Kurt Hentschlager
407 N Elisabeth, #105A – Chicago, IL 60622
Tel / Fax +1 212 496 3984 – kh@splendidvoid.com
ZEE – Technical Rider 2009.1
ZEE – Technical Rider
INTRODUCTION
ZEE features a combination of intense stroboscopic light and artificial fog resulting in a
temporary loss of spatial orientation.
As with all events using stroboscopic light it is important to issue a warning concerning possibly
“photosensitive” visitors.
“To attend ZEE it is not advised and can be dangerous for anybody with a history of epilepsy,
respectively so called photosensitive epilepsy. Due to the immersive nature of ZEE several phenomena
linked to photosensitivity, like a feeling of seasickness or motion sickness, as well as trance like states
and blackouts can be experienced in various degrees.
Further, in regards to the fog, people suffering from asthma, breathing and heart problems, abnormal
blood pressure, migraine & headaches, eye & ear diseases, people suffering from claustrophobia or
anxiety should absolutely not attend the installation. Pregnant women and children are also advised to
refrain from attending.“
- It is advised that the audience shall sign a waiver, stating that they enter the show on their own risk in
clear understanding of the possible effects as described above.
- During the show a number of supervisors shall be present in the space to be of assistance to anybody
possibly experiencing distress.
ZEE does not pose a health hazard for anybody outside the defined risk group. The artificial fog
fluid used for the show is proven, even in extreme intensities, not to a health risk, the
stroboscopes / strobe lights facilitated for the show are standard theatrical units, used in clubs
and discos, the loudness of the sound is way below concert loudness, if not mellow.
The artist’s interest, in contrast to what the warnings might indicate, focuses on creating a sublime
landscape or architecture, a state of vivid contemplation.
Kurt Hentschlager, 2009
ZEE – techrider 2009
STROBE LIGHTS & LIGHT
1.)
a) 4 MARTIN “Atomic 3000” (DMX capable) (220V)
Provided by the artist as part of the customized installation equipment
The strobe lights are mounted, together with the PAR pulse lights, on a lighting grid or similar
on the front wall. They are facing forward, arranged in a block to form a square formation. The
fog will conceal them and diffuse their light quite evenly, while still providing a sensation of
increasing light intensity approaching them.
b) 4 MARTIN “Atomic Colors” DMX Color Changer units. (110/220V)
Provided by the artist as part of the customized installation equipment
The 4 color changers are mounted on strobe lights to colorize their beam at times.
c) 12 OPTI BAR or PAR 64 Wide Beam Stage Lights and dimmers – 575W each
NOT provided by the artist as part of the customized installation equipment.
The PAR Beams are mounted, with the strobe lights, on a lighting grid or similar on the front
wall. They are facing towards audience, arranged in a block. The fog will conceal them and
diffuse their light quite evenly, while still providing a sensation of increasing light intensity
approaching them.
d) 1 static small Spot Light
NOT provided by the artist as part of the customized installation equipment.
An additional static spot light needs to be placed above the exit so that audience members can
identify it through the fog, from a distance of no more than 6 feet.
e) 1 small Security Light
NOT provided by the artist as part of the customized installation equipment.
One small cool light needs to be placed on the ceiling in the corridor of the entrance gate.
ZEE – techrider 2009
FOG
1.)
2-4 Martin JEM ZR33 Foggers (220V) & MARTIN Fog Fluid.
Provided as part of the customized installation equipment
Depending on space dimensions either 2 or 4 foggers will be provided.
2.)
Fog fluid - Martin “Pro Smoke ZR mix”
NOT provided as part of the customized installation equipment.
Fog fluid needs to be provided on site for the duration of the installation. Quantities are
depending on space dimension, room temperature and humidity levels.
Thus the exact quantity needed for a single exhibition can only be determined after setup in the
specific venue and running the installation non stop for one entire day
.
3.)
Fog Control and -Maintenance
It’s important to completely seal off / enclose the installation space and to build a dedicated
entry / exit gate, so that the fog can't escape and is contained within the performance space.
The fog will escape through the smallest of crevice or openings, unsealed ventilation systems
etc., slowly but surely.
Escaping fog will normally raise concern and will trigger fire alarm systems outside the
installation space. Generally - a fully sealed space takes time and effort to achieve.
Any present fire alarm system (smoke detectors) in the immediate installation space, needs to
be switched off for the period of the installation. They will be triggered, if not switched off. Also,
any existing air conditioning- or ventilation system needs to be switched off or closed to avoid
unwanted exhaust of fog from the installation space or migration into other parts of the building.
Depending on venue conditions, It might be a good solution to build a sealed space in the
given venue space – space within space.
4.)
Equipment Preservation:
Strobes in any case shall be put into a ”strobe box” enclosure (see sketch on next page) or
alternatively outside the fog / audience space, behind a glass or Lucite window, to not be
exposed to the fog. Over the course of 1 month or more of exhibition time, the strobe lights
otherwise would accumulate fog residue, mostly water, both diminishing the brightness of the
strobe lights and actively damaging or compromising their electronics.
