Hfour
Works created for Hfour, primarily business related.
Yaletown Illuminate
May 8th
Illuminate Yaletown is a light and projection artists’ event held each February in Vancouver, brightening the winter nights in the downtown neighbourhood.
Stuart’s Yaletown Project Mapping Test #2 installation uses the emerging art form of “mapping” to transform a building into a screen, making it a light-driven moving sculpture.
Recent technologies have broken the rectangular barriers of media presentation formats. The limitations of 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios are becoming a thing of the past. The same goes for 2D screens. What if, in addition to making the content 3D, the screen was also 3D? Why even have traditional screens?
Contemporary media pioneers are exploring the possibilities of video projection on alternative surfaces — primarily architecture — but also on sculpture, vehicles, and other physical objects. This, itself, is not a new art form, but the creation of visual media to harmonize with the physical shapes of a projected surface has been a recent development, originating in Europe in the past 10 years. The advances of computer processing power, as well as video projection systems, have made this art form, called “mapping”, possible.
The presentation surface can now play a role in the artistic narrative of a media piece. In most cases, this means that the architectural narrative of form and space can be considered during the creative process. What ‘fits’ the aesthetic, the shape, and the story?
The content being presented is not in a traditional start-to-finish linear narrative. Rather, individual pieces have been made to match the building’s shapes, and graphical imagery has been broken into themes. Using a real-time media playback system, different parts of the building’s projected imagery can be changed, creating a non-linear and manipulable narrative.
I was fortunate enough to collaborate with music producers James Teej, and Marc Nyiti to create a soundtrack for the installation. The sounds are translated by video filters, in real-time, to adjust the video output, creating a synesthetic effect.
But what does it all mean?
I’ve got a large presentation surface for use as an artist with no corporate limitations. In addition to the visual delights and intrigues that most people come to see, is there a message I want to convey as an artist? Absolutely. Globally, we can see the problems that result when we fail to communicate or fail to listen, but we can also see evidence of the unbounded possibilities resulting from understanding and mutual respect. I want to send this message, but only if the audience wants to see it.
My intention isn’t to hijack the show, but instead to have the audience embrace the experience, thereby ‘adjusting their vision’ and seeing the graphic imagery of possibility, hope, fear, truth, and freedom.
I asked Digital Design Senior Instructor Casey Yee, who is an accomplished interface developer, if he was interested in building an interactive aspect to this piece. He agreed, and went on to develop an audience-controlled adjustable tuner. It can unlock some emotionally charged and inspirational content when used by an interactive viewer.
Illuminate Yaletown is still in its infancy, but is in good standing to become one of Canada’s premier light installation expos. That’s why it’s so incredibly thrilling to have been able to be a part of this event. I would like to thank James Teej, Marc Nyiti, Casey Yee, Josef Chung, Mac Station, and the Yaletown Business Improvement Association for all their help and efforts.
There were some great projections onto buildings throughout Yaletown, and it’s clear that there are some talented artists in Vancouver working in the field.
Let’s hope we get to see a lot more projection mapping in Vancouver.
Blacklist Tokyo 5th Anniversary Pt.2
Dec 9th
Congratulations to Cedric and Beno, founders of Blacklist Tokyo. Celebrating 5 years of great events.
Blacklist Tokyo 5th Anniversary pt.1
Dec 9th
Hfour was asked to produce a content dvd for the 5th Anniversary party of Blacklist Tokyo, featuring photographs of the event over the years. Having been involved since the second anniversary party took place at the Crystal Lounge, Hfour has grown with blacklist over the years, constantly improving content and style. What started out as a ‘VJ gig’ turned into a long term professional and personal relationship; although the video aspects of a party are not integral to its success, if the screens aren’t being used at a Blacklist party, the organizers and attendees agree that something seems missing. Congratulations to Beno and Cedric at Blacklist for rising to the pinnacle of nightlife entertainment in Tokyo, and remaining at the top for five years.
The video shown below is a different look at creating a slideshow, with inspiration from Michal, the missing partner of the Blacklist VJ duo.
Blacklist Tokyo + TLC exclusive concert invitation
Jul 2nd
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Just a quick text animation from the video commercial for Blacklist Tokyo’s exclusive event featuring TLC. (Yes, that band you thought was gone forever.) Wish I could be at the event, but it didn’t work out that way. The total commercial is 30 seconds long, but I’ve decided only to show the first few seconds.
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Viterum logo design process report.
Jul 2nd
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I developed a logo and wordmark for a Tokyo based eco-consulting company last year. I created a design process report based on the workflow, read the Case Study PDF file, if you’re interested in seeing how this logo came to be.
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NYE 2010 in Tokyo
Jan 20th
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Hfour collaborated with 5, Tokyo’s hottest event team to produce a truly spectacular new year’s eve party for about 350 people at the Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo.
Stage concept and design and video performance by Hfour.
Two thematic concepts were used for this event:
The first theme was 2010: A Bass Odyssey. (Some motion design content courtesy of vjvault.)
The second theme was NeoTraditionalisme: the fusion of traditional Japanese styles with a countdown party, including champagne and house music.
Three projectors were used: a 7000 lumen for the screen and 2 x 2200 lumen projectors to cover parts of the walls and ceiling with star effects and other illuminating shapes.
The audio coming into the camera’s mic was frightfully distorted, so I’ve uploaded two versions.
Here is one of the videos:
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Bathysphere Video Installation @ Mariana Tokyo
Oct 26th
Mariana is THE deep techno music event in Tokyo.
On August 15, 1934, Barton and Beebe made a world record descent to a depth of 3,028 feet (923 m), the record remaining unbroken for 15 years.[2]
What Beebe saw on that trip—and reported with such vividness—was a glowing world of creatures so astonishing that for decades many doubted his veracity. The clear sea stretched endlessly, and was so full of luminescence that it sparkled like the night sky. Cavalcades of black shrimps, transparent eels, and bizarre fish approached the descending sphere, and when Beebe used his spotlight to see them, great shadows and shifting patches of light hovered just out of view, leading him to postulate the existence of giants in the Bermudan depths. And below the bathysphere? There, said Beebe, lay a world that “looked like the black pit-mouth of hell itself.”
Hfour collaborated with Mariana’s key organizer to create an ambient ‘back wall’ video installation showcasing found footage of deep sea life and exploration.
Visit mariana-jp.com/ for information about upcoming events.







