022 in partnership with Dataton. Dataton supported the 2020 Hako workshops, providing each participant with access to software and technicians. When ISE 2022 convened in Barcelona in May 2022, Dataton wanted a striking set piece to anchor their booth. They collaborated with BARTKESA studio to present Hako to the more than 40,000 attendees that streamed through the exhibition.
Two 10K Epson projectors illuminated a Hako with symbols of peace. The vibrant imagery extended to nearby monitors, which included text to explain the history of each symbol. BARTKRESA studio created animated projections that featured the white dove, ohm, shalom, paper cranes, and the peace sign to highlight their dedication to peace, especially in the response to the war in Ukraine. Hako began as a way to bring lightness and art into the darkness of the Pandemic, and evolved into a digital sign for peace in the global artistic community. The display in the Dataton booth was the culmination of a global art exhibition that connected artists from around the world, and illuminated messages of peace.
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California, USA
August 2021
Greg Mitchell, an Associate Professor of Theatre Design at UC Santa Barbara, presented Hako at the university campus in a grand scale. He built an 8-foot-tall Hako in the theatre department's scene shop, and stationed the giant sculpture in a window-filled lobby, overlooking a prominent thoroughfare on campus. He presented a show composed of animations from BARTKRESA studio and workshop participants.
Gallery 707
Hudson, NY
May - August 2021
When Gallery 707 owner, Alan Fernandez, wanted a statement piece to feature at his gallery reopening, he contacted BARTKRESA studio. He had followed the progress of the Hako workshops, and felt that Hako aligned with his mission of featuring generative art and projection mapping. The show included animations from BARTKRESA studio and workshop participants. He emphasized the work of Emily Allard, a workshop participant, experimental artist, and technician from California. She used Touch Designer to create her hypnotic projections. Hako illuminated the front windows of the gallery, attracting passersby with dynamic light and animation.
Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
March 2021
Dr. William Franco, an America ex-pat in New Zealand, braved the 21-hour time difference between Los Angeles and Wellington to participate in the Hako workshops. He used his experience in the workshop to create a five-minute-long show, called "3000 Realms." He described the experience to Dataton, saying, "Imagine walking through the Hub at Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University Wellington and you encounter a never-before-seen creature with brightly colored feathers and a big beak. As you walk around the creature, it suddenly changes into a bright red lava flow, spewing and splattering. You can almost feel the heat around you. The lava flow changes into a woman in white dancing in the bush, at the ocean, in the desert. Faster and faster the images change as the music goes faster and faster." Dataton supported the presentation with a WATCHPAX 4 media server and WATCHOUT software.
Workshop 2020
Remote
September 2020 - January 2021
In 2020, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, BARTKRESA studio created Hako, and invited artists and technicians from around the world to participate in a series of remote workshops to design their own Hako. BKS selected over forty participants from six continents and eighteen countries, and Bart Kresa taught weekly live design workshops via Zoom. The program culminated in the premiere of a global exhibition, shared virtually on social media. Hako sculptures, ranging from three-feet-cubed, to over eight-feet-cubed, appeared in public spaces in California, New York, Quebec, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, and beyond. Dataton supported the workshops, providing each artist with access to software and technicians.
Hako is the winner of the Avixa AV Experience Award for Best Collaborative Experience.