ZEE – techrider 2009
5.)
Stroboscope Encasement / “Strobe Box”:
It is necessary to protect the strobe lights and color changers from exposure to fog.
Thus a “strobe box” must be shipped in or fabricated on site. Existing strobe boxes are
available to be shipped from either North America or Europe. For a new build a 3D “SketchUp”
model is available upon request.
If you decide to build a strobe box from scratch, please contact the artist first.
(Additional views of Strobe Box are available at the end of technical rider)
Once the strobe lights are put inside an enclosure heat buildup becomes an issue. Maintaining
a cool temperature is vital for protecting the strobe lights.
Two identical axial fans of at least 230 CFM throughput must be used in order to pull fresh air
into the box, through the lower vent, and warm air out through the upper. Vents should be
placed in opposite corners. This will carry new air across a larger area of the box and increase
the overall amount of internal cooling.
A thermometer should be placed in the box and regularly monitored to ensure that equipment
is not operated while exposed to conditions of excessive heat.
ZEE – techrider 2009
6.)
Fog Machine Installation
- The fog machines shall be put outside the ZEE space, e.g. behind a temporary wall, their fog
outlet nozzles reaching through a pipe inside the separating wall. Thus the machines are both
invisible, but protected and accessible for maintenance, e.g. to refill their tanks.
7.)
Other
- Any other equipment or open electrical outlets inside of ZEE must be sealed from the fog as
well to prevent any kind of short-circuiting through humidity over time.
- PAR lamps are not negatively affected and can without a problem be exposed to the fog.
- PA – speakers and subwoofers shall all be “non active” units, meaning no inbuilt amplifiers,
but external amplifiers, which shall again be put outside the fog space.
- Generally - Due to the nature of artificial fog being predominantly water, humidity inside ZEE
will be high and water and fog residue will be accumulate throughout, especially on horizontal
surfaces. Due to condensation, fog will liquefy in area of possible gear fans, so it is advised
that these areas be monitored for the safety of the audience and preservation of equipment.
- Finally, an efficient means of blowing the fog out in case of an emergency needs to be
considered. Successful methods will necessarily differ from venue to venue. If the space has
windows or doors to the outside, opening them will evacuate the fog quite quickly.
The fog will evaporate by itself, just by switching off the fog machines. The space will clear
over time, the length of which is depending on space dimension and ambient temperature.
ZEE – techrider 2009
Entrance Gate:
The following design serves as a general guideline for how to build an effective entrance gate
for ZEE. Depending on the existing dimensions of the space, one room could be used for both
the fog machines and the computer. (a 3D SketchUp model is available upon request)
In this version of the entrance gate, a door on the left opens up to a control (computer) room. A
larger door in the center leads the audience into the actual gate, to a second door, and into the
main installation space. A door on the right leads to a room that houses the fog machines.
Typically there are two flexible ducts connected to the gate. The “new air intake” flexible duct
pulls new air into the reception area (see gate's facade, above the public entrance,) and helps
create a negative pressure. Negative pressure is essential for substituting fog as the corridor
fan removes it. Depending on the amount of fresh air naturally entering the reception area, the
need for a flexible duct to create a negative pressure may be unnecessary.
ZEE – techrider 2009
The second flexible duct, “fog release”, removes stray fog from the entrance corridor (leading
out of the fan-housing-box above the gate's inner corridor and to the outside of the building).
Depending on the venue and tolerance for fog in the reception area, outside the gate, 3 fans
inside the gate instead of 1 fan might be needed. This will more thoroughly evacuate the fog
inside the gate, so that less or none can reach the reception area.
A small overhead light, such as a “push-light” shall be placed on the ceiling of the corridor, to
provide visibility without much brightness.
ZEE – techrider 2009
View from reception area
The first door (entering the corridor from outside of the space) should be left slightly open to
create a negative pressure within the corridor. This will support stray fog to be picked up by the
fan inside the corridor before it reaches the reception area. On the other hand, the second
door (leading directly into the fog space) must be made fully airtight by using rubber rims.
View from inside ZEE space
ZEE – techrider 2009
The pipes lead out intentionally toward different directions, beyond the installation space's
walls. New air must be pulled in from beyond the space. It is necessary that the new air supply
be distanced from the general area that the excess fog is released into, otherwise evacuated
fog might be pulled back in.
Note: both ducts emerge through the wall. This is essential for maintaining the integrity of the
installation. One possible way of doing this is by running the flexible duct through an existing
window or vent. In order to prevent unintended leakage, the rest of the window or vent will
have to be filled in with either wood or another solid, enduring material. All cracks will have to
be filled permanently and completely. Aside from the fexible ducts, the walls should be airtight.
Another method would be to go through an existing wall. Again, the gap between the flexible
duct and remaining wall will have to be filled in completely. Otherwise, fog will escape.
ZEE – techrider 2009
COMPUTER, DMX Lighting INTERFACE & DMX Addresses
Provided as part of the customized installation equipment
The installation comes with with a “LanBox” DMX control interface to address all used fixtures.
The interface has one (a 5pin) DMX Out, which goes from there to all fixtures. The cabling can
either be done serially or in a parallel manner by using the also included DMX splitter (110V).
No other (house) lighting desk or DMX interface is needed.
The strob lights as well as color changers are addressed individually.
The Atomic 3000s need a DMX start address plus 3 channels = 4 in total, the Atomic Color
changer need 2 DMX addresses each.
DMX Addresses to be used on Strobe lights, Color-changer and Fog-machines:
Strobe 1
Strobe 2
Strobe 3
Strobe 4
Color Changer – Strobe1
Color Changer – Strobe2
Color Changer – Strobe3
Color Changer – Strobe4
Start address
Start address
Start address
Start address
Start address
Start address
Start address
Start address
= 100
= 104
= 108
= 112
= 120
= 122
= 124
= 126
PAR lights / Dimmers
Start address = 130
Foggers
Start address = 140
All DMX Cables needed are also provided as part of the installation, to connect to- and
between the strobe lights, PAR lights, fog machines and the DMX interface, which is situated
with the central control unit, a MAC MIni and the audio interface.
ELECTRIC POWER needs
Are quite high, please make sure your venue can provide the necessary amount of power.
Worst case an external diesel power aggregate needs to be rented.
!!! Please note- not all provided equipment is 220V !!!
the 4 strobe lights (220V) draw peak power in the vicinity of 12KW,
the 12 PAR lamps about 7KW
The 2-4 fog machines (220V) draw about another 3-6KW
The PA draws at maximum 2 KW
- so, depending on venue, the maximum power needed = ~ 27KW (@ 220V).
ZEE – techrider 2009
AUDIO + SUBSONIC
Other than the light and control equipment, the audio equipment, except for the audio computer
interface, is not provided as part of the customized installation equipment.
4-6 active full range speakers and 1 subwoofer are needed, depending on venue size.
! All speakers shall be non active with their amplifiers located outside the ZEE space to avoid
exposure to the fog humidity !
Amps / Speakers – to be provided locally !
A) 4 loudspeakers, 4x 200 Watt sinus full range
B) 1 Sub bass cabinet 1x 1000 Watt
The requested sub-bass amplification amount is not for high decibel sound but for
playback of extremely low frequencies, 40-60Hz, specifically “standing” (no beats) sine
waves. Sub bass reproduction needs exponentially increasing amplification power the
lower the frequencies.
The amount of PA is depending on venue size, the here quoted is the minimal PA.
Signal sources, Cables and connectors
The installation audio interface uses symmetrical jacks outputting to either a mixing
desk or directly into active speakers.
In general all signals shall be symmetric.
2.)
Distribution & optional Mixing desk
Input:
IN from 4 Mic’s directly into the installation audio interface
Output:
Direct OUT from Audio Interface on 5 channels > 4 speakers + subwoofer
Mixing desk (optional)
A mixing desk is generally not needed, unless its part of a fixed system, present in the
venue, all outgoing signal would then be routed through such mixing desk to the
speakers. All actual mixing and equalizing is done inside the installation computer and
ZEE – techrider 2009
SPACE
The installation space needs to be free from any obstacles, the floor needs to be perfectly
even, no steps or similar. The reason for this being obvious, once you can’t see you can’t make
out things in your way. The only obstacles remaining naturally are the surrounding walls.
Loudspeakers are hanging overhead and out of the way, from the walls or ceiling. The
subwoofer and fog machines are situated behind a temporary wall, both invisible and outside
the immediate audience area.
An entrance gate needs to be constructed with double doors to prevent more than a minimum
of fog from escaping the space when people are entering or leaving the site. In between the 2
double doors ventilation fans should be setup to evacuate the fog from within the gate. Model
designs of such an entrance gate are available.
Integrated in such entrance gate module or attached to it should be locked compartments to
hold both control equipment and all or part of the fog machines.
> SPACE for the CONTROL EQUIPMENT
The computer and interfaces driving the installation need to be put outside the installation
space in a safe and easily accessible cabinet / area – for daily start & stop and eventual
maintenance work.
All audio and light control cables to PA and lights start from this place – from the audio and
light interfaces
ZEE – techrider 2009
AUDIENCE
The best way of providing security surveillance within the installation is to install a thermal
imager, a heat sensitive camera. This camera can peek through the fog, as if fog wasn’t
present. Unfortunately these cameras are still extremely expensive, normally being used for
emergency units and the military only. So the camera is currently not provided as part of the
customized installation package.
As laid out in the first pages of this rider, information and warnings on the possibly irritating
effects rendered by the strobe lights and artificial fog, for people e.g. with photosensitive
epilepsy, heart problems, Asthma, & pregnant women etc. should be made clear and known to
the audience well before entering the installation.
Gallery attendants should be present inside the space at all times in order to ensure the safety
and comfort of the audience. Each audience member should be periodically checked on
throughout the duration of the show. Particularly during the introduction of red strobe light or a
fog-refilling sequence. If audience members are standing directly in the way of the fog machine
path, it may be advisable ask them to move.
ZEE – techrider 2009
ZEE – techrider 2009